Why the bleep are you a writer? Mini-interview
Being infinitely curious about the habits of other writers, I figured I would post these questions and see what we could find out. Curious from three perspectives, actually: editor, publisher, writer.
- When did you decide to begin writing?
- Why did you decide to be a writer (or did you)?
- What do you feel defines you as a writer?
- What is your greatest ambition as a writer?
Exile of my own dull vice. . .
1. I rewrote an episode of Twlight Zone with a different ending when I was 16. Being an avid reader of anthologies by Asimov, Niven, Zelazny, Bradbury and others, I felt I could write short stories, too. Once I started, I couldn't stop.
2. Oops, the answer is above. I didn't decide, it just sort of stuck.
3. Interestingly worded question. I feel the biggest element that defines me as a writer is that I do it. I write every day. I think about writing regularly. I study writing when I'm reading. Writing for me is not merely a hobby, it is a passion.
4. 'To ulimately be the dark overlord, master of all I survey. Either that or assistant manager.' That, by the way, is how I've answered the question 'what are your ambitions with this company' in every job interview I've ever had. My greatest ambition is to be a writer not as a secondary (or tertiary) career but as a full-time job. If I could support myself and my family on my writing without doing anything else, I would be there. It wouldn't have to be bestselling novels with blockbuster movie deals (though I wouldn't cry myself to sleep if that were the case). Just regular pay comparable to what I'm making now. That would be nice.
Rob Santa
Hopelessly Addicted Writer of Speculative Fiction
and CEO ofRicasso Press
I was in middle school when I started writing but I didn't decide to, I just started doing it.
why did I decide to be a writer - well in highschool there weren't any books being published that I wanted to read, so I figured I had to write what I wanted to read since no one else was. That's about the only decision I made. Mostly I don't have any control over it. when my brain decides to write, the rest of me hangs on for the ride till it's finished.
what do I feel defines me as a writer? I can't answer that. I don't understand the question I guess.
What is my greatest ambition as a writer? I don't have one.
Never meddle in the affairs of a wizard unless you are soggy and hard to light!
Visit my art gallery on art wanted at
http://artwanted.com/crystalwizard
All my books in print:
http://sojourn.omnitech.net
When did you decide to begin writing?
Started at the age of 4 or 5, as soon as I could actually read and write. First story was called "The Whale's Cave." Yes, I still remember the plot!!! Kept writing SF all through my teens. Found poetry at age of 20-21 in college and never really looked back.
Why did you decide to be a writer (or did you)?
It's the thing I am good at and it is easy for me and I love it.
What do you feel defines you as a writer?
Right now "aloneness" seems to define me as a writer. It isn't always that way and I am not sure whether I like the socially active phases or the withdrawn introspective phases better.....
What is your greatest ambition as a writer?
To be elected to the Academy of Arts and Letters and anthologized in every poetry textbook in America [img]/emoticons/yeah.gif[/img] To be compared (favorably by people who know what they are talking about) to great poets like Stevens, Crane, Plath, Eliot, Shakespeare.
That's all! Not asking too much am I?
Cool questions! I look forward to reading all the responses!
Daniel
1. When did you decide to begin writing?
I dabbled in writing even as teenager, but it really only stuck when I sat down to write some scenes of my own that were driving me insane in my head. The drive has slowed, after my efforts to sell my stories met with little to no success.
2. Why did you decide to be a writer (or did you)?
For quite a while I thought writing was just a neat hobby, serving well to offset my non-satisfying job. When I was told that my stories were good, I found an agency. When they signed me on, I decided that I was a writer.
3. What do you feel defines you as a writer?
Umm. Basically, the fact that I write.
4. What is your greatest ambition as a writer?
To write a bestselling series, sell movie rights and get to live in a villa on the Baltic shore. [img]/emoticons/turn.gif[/img]
- Call me Firle.
Hannah Steenbock
Mystical Adventures
Beyond Horizons
Call me Firle.
*********
Irinas Rache in "Im Urknall war es still" (in German, Amazon link), 3/2010
Der Weg nach Eridani in "Das Wort, STORY CENTER 2009", 11/2009
Pu'ukani's Song in A Fly in Amber, 05/2009
Minkus, the Masterful Magic-Mender in Abandoned Towers #1, 11/2008
Something New Under the Sun in Antipodean SF, 4/2008
Daniel said...
When did you decide to begin writing?
