writingforyourlife

I wholeheartedly agree with Andrew Crofts when he says, in The Freelance Writer’s Handbook, that we all have knowledge from which someone else could benefit.  Consequently, I hope to regularly interview both amateur and experienced writers, and post their answers here.

In trying to formulate a list of interview questions, I thought perhaps I should first answer them myself.  After all, it’s only fair.

• How old were you when you wrote your first story, and what was it about?

In Grade 2, I recall writing a story about a girl and a rainbow.  It had chapters, which I thought was pretty fancy.  I also wrote a story called, “My Soul Has Been Murdered,” but I didn’t know what ‘murdered’ meant, and I didn’t know what a soul was either.  I just thought it sounded dramatic.

• Who are your favourite authors and books?

The Paperbag Princess, by Robert Munsch, was my favourite children’s book.  I think millions of women would concur when I say Jane Austen is my favourite author of all time.   Pride and Prejudice is the best, with Persuasion being a close second.

• Were there any classics that you hated reading for school?

I didn’t like The Great Gatsby at all (perhaps I’d appreciate it more now, but I doubt it).  Death of a Salesman was pretty awful as well.  I enjoyed most of the classics though.

• What was the worst rejection you ever got from a publisher?
  

The worst rejection was one that came the closest to actually being accepted.  The editor praised my children’s book for its concept and “beautiful word-pictures,”  but “after much deliberation,” she said it  would be difficult to establish readership.  So close, yet so far.

• Do you enjoy reading or writing poetry?

I wrote some pathetic stuff as a teen, and I studied a lot of poetry during university.  I don’t write it at all now, but I have a few lines of my favourite classics committed to memory.  Yeats is pretty good if you study the cultural context.

• What is the first thing you would do if you had a novel accepted for publication?

I would do a victory dance and eat a great deal of celebratory chocolate.  Then I would start writing another novel.

• What lesson have you learned about writing that you would share with others just starting out?

Expect rejection.  Accept rejection.  Overcome rejection (but this won’t be until you have accepted it many many many many times over).

 

If you have other questions you would like to have answered, feel free to post a comment and I will include them in future interviews.

If you would like to be interviewed (who doesn’t like to be interviewed?) let me know.