Ask the Author: Phil Dwyer
Answered Questions (10)
Phil Dwyer
I'm going to avoid the obvious references to the current US administration (or mothers-in-law). I'm sure other people are all over that. How about a real life horror story in two sentences, six words:
Global warming is real. Nobody cares.
Global warming is real. Nobody cares.
Phil Dwyer
Hmm... Tempting to reply Flatland, a two-dimensional world created by the deliciously named Edwin Abbott Abbott. He was a schoolmaster, mathematician and theologian who wrote about a character (Square) who traveled through many different-dimensional worlds. Flatland was the two-dimensional world. But then, you have the sense that there would be a very limited scope for romance in such a world. So while it appeals to my sense of whimsy and to the mathematical part of my brain I think I would prefer a different fictional world.
So, if I were looking for a place to go and relax, a place where the biggest problems are inevitably who gets the girl and can our hero avoid incarceration for some minor offence, I think I'd travel to the world of Bertie Wooster (P.G. Wodehouse). There you'd be guaranteed stylish clothing, plenty of leisure, weekends in the country, and the best food and wine money could buy. And if you ever got bored with the pedestrian conversation you could always go and talk to Jeeves.
So, if I were looking for a place to go and relax, a place where the biggest problems are inevitably who gets the girl and can our hero avoid incarceration for some minor offence, I think I'd travel to the world of Bertie Wooster (P.G. Wodehouse). There you'd be guaranteed stylish clothing, plenty of leisure, weekends in the country, and the best food and wine money could buy. And if you ever got bored with the pedestrian conversation you could always go and talk to Jeeves.
Phil Dwyer
Hi Don,
Thanks for your question. I don't think you need to worry, to be honest. I've never met a writing instructor who doesn't understand that it's their job to help you find your unique voice and be the best writer you can be. It's definitely not their job to try to squeeze every writer into the same mold. If an instructor is any good at all they are looking to find and tap into those unique viewpoints and insights that only you possess.
Having said that, if you do come across an instructor who wants you to change your writing style, you don't have to comply. From time to time you'll meet people (readers usually) who don't like your voice. I like the late, great Shirley Jackson's response. She received a letter from a reader who complained about her work. She wrote her back a very short letter: "If you don't like my peaches, don't shake my tree." You're not obliged to write so that certain people like your style, and if your style isn't their thing, they are not obliged to read your work. End of story.
Thanks for your question. I don't think you need to worry, to be honest. I've never met a writing instructor who doesn't understand that it's their job to help you find your unique voice and be the best writer you can be. It's definitely not their job to try to squeeze every writer into the same mold. If an instructor is any good at all they are looking to find and tap into those unique viewpoints and insights that only you possess.
Having said that, if you do come across an instructor who wants you to change your writing style, you don't have to comply. From time to time you'll meet people (readers usually) who don't like your voice. I like the late, great Shirley Jackson's response. She received a letter from a reader who complained about her work. She wrote her back a very short letter: "If you don't like my peaches, don't shake my tree." You're not obliged to write so that certain people like your style, and if your style isn't their thing, they are not obliged to read your work. End of story.
Phil Dwyer
Too many to list. I decided this year to cut down on the sheer number of books I read and focus on quality and the classics. So I'm planning, at some point this summer, to get to these four: Don Quixote, The Canterbury Tales, and Ulysses (the James Joyce Ulysses).
Phil Dwyer
Hmm. So my first published book is a piece of creative non-fiction. Like most things it wasn't the result of a single inspiration. It grew organically out of circumstances. To be honest I resisted the notion that it might be a book (rather than a piece of long-form journalism) for a long time before I succumbed to its demands to be a book length piece.
Phil Dwyer
I'm not sure what an aspiring writer is. For me you're either a writer or you're not. If you write regularly, you're a writer. You may not be published (yet) but that doesn't mean you're not a writer. Work hard on your craft: sign up for workshops, go to readings, read (a lot), meet other writers, join writing organizations, volunteer. Read books on the craft. Be prepared for a lifetime of learning how to do this, because although it's easy to do, it's not easy to do it well. Cormac McCarthy was asked by a student once if it gets any easier. He said, "no, but it gets better." Be prepared for rejection and disappointment, because they are as certain for the writer as the sun rising in the morning. Keep going. Eventually you may learn enough that your work will resonate with other people. Above all don't write for others, write for yourself. Write what pleases you, what obsesses you. Nobody else can write from your unique perspective, so be yourself.
Phil Dwyer
You don't. Writing is a job. You sit your butt in the chair and show up every day. You can't wait for the magic to happen. Inspiration isn't going to strike unless you place yourself in its path, and that's only going to happen if you're already working. Sorry, sometimes it's an absolute slog, but that's the truth and if you don't like it do something else that's a little less demanding.
Phil Dwyer
Currently I have about five projects on the go, and some more in the planning stage. If you want to have a career as a writer I believe it's necessary to be in development with some projects while the others reach fruition. So I have a lot of short stories I'm working on, one novel that's almost done, but needs tweaks, one that's about 75% done in first draft, a book of non-fiction that's due out in April 2016, and another work of non-fiction I'm about to start a book proposal for. That's enough for now.
Phil Dwyer
Not having to work in an office, and have to deal with office politics is certainly up there, as is the ability to choose whatever platform and technology I want to do my work, but I think top of the list is the ability to work at any time and in any place that I want to. Geography doesn't matter. It's awesome.
Phil Dwyer
Write. Write anything. Write about not being able to write if you have to. Write free fall and keep writing. Eventually something will emerge. It doesn't matter what, at that point, just roll with it and keep going. You're a writer. It's your job to write. Sometimes what emerges will be rubbish, but it's not your job to edit when you're writing. Banish the editor and write.
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