“
His work is the shifting of light over a
wall, that light touch on the shoulder,
the twitching-tail end of a cat
pressure of a metaphorical storm caught in a teacup, between the quiet words of the author.
Robert Shearman left me in no doubt of his multimedia background. The theatre lives in his steelblue voice, with the well-honed projection of one accustomed to the stage, to the definition the stage,
to the definition between volume and pitch. His work has the keen eye of a film director, seeking out
the misc-en-scene and camera angles that will best depict a scene. The subtext of his excerpt lay like
oil under ice, and had me grinning even as I shifted with nervy unease, cold to my bones. He didn’t so
much read aloud the words as become the part, with paralinguistics that made full use of awareness
of space, pacing and tone.
Move on
As the panel broke up, allowing the audience to mingle and talk with the authors while having books
signed, I was lucky enough to catch Robert for a chat. I had approached him to express admiration for
his polished performance, and was surprised to learn of the nerves he experiences prior to a reading;
though to be honest, the mark of practise-makes-perfect lay in the fact I hadn’t detected a hint. There
was not a moment when his characterisation lapsed, or where the skin of my arms had not raised up
as though brushed with a blue breeze. He had mastered the fear of an audience by reading primarily
for himself, and by knowing the truth of his words inside out, so that they are capable of moving
around his nervousness, as he put it, ‘like a river around rocks’.
The Short Story Gatekeepers event focused upon the production side of writing, with practical advice
and information given on aspects that can blunt the edge of a writer’s life. Topics ranged from editing
to submitting, from formatting a radio screenplay to finding the right agent.
While the tone was less colloquial in comparison to the first panel, the efficiency was undeniable,
with each answer spread across the diversity of careers among the speakers, for a comprehensive
response to each audience member. When asked how to handle consistent requests from agencies for
a novel (ever the popular choice among publishing houses, a real deterrent for stalwart supporters of
the short story), the answer was forthright enough to draw laughter from the audience: ‘Bin them.
Move on. There are always other agents out there who are willing to push forward the short story.’
It is rather like catching rainwater in the hands after a long drought, to hear such plausible and
perfectly sound advice as ‘Don’t submit on the deadline – give yourself enough time to edit and reedit, and present a more professional image of yourself as a writer.’ To know there are professionals
out there willing to help writers of all ages and experience to further themselves, is no small comfort;
it was also the ribbon running down the spine of the festival.
@Raishimi3