Ask the Author: Greg Stidham
Answered Questions (8)
Greg Stidham
The suicide of a woman with no past.
Greg Stidham
Addie Moore and Louis Walters, OUR SOULS AT NIGHT, by Kent Haruf. A most unusual and touching pairing brought to life like no one but Kent Haruf can do. The relationship is the epicenter of what is a very remarkable novel.
Greg Stidham
Cry a lot. Lock myself in a dark room. Do drugs.
Just kidding. I have experienced this phenomenon enough to know that it is never permanent. So patience is key. But also writing "through" it. The resulting writing may seem terrible, but at least it keeps the heart beating. I also sometimes resort to little "tricks." I make up exercises. Sitting at my kitchen table every morning, looking out the window, and taking notice of the first thing to catch my eye, and then writing about it. Taking note of the first word to enter my mind during a pre-dawn morning run, and incorporating that word into a poem later in the day, before I go to sleep. Haiku and Tanka are wonderful, structured and disciplined exercises to keep the heart beating until it once again takes on life of its own.
Just kidding. I have experienced this phenomenon enough to know that it is never permanent. So patience is key. But also writing "through" it. The resulting writing may seem terrible, but at least it keeps the heart beating. I also sometimes resort to little "tricks." I make up exercises. Sitting at my kitchen table every morning, looking out the window, and taking notice of the first thing to catch my eye, and then writing about it. Taking note of the first word to enter my mind during a pre-dawn morning run, and incorporating that word into a poem later in the day, before I go to sleep. Haiku and Tanka are wonderful, structured and disciplined exercises to keep the heart beating until it once again takes on life of its own.
Greg Stidham
I realized slowly, over years, that I was extremely fortunate, "blessed," in my life, which has given me many stories I think worth telling. Why worth telling? I hope that they may perhaps inspire, entertain, uplift readers known to me and unknown.
Greg Stidham
It is not an option. I have always been a writer, even while being a pediatrician caring for critically ill children for over 30 years. I was a writer before that, during, and after. I write because I HAVE to write.
Greg Stidham
It scratches an otherwise intolerable itch. It also provides a link to, relationship with readers who exist in my imagination, but not only there.
Greg Stidham
1. Read. 2. Write
Facetiousness aside, read everything you can of the genre you like most. Find favorite writers. Find terrible writers.
Then, don't stop writing. Write some, write something, every single day. Don't worry (at least at first) if it is "good" or not. Just write.
Facetiousness aside, read everything you can of the genre you like most. Find favorite writers. Find terrible writers.
Then, don't stop writing. Write some, write something, every single day. Don't worry (at least at first) if it is "good" or not. Just write.
Greg Stidham
I have mostly written poetry. A few years ago, I was drawn into some creative non-fiction. And most recently I have discovered the seduction of short fiction. So, the correct answer is that I am working on all three genres, different projects, which makes me sound much too diffuse, though I haven't felt the different energies required are in conflict.
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