INTERVIEW: Chris McQueer On Writing and Comedy

As I am writing this, the Glasgow International Comedy Festival drew to a close last month. 2018’s iteration of laughs and giggles wrapped up for the year, with many noteworthy acts – including the subject of my interview, Chris McQueer, an up-and-coming writer from Glasgow’s east end. Being described as ‘Limmy meets Irvine Welsh’, his debut book ‘Hings’ is a collection of short stories written through traditional Scottish humour, ranging from a man being terrorized by a sentient budgie to a ned coming to terms with his sexuality while on holiday. A hilarious read, the writer himself proves to be an equally interesting character as well.

When did you know that you wanted to be a writer? Was there a time when young Chris McQueer wanted to be a paleontologist or something else?
It was around two years ago I decided I wanted to be a writer. I’ve always been a big reader and always fancied trying to do a bit of writing but the stuff at school I was tasked to write about didn’t really do anything for me and put me off writing a wee bit. I dabbled a wee bit when I left school but never got any further than drafting out a basic plot for a short story then never writing it. When I was younger, I never knew what I wanted to be. I left school and applied to join the Navy then backed out of it at the last minute. I tried to start my own business at 19 but failed miserably, tried to move up the ladder in the retail world and absolutely hated it and even trained to be a barber before realising it was the worst job in the world. Writing is really the only thing I’ve stuck in at and that I actually enjoy doing.

Your first book Hings was published by 404ink, run by Laura Jones and Heather McDaid. Who came to who about starting Hings up? Did you know them prior?
I first got to know Laura and Heather after I sent them a short story which they published in their literary magazine. I submitted to their magazine because it looked as if they were going to move into publishing books in the near future and I thought if I could get in with them early, I’d have a better chance of them publishing the collection of stories I had which would go on to become Hings. At the launch of the magazine, they invited me and the other contributors to read out some of our work on stage, something I had never done before. I agreed after a bit of persuasion from my maw. After I performed my story, I was talking to Laura and Heather and mentioned I had a manuscript I was hoping to get published and asked if I could send them it. They said yes and seemed excited about it but at the time I thought they were just being nice, they weren’t exactly going to say, “No, we don’t like your work,” to my face after all. So I didn’t send them it but after a couple of weeks I got an email from Laura asking me if I was still keen to send them my collection. I sent it over and the next thing I knew I was in Edinburgh signing my first book deal.

You claim your girlfriend Vanessa encouraged you to get your work out there. How did that come about?
Vanessa is really supportive of my work, she’s my biggest fan and critic at the same time which is brilliant to have. I was reluctant to share my work with people such as my pals because I was worried they’d slag me or make fun of me which would’ve dented my confidence and I probably would’ve stopped writing if this was the case. Vanessa encouraged me to stick my stuff online and get people from Twitter to read it. I spent about a fortnight working up the courage to do it but when I did the response from people blew me away. It was all so positive and gave me the confidence to keep writing and sharing my work online.

You are known as that Writer on Twitter, but is there any earlier works people can find? Does Chris McQueer have some fanfiction out on the internet?
The only attempts I have at writing from my younger years live in a shoebox under my bed, never to see the light of day; they’re that bad.

As far as the publishing process went, did you encounter any difficulties with your project and how did you solve them?
It all went pretty smoothly. Time was really the only issue, trying to get stuff edited, typeset and proofread properly in such a short period of time was a challenge. Normally from signing the book deal to getting the book deal to getting the book published it can take over a year but we had to do it in just under 5 months to make sure it fitted in with 404’s other commitments and my work/college commitments. Editing was tough, it was the first time I’d had someone really tear apart my work but after I got over that initial shock of a stranger telling me my stories were shite and needed sorted out, I began to absolutely love the editing process and ironing out all my bad habits. I came away from the editing process a much better writer and I’m really thankful to my editor, Robbie Guillory, for being so hard but fair with me and encouraging me to better myself.

How do you react to press and comments from fans, both good and bad?
I’ve been really lucky that so far that all the press reviews of Hings have been mostly positive. Good comments from critics are great for your confidence but they don’t really help you improve as a writer which is what I’m always trying to do. There’s been a couple of negative reviews on the likes of Amazon and Goodreads which have gave me some good constructive feedback which I’ve taken on board and tried to apply to my writing as I work on my next book. The things people have said have been that some of the stories could’ve went on a wee bit longer and focused on character development a bit more instead of ending on daft punchlines which left some people feeling a bit short changed. I’m just always working on my writing and taking all feedback on board no matter how harsh it may be, it helps me improve so I’m grateful for it.

What are your favourite written works, your fave authors?
Irvine Welsh has obviously been a big influence on me. Amelia Gray is an American author who I really admire. Her collection ‘Gutshot’ is the weirdest, creepiest group of stories I’ve ever read. After I read any of her work, I come away having learned something new about how to structure stories, word choice, use of metaphors etc. she’s incredible. Yoko Ogawa is another writer I love who writes great short stories as well as novels. I like the way she uses simple language and word choices to convey big themes in an almost poetic way. Haruki Murakami is another of my favourites.

Is there an ultimate goal to your writing career e.g. someone making a film/television adaptation of your work?
I’d love to see some of my work adapted for the screen, absolutely. Probably my ultimate goal just now is to write a novel but I’m not ready yet, I don’t have the skill or experience just yet and I want to try my hand at longer short stories/novellas first. Really I just want to be able to make a living from my writing so that’s my ultimate goal.

You are currently studying at college. Do you have anything else planned for the future?
I started to college to improve my writing and I feel I’ve developed a lot over the course. After I graduate, I had originally planned to apply to study for an Mlitt at University of Glasgow but I’ve changed my mind since and instead I’m going to finish off my second collection of short stories (the deadline my publishers have set for that is the 18th of June) and then work on my third which will be a collection of longer short stories all centred around a common theme/setting.

Have you got any advice for new writers hoping to get into the industry?
Just keep writing. It’s easy to let rejections from magazines, publishers, agents etc get you down and knock your confidence but instead try and let it motivate you to better yourself. I’m not the best writer in the world by any stretch of the imagination but I’m always looking to learn and get better which keeps me focused on my goals and keeps me motivated. Don’t be afraid to get your work out there and force people to read it. You won’t learn anything from being the only person to ever read your own work. Submit to literary magazines, websites and competitions anything that’ll take your work really. Keep an eye on new, independent publishers through social media and go to any events they put on and submit your stuff to them whenever they’re looking for submissions. Always try and find a positive in any criticism of your writing, something that you know you can do better and strive to make yourself a better writer by writing something, anything, every day.

If you are interested in reading more from Chris McQueer, check out his first book, his latest project, or follow him on Twitter @ChrisMcQueer.