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August 2008 Interview
Q: Welcome! Please tell us, how did you get started as a writer?
Maybe I got started when my teacher Mr. Stewart made us write weekly stories in sixth grade. When
I began my career as an English and drama teacher in my twenties, I received good feedback
on my writing. I explored writing with a series of articles for Dramatics Magazine
in my thirties, tried a YA novel, started Writer Advice as a place to publish
author interviews, and allowed one thing to lead to another.
Q: Have you always been interested in writing?
I love it except when I hate it.
Q: How do you keep your creative juices flowing?
Are they supposed to flow?
Mine spurt and sputter, sometimes, until I let go of my fears and get out of my own way.
Q: Do you have any projects you’d like to tell us about?
Thanks for asking. I have
two big projects going right now: One is Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com, an
e-zine that offers interviews, reviews, an annual Flash Prose contest and more.
The other is a book and workshops, both titled: You Want Me to Do What? Journaling
for Caregivers. For details about the ease of relieving stress by journaling, please
send me an e-mail at: Lgood67334@comcast.net and put “journaling info” in the subject box.
Q: What are some of the challenges and obstacles you faced during your career?
My mind can be a dangerous place and some days I should not go in there without
adult supervision. I think every writer sometimes faces the obstacle of self-doubt.
Q: What is the most rewarding aspect of your career?
Sharing with others and getting
praise for articles, concepts, and the quality of my feedback.
Q: What inspires you?
Landscapes, sunsets, quotable language, the world that
surrounds me, and worlds I can only imagine.
Q: How do you manage your time when you are working on more than one project?
Lists help. Flexibility helps. Reasonable expectations help.
Q: What do you do to relax and to just have fun?
I like to travel vicariously
through books and movies, and lately I’ve been trying the real thing with trips
to Montana, the Yucatan Peninsula, Italy, Zambia, and the Pacific Coast in the
last couple of years.
Q: What is the number one thing you would like to tell new writers?
Read because reading
writers you respect will help you find your voice. So will journaling daily.
Q: Do you have a support system?
Yes.
Q: When you feel creatively blocked what do you do to get yourself back into the
creative flow?
If my wonderful shih-tzu Mikko recognizes that I am blocked, and he
often senses it before I do, he takes me for a walk, which gets me out of myself.
That’s much more helpful than raiding the refrigerator.
Q: When your muse is napping what do you do to wake him/her up?
I was going to say that I would join her until I read the last part of the question. Napping does
have its benefits. “To sleep, perchance to dream.”
Q: How do you recharge your creativity?
A change of pace helps. So does crossing
things off on my “to do” list. Productivity breeds creativity in my life.
Q: What is your greatest inspiration?
Newness inspires me—new places, new people,
new ideas, new twists on old ideas. There is something new every day, if you look for it.
Q: What makes you smile?
Opportunities & acceptance—being asked to write articles,
being invited to be a journaling guru.
Q: What advice can you offer to a creative artist that is struggling with their
inner critic?
Put your critic out on the porch or send him/her to Paris. If you want to pick your critic
up after your writing session, the choice is up to you.
Q: Many artistic people struggle to develop a routine that allows them time for
their creative work. What advice can you give that will help them create a balance
between work and social life?
List necessary and desirable activities. Then go back
and prioritize. Cut yourself some slack.
Q: What creative individuals do you admire?
I always admire the author
I am currently interviewing.
Q: What is your favorite first sentence in a book?
It changes every time I find a new favorite.
Q: Are you listening to music as you answer these questions?
No, but if I were,
I hope it would be something mellow.
Q: If you only had one more day to live what would you do with the 24 hours?
Call my sister. Write a letter to her grandchildren. Say thank you to the people
who have made a difference in my life.
Q: What traits, if any, do you think that creative people have as compared to
people who are not creative?
Everyone is creative. Some people just haven’t discovered it yet.
Q: When do you feel most energized?
Good ideas help. So does caffeine.
Q: Can you see your finished product before you start it?
I know it will
change as ideas evolve.
Q: Do you feel that you chose your passion, or did it choose you?
Good question.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Q: What book are you reading right now?
I just finished reading the wordwide famous book, I Dreamed of
Africa, by Italian writer and poet Kuki Gallmann. I bought it at the airport in Johannesburg recently.
Gallmann moved to Kenya in 1972 with her family and wrote several books. The best known is
I Dreamed of Africa. A movie adaptation was made in 2000. She still lives in Kenya with her daughter, and
manages several social, environmental, and scientific projects. Her son and husband were both killed in Africa.
Additionally, before I left for my last trip, I finished
Jennifer McMahon’s book, Island of Lost Girls. I am now reading Meg Waite Clayton’s book, The Wednesday Sisters.
Q: What is the last movie you watched?
I plan to see Mamma Mia soon.
Q: What do you do in your spare time?
What spare time?
Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?
“If you do not record your own story, your tiny bit of the history of the human race is lost."
Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare’s vision. Dickinson wrote Dickinson’s.
“Who will write yours, if you do not?” --Pat Schneider, Writing Alone and With Others,
Oxford Press & Founder, Amherst Writers & Artists
Q: Your famous last words, will you share with us a piece of advice, a favorite quote,
a tip, whatever you wish?
“Everybody is talented, original, and has something important
to say.”--Barbara Ueland
Thank you for this opportunity. You asked some thought-provoking questions. Lynn
Creative Artists Commnity
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