Started at the age of 4 or 5, as soon as I could actually read and write. First story was called "The Whale's Cave." Yes, I still remember the plot!!! Kept writing SF all through my teens. Found poetry at age of 20-21 in college and never really looked back.
Why did you decide to be a writer (or did you)?
It's the thing I am good at and it is easy for me and I love it.
What do you feel defines you as a writer?
Right now "aloneness" seems to define me as a writer. It isn't always that way and I am not sure whether I like the socially active phases or the withdrawn introspective phases better.....
What is your greatest ambition as a writer?
To be elected to the Academy of Arts and Letters and anthologized in every poetry textbook in America [img]/emoticons/yeah.gif[/img] To be compared (favorably by people who know what they are talking about) to great poets like Stevens, Crane, Plath, Eliot, Shakespeare.
That's all! Not asking too much am I?
Cool questions! I look forward to reading all the responses!
[quote]Nice ambition.
[quote]From what I've seen, you're well on your way, Mr. Blackston.
[quote]My hat is ever off to you as a poet (not always from ducking [img]/emoticons/yeah.gif[/img] ). Best success to you, sir.
Exile of my own dull vice. . .
Why and when kind of came about at the same time. I started in eighth grade. We had an assignment in our reading class about "sounds," and I thought it might be kind of cool to write a poem. Looking back on it, I can freely admit it was bad poetry, but I was proud of it at the time and got enough encoragement that I continued. I branched out into short stories, most of which were just as bad, although I still nurture some hope it showed a slight glimmer of imagination and talent. I'm scared to try to hunt down any examples to go read them to find out. I got better after awhile and dropped the poetry. For a time, I dropped the writing altogether until I got into a college creative writing class. I wrotemy first decentshort story there(which was published last year on The Late Late Show online zine) and kind of mothballed the whole thing again. I dabbled with fragments of a novel or two along the way, but nothing real serious until lastyear. I got my writing fix out of the way in the interveaning years by working as a journalist. I stopped that last year in favor of corporate communications.
What defines me as a writer? Interesting question. There's one angle: I write therefore I am. But there's also a possible meaning about what defines my writing, and that's a different matter. If I had to come down to a word, it's cost. I always hated the "good guys win without a scratch and all the bad guys are dead" approach. I don't go in for "happy" endings much in my short fiction, but even when I do, there's usually a cost involved. Reality's like that, andI try to reflect that in my writing. That's not always the case, but moreso than not.
My primary ambition as a writer is to be able to keep doing it and selling it. I'm still at the beginning of that arc, but I'd love to be 60 and still writing. I've got an idea for several novels after I finish the one I'm on now. I'd love to sell those and do more, as well as the short fiction. There's differing levels of satisfaction in long and short form. Would I enjoy being the next Robert Jordan or even Terry Goodkind? Sure. I'd be just as happy to be someone like Briane Keene -- a prolific midlist writer who puts stuff out people want to read.
Jeff Parish
Caveat Lector
Here there be writers.
When did you decide to begin writing?
After reading Lord of the Rings when I was eight
Why did you decide to be a writer (or did you)?
I don't know. I was too young to remember. I guess because I wanted to put myself into stories. Most of the earliest stories I wrote (when I was eight) had myself and sometimes my sister as main characters.
What do you feel defines you as a writer?
Learning. As for the writing itself, Usually every main character I write is me (cunningly disguised). I take after Philip K Dick that way. Of course, terrible things happen to my protagonists. What does that say about me?
What is your greatest ambition as a writer?
To make as much writing as I make in my day job., same as everyone else...
Jordan Lapp
How to Succeed as a Writer (without even trying)
Nice ambition.
From what I've seen, you're well on your way, Mr. Blackston.
***
Thank you, Bitter Hermit [img]/emoticons/wink.gif[/img]
Daniel
Daniel,
What about Anne Sexton? I'm in love with her. When I read her poetry I feel like she and I are making love.
The bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
http://www.sfreader.com/authors/GabeDybing/
http://thebookofash.blogspot.com/
Gabe,
I, too, love Anne Sexton....
Daniel
1. When did you decide to begin writing?
When I was 13 and needed something to do over the summer (I'm 19 now).
2. Why did you decide to be a writer (or did you)?
After I finished my first 66,000 word novel, I found that I had caught the bug. My next book was 250,000 words and was written seven months faster. Sometimes it's harder than others, but I'm still set on writing full time.
