Ask the Author: R.C. Goodwin
Answered Questions (6)
R.C. Goodwin
My most recent book, a novel called Model Child, concerns a man who commits an ostensibly evil act. We know he did it; the question is why. The problem of evil has always fascinated me, in part because it’s ultimately undefinable. The fifth edition of the American Heritage Dictionary gives nine definitions of it, and none of them is quite right.
R.C. Goodwin
An idea can come from anywhere – from something that happened to you, or something you read or heard about. Example: one of my sister’s friends was raped. They caught and convicted the assailant, and he received a long sentence. In the state where this happened, the Dept. of Corrections had a program to bring together the perpetrator and the party who’d been attacked for several . As a psychiatrist who worked in prisons at the time, I thought the idea was intriguing. It inspired a short story of mine, called “One to One.”
R.C. Goodwin
A memoir. I’ve been reading – or rereading, or listening to quite a few of them, from Ernest Hemingway’s to Amy Schumer’s to Anthony Bourdain’s. At some point I decided to have a go at one myself.
R.C. Goodwin
Be prepared to deal with rejection. Unless you’re very lucky, you’ll most likely have to face plenty of it, even if you’re extraordinarily talented. And keep at it. You can always find a lot of reasons not to.
R.C. Goodwin
There’s the immense satisfaction that comes with having found the telling detail, the incisive capturing of character, the arresting twist of plot. I imagine it’s the same for anyone engaged in a creative enterprise that’s going well. There’s also the satisfaction that comes from writing the ending you want, a luxury you rarely have in your own life.
R.C. Goodwin
I back off for a while. I work on another project, or write reviews for TripAdvisor, or send a bunch of emails to old friends . . . anything. A week or so later, I’ll dive in again. If I give myself a break, I find that the answer’s often there for me. Your subconscious can sometimes give you answers that your conscious mind can’t.
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