BCC Shines A Light On: Dan Brotzel

BCC Shines a Light On:

Dan Brotzel 

Name of the piece published by BCC:

‘Our Special Words for Things’ 

When/where was it originally published:

This piece was runner-up in a UK competition called Leicester Writes in 2019. It was published in the accompanying anthology, and I got to perform it at the competition reading too. 

What is the background of the piece? What led you to write it? What’s your process?

Like many of the stories in my first collection, Hotel du Jack, this is a hermit-crab fiction. I’ve always been interested in these stories that are made from ready-made verbal structures such as a shopping list or customer FAQs or even a penalty charge notice. Another story in the collection, Active and Passive Voice, dissects a flawed relationship through the structure of a grammar lesson.

‘Our Special Words For Things’ is about cancer, and a couple who are living in the shadow of terminal illness and imminent death. It’s about the way love in the life of a long-term couple can be expressed through small, repeated things, such as domestic rituals. I don’t remember how I came to write, but there was similar illness in my family at the time that I was much affected by. 

In writing hermit-crab pieces, I tend to follow a similar process: Identify a verbal template that’s easily recognisable from daily life, preferably something that’s deeply non-literary (a user manual, a recipe, a set of instructions, a product recall notification). Use it to tell an incongruous story, perhaps of grief or heartbreak or madness, while always respecting the constraints of the format. 

Sometimes I have a story that’s looking for a structure. But more often, the form suggests the content. I don’t remember how I came across a dishwasher of glossary terms, but I somehow saw quickly that – as topics like the best way to stack a dishwasher, or what you can/can’t put in it are common causes of heated household debate – a dishwasher-related tale would be an interesting way to explore marriage, and companionship, and grief. These pieces, when they work best, tend to come out quickly. If they feel forced or hard to write, I find it usually means you haven’t got a good match of form and story. 

How did you feel when it was first published and how have your thoughts or feelings on the piece changed from then to now?

This has always been one of my favourite stories, and one that several readers have told me they have been very moved by. Only just recently, and quite by chance (and without me prompting them!), two people I hadn’t spoken to for several years told me how much it has meant to them. I think, for a writer, this is about as good as it gets. 

Is there a specific message you'd like readers to take away from reading this piece?

The couple that stays together is the one that has reached a clear consensus on whether wooden spoons are allowed in the dishwasher. Better to be both wrong. 

Where can readers find more of your work? (Website/social media, etc)

My books include Hotel du Jack and Work in Progress. And here’s my website: www.danbrotzel.com