Famous for writing The Commitments and a raft of other successful novels and films, Platform catches up with OU honorary graduate, Roddy Doyle...
Roddy has been writing for a quarter of a century, but getting his first book published was no easy task. After unsuccessful attempts, Roddy eventually financed The Commitments himself. He says “I had no family. I lived in a bedsit so I didn’t need to save. Not a bother in the world. I went into the bank and I did a bit of homework with my agent. We figured out the printing wasn’t all that expensive, same as buying a second-hand car. I lived by the train station so I didn’t need a car so did this instead. It was a great adventure”. The Commitments went on to become hugely successful, was adapted into a major film, and became the first book in The Barry Town trilogy, which included The Snapper and The Van.
A career in writing adult and children’s books ensued as well as short stories and working in the theatre as a script writer. When he looks back at those who didn’t believe in his writing, Roddy doesn’t gloat but admits it does now amuse him when he thinks of those publishers who rejected his first book.
Roddy has recently indulged in his love of literature by setting up a creative writing centre in Dublin called Fighting Words with his friend Sean Love, Executive Director of Amnesty Ireland. Roddy’s aim for the centre is to help students of all ages to develop their writing skills and to explore their love of writing.
The centre is based on a similar concept Roddy came across in America, which was founded by writer Dave Aggers. Roddy describes it as “just a big room entirely devoted to writing, writing a story together”. To date the centre has welcomed 6,500 primary school children through its doors, 3,000 secondary school children, as well as a variety of adult groups including groups with learning difficulties.
Following the centre’s opening in 2009 despite the early success, Roddy says “the big challenge now is trying to guarantee the long term future, to address the funding”. The centre is currently run by Roddy, Sean and some very keen volunteers.
The centre holds various writing groups. Roddy tells us, “We have a four-part session which is finishing tonight on writing a mini-series for television. We have a teenage writer club”. In addition, fellow writers such as Kevin Barry (who wrote The Boy in Striped Pyjamas) have come into classes to offer advice to the children as they write.
For those who are thinking about taking the OU course in Creative Writing, Roddy offers students the following tips for success:
- Start writing as quickly as possible. Don’t think about it just start writing. Worry about the quality sometime later.
- Don’t be too fussy at first. Write maybe 12 sentences, knowing that only two of them are any good.
- Just fool yourself, double spacing. Leave blank space so you can go back and rewrite. It’s not finished till it’s finished.
- Make it a discipline if you can, rather than wait for an ideal opportunity.
- If you are thinking of dealing with publishers, get a thick skin. If you are lucky enough to get a publisher, cling to them.
Though Roddy has been continuously writing books, short stories or articles during the years, the centre had been a welcome distraction and different focus for Roddy. He has recently however just embarked on his first publicity book tour in six years to promote The Dead Republic. He says “Six years ago I said I was never going to do it again. I was absolutely sick of hearing myself talk”. The benefits are clear though, as Roddy found that an appearance on a radio show in America increased his book sales. “Radio is brilliant, it’s very effective. Immediately afterwards, the publishers looked at the Amazon chart, it went from something like 1,600 to 290,000y because of one interview”. So perhaps his final lesson is, once you’ve got the right book, and the right publisher, the work doesn’t stop there!
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