Living in Japan simplified Nick Bradley's writing style, emphasizing conveying complex ideas in straightforward language.
Nick Bradley's novel explores generational gaps and opposing perspectives, creating depth through characters Aiko and Cho.
Deep dives
Influence of Life Experiences on Writing
Nick Bradley reflects on how his varied life experiences, including learning Japanese and living in Japan, have significantly influenced his writing style. He discusses how his time in Japan made him simplify his language and content, teaching him to convey complex ideas using straightforward language.
Exploring Generational Gaps
Bradley delves into his novel concept of exploring generational gaps and misunderstandings between characters from varying backgrounds. He describes how the idea of opposites and contrasting perspectives, particularly between an old woman from the countryside and a young man from the city, formed the basis of his characters, Aiko and Cho.
Crafting Novel Within a Novel
The inception of Bradley's novel within a novel, 'Sound of Water,' is revealed. He initially crafted this complete narrative but later realized the need for a translator character, Flow, from his previous work, to add depth and coherence to the storyline. This decision led to a reverse engineering process to develop the interconnected narratives.
Approach to Writing Process
Bradley shares insights into his writing process, emphasizing the importance of spontaneity and exploration during the initial stages of writing. Although he follows a loose direction akin to navigating a scenic walk, he values the unexpected paths that emerge during the writing journey, ultimately aiming for a fuller understanding of his narrative by the end.
This week, we're chatting to Nick Bradley. He's an author, a creative writing teacher, a translator, and his new novel is, 'Four Seasons in Japan'. It's about about Flo, a translator in Tokyo. She finds a book on the subway and tries to track down the author and translate it.
We discuss his previous novel, 'The Cat and the City', which was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick. Also, how his time living in Japan transformed how he thought of novels, and how he spoke to his characters. You can hear how he's inspired by sitcoms when plotting, and why he takes it easy on himself.
Nick discusses his 5000 word limit across the week, why seeing things from a different perspective can really help, and how life experience makes a writer.
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