3. What do you feel defines you as a writer?
In terms of personality or my work? I'll answer both. In terms of 'writing personality', I'd say it's something I really have to work at...sitting down and writing honestly isn't the thing I enjoy most. It takes effort just about every day.
In terms of my work, I think I have a unique vision of heroism and heroes, and that's what underlies most of my work. I tend to write action-packed adventure/war stories, but I'd say my deepest interest is in the characters underlying such tales, and particular in extreme, bloody heroism, which to me isn't truly heroism if it's done for personal gain. My heroes tend to have at least a strong streak of altruism, which I think reflects me in some ways.
4. What is your greatest ambition as a writer?
To get two or three books a year published and be able to feed a wife and kids doing it. I've also got ideas for dozens of books and keep getting new ones all the time...I'd like to be able to write at least the cream of that crop.
Sean T. M. Stiennon (AKA Suuran Songforge)
Check out my author page at www.sfreader.com/authors/seanstiennon
1.) When did you decide to begin writing?
When I actually started to put pen to paper (or, in my case, started tapping keys on my electric typewriter) was at the age of 19. I had wanted to be a writer most of my life, and suddenly I had a paper due in astronomy class in college. The professor said we could write a prose story instead of a paper, as long as the story had plenty of scientific fact. It was my first short story, titled 'Entering Jupiter,' about an astronaut who had to fly a test ship into Jupiter's clouds. Of course he found an alien nasty in the clouds.
2.) Why did you decide to be a writer (or did you)?
I honestly don't have a simple, single answer to this other than: I feel it is my calling in life. If I did not have the drive in my life to write, I don't feel like life would be worth living. I honestly don't understand people who don't have some sort of passion or goals they are striving for. And part of me wonders why everyone doesn't want to be a writer.
3.) What do you feel defines you as a writer?
Life, music, discovering a really good book. I love working out a plot, trying to figure out how characters will react to a situation.
4.) What is your greatest ambition as a writer?
Greatest? I have two, and either will do.
1.) To have a Stephen Kingesque career.
2.) To have an Alexandre Dumas-like career.
www.tyjohnston.blogspot.com
http://swordofbayne.blogspot.com/<a target="_blank" href="http://swordofbayne.blogspot.com/[/url" target=_blank>
www.thereddoorconcierge.blogspot.com
www.thereddoorconcierge.com
tyjohnston.blogspot.com
When did you decide to begin writing?
I wrote comic books in fifth or sixth grade, song lyrics in junior high and high school, short fiction stories starting in junior high school, journalistic reports and opinion columns starting in college. Recently I've even tried my hand at poetry. I've always turned to words to express myself.
Why did you decide to be a writer (or did you)?
I don't think I decided to do it. But I've always loved reading, and always loved writing, and can't possibly imagine not doing either.
What do you feel defines you as a writer?
As far as fiction goes, I think I tell a pretty good story. For non-fiction essays I think I argue logically, fairly and as truthfully as I can. And I take no prisoners.
What is your greatest ambition as a writer?
To have a story or novel of mine stand the test of time, so that decades after I'm gone someone might pick up one of my works and say 'Damn, that guy could write.'
Steve Goble
Visit my blog, Swords Against Boredom, for news on published fiction and upcoming stories.
When did I decide to begin writing?
I wrote my way through high school with poetry, a few short stories, speeches and essays. I loved research papers, and mine were always some of the longest . . . and most dramatic. I have short stories (the first being 'The March of the Vegetables') and speeches dating back to about 8 years of age, I believe. But did I decide to write? I don't think I really did. It just happened. I'd like to steal Steve's line here, and admit I've always turned to words - written words - to express myself. I can't seem to get the spoken word to work as well for me, but who's perfect?
Why did I decide to be a writer (or did I)?
The decision was made for me by life. Circumstances and consequences, all found their way into written word vented through my pen. It seem(s/ed) most my youthful writing came in response to passionate feelings, whether agonies or joys mattered not, but there was no middle ground. That came later, as an adult, when passions usually swing more in moderation than to extremes. Today, rereading the manuscript of poetry I gathered throughout high school, though my art is marred, my grasp of life seems fairly acute. Ahh, the toils of youth . . .
What do I feel defines me as a writer?
