Ask the Author: William M. Brandon III
Answered Questions (9)
William M. Brandon III
It’s a toss up between Joyce’s Dublin in Ulysses, and the Savage Reservation in Brave New World.
I have a deep affection for Dublin, but I fell in love with the city while reading Ulysses, a decade before seeing the city with my own eyes. Though Joyce is magical and emphatic in his prose, the cobblestone byways and warm pubs are very much alive. When I finally sat in the Trinity College, my mind was filled with images of Joyce fording snow and sleet to write in the comfort of the immense room.
Since reading Brave New World in high school, the Savage Reservation had always represented the ‘real’ core reality of the human animal to me. Moreover, a symbiosis with it, rather than society’s endless press to conquer, dominate, and numb the senses. I value truth over comfort and have always held the Savage Reservation as a keen example of resistance.
I have a deep affection for Dublin, but I fell in love with the city while reading Ulysses, a decade before seeing the city with my own eyes. Though Joyce is magical and emphatic in his prose, the cobblestone byways and warm pubs are very much alive. When I finally sat in the Trinity College, my mind was filled with images of Joyce fording snow and sleet to write in the comfort of the immense room.
Since reading Brave New World in high school, the Savage Reservation had always represented the ‘real’ core reality of the human animal to me. Moreover, a symbiosis with it, rather than society’s endless press to conquer, dominate, and numb the senses. I value truth over comfort and have always held the Savage Reservation as a keen example of resistance.
William M. Brandon III
First, thank you for your question!
I can and have written everywhere; location has always been very flexible for me. As a result, I have had a pen and something to write on/in on my person at all times for the past twenty years. When I begin something long, such as a novel, I prefer to write on a typewriter, but most of my writing takes place on my laptop, or in a Moleskine notebook - I have the appropriately insane stack of them in a desk drawer.
I am capable of writing in silence, but my preference is with music; I have a playlist on an ancient iPod plainly labeled ‘writing.’ Lately I have been listening to Bach’s No 3 Suite (air) on loop and find it very satisfying. My first novel, ‘A Selfish Man’ was written listening exclusively to Tricky’s Pre-Millenial Tension, radiohead’s OK Computer, Sunny Day Real Estate’s Diary, and Portishead Live at the Roseland. Since then selected tracks from Pinback, Flogging Molly, The Smiths, Built to Spill, Your American Math, A Perfect Circle, Soul Coughing, tool, and Outkast have all made the list. Although I am also a longtime punk and hardcore aficionado, I find it too distracting while writing.
I can and have written everywhere; location has always been very flexible for me. As a result, I have had a pen and something to write on/in on my person at all times for the past twenty years. When I begin something long, such as a novel, I prefer to write on a typewriter, but most of my writing takes place on my laptop, or in a Moleskine notebook - I have the appropriately insane stack of them in a desk drawer.
I am capable of writing in silence, but my preference is with music; I have a playlist on an ancient iPod plainly labeled ‘writing.’ Lately I have been listening to Bach’s No 3 Suite (air) on loop and find it very satisfying. My first novel, ‘A Selfish Man’ was written listening exclusively to Tricky’s Pre-Millenial Tension, radiohead’s OK Computer, Sunny Day Real Estate’s Diary, and Portishead Live at the Roseland. Since then selected tracks from Pinback, Flogging Molly, The Smiths, Built to Spill, Your American Math, A Perfect Circle, Soul Coughing, tool, and Outkast have all made the list. Although I am also a longtime punk and hardcore aficionado, I find it too distracting while writing.
William M. Brandon III
Thank you for the question David! To my discredit, I have yet to read Money. I have only read The Information, whose protagonist is chronically amiss! I enjoyed Amis’ ability to offer neither moral nor narrative resolution, instead playing out the gorgeous destruction of two characters that duly deserved destruction.
Philosophically I am very strongly an anti-Randian. I read The Fountainhead out of a sense that it was a part of the American canon I had heard of but was never directly exposed to. While I appreciate her sense of cynicism in regard to the motivations of others, I feel strongly that it is only through our recognition that every life on this planet affects every other life (for positive or negative) that we can accomplish a true sense of individuality. The individual is edified not by denying things to others, but in realizing that harmony is necessary outside of a vacuum.
Philosophically I am very strongly an anti-Randian. I read The Fountainhead out of a sense that it was a part of the American canon I had heard of but was never directly exposed to. While I appreciate her sense of cynicism in regard to the motivations of others, I feel strongly that it is only through our recognition that every life on this planet affects every other life (for positive or negative) that we can accomplish a true sense of individuality. The individual is edified not by denying things to others, but in realizing that harmony is necessary outside of a vacuum.
William M. Brandon III
As a voracious reader, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to create my own reading material. Don't like how a book ended? Write a better one.
William M. Brandon III
Don't stop. If you get blocked, move on to something else; often times, you'll have the "ah-ha!" moment after you've moved on. The mind works in mysterious ways.
The more you write, the more you have to edit. The most frustrating time, for me, is the beginning. I am a bit frantic until I have 100 or so pages completed and ready to start actually tearing up and revising. Do your best to just riff on an idea until you have at least 100 pages before you make any final decisions on plot or structure.
Be patient. Nothing is harder, and nothing is more important. The desolation felt while waiting for a publisher to say ""YES!" is devastating. Keeping in mind how long it typically takes a work to make it into print helps; remembering that some of the world's most famous authors waited for years before their master works were considered, and some never lived to see their work lauded, helps a lot!
The more you write, the more you have to edit. The most frustrating time, for me, is the beginning. I am a bit frantic until I have 100 or so pages completed and ready to start actually tearing up and revising. Do your best to just riff on an idea until you have at least 100 pages before you make any final decisions on plot or structure.
Be patient. Nothing is harder, and nothing is more important. The desolation felt while waiting for a publisher to say ""YES!" is devastating. Keeping in mind how long it typically takes a work to make it into print helps; remembering that some of the world's most famous authors waited for years before their master works were considered, and some never lived to see their work lauded, helps a lot!
William M. Brandon III
I have two novellas that are in the incubation stages, and I am working on getting two novels I completed in 2010 into proper shape for publication. I am also embarking on a new endeavor: my second novel, (first published) A Selfish Man has been out of print since 2009, I am in the process of developing a way to sell it in eBook form from my website agentofdiscord.com
I am also heavily involved in editing and layout for print and digital publications, and event planning for Black Hill Press (blackhillpress.com).
I am also heavily involved in editing and layout for print and digital publications, and event planning for Black Hill Press (blackhillpress.com).
William M. Brandon III
Inspiration is, fortunately, something I come by very easily. It's time and setting that pose the largest challenges for me. A door to close, my "writing" playlist on my iPod, and several unhindered hours make for a spectacular start!
William M. Brandon III
I have a small collection of typewriters (5) that I use when I begin a long project. Deletion and editing are cumbersome on a typewriter (to say the least); as a result I find it much easier to just let the words flow on a typewriter. When I work on a laptop I have a tendency to over-edit and will beat a paragraph to death - resulting in a less-productive writing session.
William M. Brandon III
SILENCE was the result of several factors: obsession with William Burroughs, mid-twentieth-century cars and clothing, and my desire to write something longer than essays and short stories. I wanted to see how far I could push a character's agony; as a result, many of the plot points came from asking, "what hurts a person most when they know they cannot change it?"
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