Livia is in the interviewing seat this week!

Hello everyone! I hope you’re all doing well! Well, here we are with another blog…these do come in quick. But enough about me, on with the show!                                                                                                            This month, we were given the task of interviewing one of our fellow playwrights and making them the topic of our latest blog. I had the privilege of working with the wonderful Livia – who I’m sure you’re all eager to get to know a bit better! We had a lovely chat which was, in true ‘us’ fashion, full of laughs and phrases like ‘oh my gosh same’!

We started with quite a deep question actually: have you surprised yourself in your writing development?

Yes, definitely! I’m interested in different themes than I thought I would be. For example, I thought my writing would be more environmentally focused, but everything is a bit darker than I expected. I guess I’m figuring out what I want to write – not what I thought I wanted to write. 

Can you tell me about something that has inspired you about the programme?

I would say all of the playwrights we have worked with. They are all from such different backgrounds; they’re different people who are good at different things. They have been so encouraging, each of them has expressed such an ‘anyone can write’ attitude – which is so inspiring! There aren’t just 1000 Nicola Maccartneys – there’s so much variety out there and it’s shown us what we can do with the art.

Now the thing I’m most interested in – food! What would you say is your favourite writing snack?

Quavers. – Enough said Liv!

Is there a specific time of day that you find yourself most creative?

I would probably say night-time. During the day I find I’m very easily distracted, you know! Like I should be doing this or that, I should be cleaning my bathroom! I would say that after 8-9 pm I’ve kind of given up on everything else so I can focus on my writing!

Now, we’ve spoken about some of the mushy, inspiring topics. Let’s look at another angle – do you have any writing pet peeves?

In terms of my writing, I never really know how to end things. In term’s of other peoples’ writing, I would have to say misplaced apostrophes’. They drive me crazy!   

(Sorry Liv, I couldn’t resist!)

What is your biggest enemy when you’re writing?

Most of my ideas come from something small. A joke, an image, or an atmosphere from a place. I find it hard to develop these ideas into an actual piece of writing or, more specifically, an extended piece. I can see little scenes but it only translates into a page or so worth of actual writing. I struggle to develop a full story with characters and events etc.

And finally, just to check-in, how are you finding the programme so far?

Well, we’re starting to look towards writing longer pieces, which I’m nervous about but really looking forward to.

Well, to quote Porky Pig ‘that’s all folks!' I hope you enjoyed learning more about Livia as much as I did, and I can’t wait to chat with you all through the screen next time! Cue the outro music!

Woah…just before we finish! We thought it would be really fun to add a twist to our blog pictures. Our challenge was to insert an image that relates to something we’ve written – and interestingly, Livia told me about a Pinterest board she created when thinking about ideas for her final writing piece…which is actually where these blog images have come from! I wonder if you have any predictions as to what her final piece will be about…

Erin Craighead

Erin is part of the Bunbury Banter Young Playwrights Programme 2020-2021