Honestly? Belief, followed closely by procrastination. I believe in the stories seeking release through me, I believe in my need to set them free, I believe they can bring entertainment to others, I believe in the worlds opened by my words. Yet I procrastinate - dammit, I'll admit it - I'm lazy and easily sidetracked by posting on forums and blogs and emails and critiquing. I've dreams of my own and dreams that own me, but neither get met of their own accord. There's work to be done, and I'm just the man to do it . . . tomorrow, I'm tired.
What is my greatest ambition as a writer?
Well, I found this quote by Ben Franklin when I was somewhere between 10-14 years of age - during the same period in my life in which my career dream was to become a US Supreme Court Justice (the REAL power in America) - and I've kept it close to heart ever since. He said,
'If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are gone, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing.'
My greatest ambition as a writer? I'd love to pay the bills via publication income and have a name that's remembered long after I'm gone. What the hell, shoot for the stars, right? I'd like to be rich with a household name and have movies based upon my books. Those are all longterm, though. Today, I'd just like to have a story accepted.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Fantasy Editor Staffs & Starships Magazine
~~~~~~~~~~
Ever waltz with the Devil? Or devil with a Waltz? Visit von Darkmoor's thoughts to find out.
1. When did you decide to begin writing?
I first decided I wanted to be a writer when I was 15. I bought a second-hand typewriter off a neighbor for $5. It was broken but almost fixed. The return bar slapped against the frame when you switched lines. I kinda miss that old machine. My output really improved when I switched to word processors. I hate re-typing anything.
2. Why did you decide to be a writer (or did you)?
I wanted to be a comic book writer/artist. It was only after going to art school for a year that I realized that drawing for a living is really hard work. I started focusing more on writing then. Most of what I have done has happened through serendipity. I am probably the world's least planned writer.
3. What do you feel defines you as a writer?
This question is really open to interpretation. So here's how I take it: what defines me as a writer is all the mounds and mounds of mental junk inside my head, largely authors I have read who influence me. These are almost all pulp writers. I have no literary ambitions. I want to be as entertaining as Edgar Rice Burroughs or H. P. Lovecraft. Studied in a university, not so much.
4. What is your greatest ambition as a writer?
To make a living at it full time. As I get older I realize how unlikely this is. My standard of living is just too high. Perhaps when i retire in 15 or so years...
GW
G. W. Thomas has appeared in over 350 different books, magazines and ezines including Writer's Digest, The Armchair Detective and Black October Magazine. He draws the web comic CHUCK THE PENGUIN. His website is www.gwthomas.org
When did you decide to begin writing?
I recall wanting to write fiction while I was at school, but it never came to anything then. I actually started writing non-fiction, about subjects which interested me, and had a long publishing record in magazine articles and books before I thought of writing fiction again.
Why did you decide to be a writer (or did you)?
For non-fiction: because I enjoy explaining things which interest me - particularly if no-one has written about them before -and seeing my work in print.
For fiction: really, it was an accident. My main interest is the history of military technology, and I kept thinking about the "what ifs" of World War 2 and wanting to write about them. One day, inspiration struck and I decided to write an alternative history novel to explore those ideas. I found that I really enjoy writing fiction, it has a spontaneity - and unexpectedness - that non-fiction doesn't have. It's just more fun!
What do you feel defines you as a writer?
Nothing in particular that I can think of, although my style tends to be laconic rather than wordy. I have to remind myself to include some description from time to time to put the action and dialogue into context. I think that's a carry-over from writing non-fiction, in which the discipline is to express your meaning as clearly as possible with no superflous words.
What is your greatest ambition as a writer?
Oddly enough, I don't particularly want to write best-sellers - in some ways that would be nice but it would have downsides too. I would be happy to achieve a profitable level of sales,receive some decent reviews,and - most important - get lots of good feedback from readers.
Tony Williams
Scales (2007)
The Foresight War (2004)
http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk
How rude would it be for me to forego answering my own questions?
I write, therefore I am. At 15 or 16 I thought I could write better endings than David Eddings - and not tease readers with long periods between releases. I wanted to write like Donaldson and Brooks. I've considered myself a writer since I started lying to either avoid how interesting my actual life was or to make it more interesting for myself. Early on, there was no writing involved. Just a whole lot of reading and daydreaming. I've really only begun to write in the last ten years or so.
