Five Questions WIth David Mohan
Will McCarry: I really enjoyed your piece “Lake” which appears in our most recent issue of NANO, 7.1. In it, two characters descend to the depths of a lake in their car. You manage to make this somewhat unlikely situation seem utterly believable. Lines such as this: “I remember the whole lake is against you – the whole lake is pushing us down” hold particular weight (pun intended). Can you give prospective flash writers any advice on how to establish believability and authenticity in such a small amount a space?
David Mohan: Thanks, Will, I’m glad you liked the story. It’s always great to hear that. I think you’ve identified a major issue for many flash writers—establishing believability and authenticity in such a small amount of space. This task can be integral to the challenge presented by a flash story. Some of the techniques that are helpful in longer stories apply here—using compelling details, producing a character (however short-lived) with a distinctive voice, and so on. I suppose writers are looking for ballast—substance with weight.
Beyond this type of story, flash is so diverse. The intention isn’t always realist or focused on believability. I have come across pieces that can hold you in place as a reader with ingenious syntax or through being intriguingly withholding. Sometimes, flash stories make a virtue of lacking the most telling details. The reader makes up the difference.
WM: The ending of your piece is very unique. I first interpreted it as the narrative moving backward to the point of the impact, though eventually decided it could simply be the character emerging from the water to safety. It’s an interesting idea that works well in its ambiguity. Can you perhaps shed a little more light on this conclusion or how you arrived at the idea for it?
DM: There are so many shapes, sizes and structures in contemporary flash stories, but I imagine endings, one way or another, still matter to most writers. I don’t mean endings with a punchline, twist or neat resolution, but an ending needs to hit the right note in the right key. I wanted to finish this story with some degree of impact, but in a way that felt natural and not entirely expected. I really like that you found the ending ambiguous. Job done, from my point of view.
WM: Though we get many details about the driver’s struggle for life, the main character in this piece doesn’t seem particularly panicked. For instance, the character takes the time to notice the other person’s shoe in this moment of great tragedy. Why in this horrifying situation was the protagonist so calm?
DM: I think shock or the drive to survive can create that curiously detached but focused state of mind. I was interested in attempting a story that was slow-mo by necessity. The mind can only deal with so much reality. I was also interested in finding a still point POV in the midst of a story that, by rights, considering the situation it describes, should be fast-cut action all the way.
WM: Who are the writers (flash fiction or otherwise) that you most admire, and what qualities drew you to their work?
DM: There are so many writers I like and admire. Amongst contemporary or fairly recent fiction writers I would choose Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Angela Carter, Michael Ondaatje and Damon Galgut. I like writers who are originals. Carter is a fearlessly against-fashion maverick, Ondaatje is a unique stylist, Galgut’s last “novel” was intriguing in so many ways, and Adichie is just a brilliant post-colonial writer.
WM: What else can we expect to see from you?
DM: More stories and more poems for the moment I think. Beyond that, we shall see!