Adam Farrer - Flash Nonfiction Funny survey responses

Fiction or Nonfiction?

Nonfiction. I’m lazy and reality writes itself, I just have to pay attention and edit it.

Is it harder to write funny or sad?

I find that quite often one turns into the other of its own accord. I accidentally wrote a funny story about my brother's suicide once, which wasn't my intention at all.

Long form or short form?

Long form. I like it when there's room to wander off on tangents.

Poetry or prose?

Poetry. Prose always feels like a poem that can't admit it wants to be a story.

Boxers or kickboxers?

I went to high school with a kickboxer named Trevor, who once fired a staple gun into our art teacher's head. So, assuming I was having to fight one of them, I'd go with the boxer, not least because their gloves make it impossible for them to operate a staple gun.

Piece that you read and said Wish I’d thought of that?

Pretty much every piece in David Sedaris' 'Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim'.

Cloned or frozen?

This sounds like a terrifying question on a dating site.

Book you read and reread?

‘The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole aged 13 & ¾’ by Sue Townsend. As a kid I read it until the spine gave way and the pages fell out. Then I bought another copy until that did the same. I actually picked up a fresh copy at the weekend.

When writing is going well…

I can convince myself that I’m not dreadful and that there’s a living to be made from writing, followed by an inevitable confidence crash. Then I'll watch Storage Wars until I hate someone else more intensely than I hate myself. On average, this takes 6 minutes of Storage Wars.

Desert Island Book?

'The Blah Story' by Nigel Tomm, because it has almost 18,000 pages, making it possible for me to fashion a tent and feed a massive fire until help arrives. But to read, maybe something brilliantly daft and transporting, like 'The Essential Spike Milligan'. Spike wrote like he'd lost his mind on a desert island so I'd feel like I had appropriate company.

Adam Farrer is a writer and spoken word performer based in Manchester, UK. His work has been published by Squawk Back, BBC Online, This Is Not TV, The Drabble, and MacGuffin and he is the managing editor of creative nonfiction journal and reading series The Real Story (therealstory.org).

Read more in Flash Nonfiction Funny!