The "What defines you as a writer" question has been quite entertaining. Leave it to a bunch of writers to quibble over the question while trying to answer as specifically or ambiguously as possible. Do you write to publish? Do you write because there's a little homonculus inside your head that punishes you if you don't? Do you simply love to tell stories? Do you write to express yourself? If you didn't write a cogent sentence for a year, would you continue to consider yourself a writer? I define myself as a writer because I have a continuous narrative running through my mind - sometimes in prose, others in verse. I'm driven to write. I love to write. I live to write.
My ambition is to be like Ed Galing and write every day of my life. It may or may not see daylight. I may or may not publish. It doesn't matter to me when I'm writing. I loathe the 'struggle for the legal tender' as JB so elegantly states it. But I like to eat, like to drink single-malt scotch, like to drive a reasonably dependable vehicle, and like to breathe (which means, by necessity, I must run the absorbitantly expensive AC).
I consider myself an editor because it's in my job title. Otherwise, I'm just a nosey writer penning mustaches on everyone's else work - to borrow an expression from a venerable writer whose name is right on the tip . . . Auden! (Thank heavens, now I can go back to sleep.)
Exile of my own dull vice. . .
Exile of my own dull vice. . .
Daniel said...
Nice ambition.
From what I've seen, you're well on your way, Mr. Blackston.
***
Thank you, Bitter Hermit :wink:
You know . . . the door is open for poetry critique any time.
When did you start writing?
As soon as my chubby little fingers could hold a crayon. I wrote a story about Little Rabbit finding a treasure in his garden. (You do remember your first plot!)
Why did you decide to become a writer?
It decided me. John Buchan became a writer when he found himself in a hotel with nothing to read, so he wrote his own novel (The 39 Steps, I think). I love words. I form life into words.
What defines you as a writer?
Too many adverbs. Over 50 years at it and still learning.
Greatest ambition as a writer?
To write well enough that other people, not just me, say, 'Damn, that's good.' Maybe even publish. Ha ha.
Damn, that's good! [img]/emoticons/cool.gif[/img]Keralen said...
Greatest ambition as a writer?
To write well enough that other people, not just me, say, 'Damn, that's good.' Maybe even publish. Ha ha.
~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Fantasy Editor Staffs & Starships Magazine
~~~~~~~~~~
Ever waltz with the Devil? Or devil with a Waltz? Visit von Darkmoor's thoughts to find out.
Now you gotta publish it JasonHoward von Darkmoor said...
Damn, that's good! [img]/emoticons/cool.gif[/img]Keralen said...
Greatest ambition as a writer?
To write well enough that other people, not just me, say, 'Damn, that's good.' Maybe even publish. Ha ha.
When did you decide to begin writing?
i started to write in elementary school.
mostly bad poetry. =)
Why did you decide to be a writer (or did you)?
does anyone decide to be a writer?
i wrote when i was young through my
teens because i enjoyed it.
i lost touch with creative writing all through
my twenties, something i regret.
i picked it up again in my thirties, and found
that it is indeed my first love. i decided to
try a novel (which i finished, and am currently
revising) last year. it is something i can call
my own. it gives me sanity and it allows me
to dream.
What do you feel defines you as a writer?
i write.
iread.
idream.
What is your greatest ambition as a writer?
to write a novel i can be proud of.
to be read and enjoyed by others.
to inspire others to write and dream
through my writing.
great questions, bh!!
cindy p.
a little sweet, a little sour.
http://xiaotien.blogspot.com
- When did you decide to begin writing?
- Why did you decide to be a writer (or did you)?
- What do you feel defines you as a writer?
- What is your greatest ambition as a writer
1. I made various stabs at it beginning when I was 8 or 9 and continuing on from there. My first effort was a handprinted "newspaper".
2. Because I heard you could make money doing it. Why do I continue? Because some like King and Rowling have become filthy rich and I figure this is cheaper than lottery tickets.
3. Webster's.
4. See #2. [img]/emoticons/lol.gif[/img] I've GOTTA be able to do better than those guys.
[quote]
STForstner said...
2. Because I heard you could make money doing it. Why do I continue? Because some like King and Rowling have become filthy rich and I figure this is cheaper than lottery tickets.
3. Webster's.
4. See #2. [img]/emoticons/lol.gif[/img] I've GOTTA be able to do better than those guys.
Unlike lottery tickets, there's something to show when you find you're not the winner.
AND you can re-use your manuscript for the next game of chance.
I like your point of view. I like it a lot.
HINT: the publishing game is not about writing; it's about marketing. (period)
Exile of my own dull vice. . .
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