Ask the Author: Mitchell R. McInnis
Answered Questions (8)
Mitchell R. McInnis
There once was an orange, philandering, small-phallused ogre named Donald. He was elected President, given the nuclear codes, and his Twitters were considered official communiques.
Mitchell R. McInnis
Ted and Marion Cole from John Irving's "A Widow for One Year." The mixture of pain, love and loss is so tangible in their depiction. The aching complexity that comes from that mix is entrancing. In a culture (United States) where complexity in relationships, as well as loss, is so seldom handled well or depicted with verism, this novel is rare and darkly beautiful. And then there's the conflict! It's a fiction writer's dreamscape without resorting to unicycle-riding bears. Overall, this book isn't given enough credit or attention. In musical terms, this novel is the equivalent of catching an arena rock band do a small venue, acoustic show, where you can tap out every beat and sing every syllable. This book's alternative title might have been, "Love is the Devil."
Mitchell R. McInnis
My most recent book is a full-length poetry manuscript currently being shopped to publishers. There is no one idea behind the book, as it is an exploration of many, many ideas in a polyphony of voices. The through line, however, is an investigation into the roots of the creative urge and how the various voices of experience become synthesized into the artist's singular voice.
It's titled "Dancing in the Neon Boneyard."
Philosophically and aesthetically, it is strongly influenced by Mikail Bakhtin's "Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics." His notions of the carnivalesque and polyphony set the syllables of this collection in
motion.
It's titled "Dancing in the Neon Boneyard."
Philosophically and aesthetically, it is strongly influenced by Mikail Bakhtin's "Problems of Dostoevsky's Poetics." His notions of the carnivalesque and polyphony set the syllables of this collection in
motion.
Mitchell R. McInnis
A book-length manuscript of poems.
Mitchell R. McInnis
It depends. Sometimes it's really obvious, and a poem or passage will appear in toto, and all I have to do is write it down.
Other times, I have a more general idea of something I want to write about, but I'm not sure of my point of entry. In that case, I scribble random lines, read for a while, stare out the window, stare at paintings, and go for a long walk. Wordsworth was dedicated to walking/hiking as a means of catalyzing composition. How'd that work out for him? Exactly.
Other times, I have a more general idea of something I want to write about, but I'm not sure of my point of entry. In that case, I scribble random lines, read for a while, stare out the window, stare at paintings, and go for a long walk. Wordsworth was dedicated to walking/hiking as a means of catalyzing composition. How'd that work out for him? Exactly.
Mitchell R. McInnis
As Buddhists say, put your hands in the soil. Get dirty. Fall in love with the craft and day to day bricktending of writing.
Be patient with yourself. Let me say that again... be patient with yourself.
Read, read, read. Read in at least a 3 to 1 ratio to your writing.
Be patient with yourself. Let me say that again... be patient with yourself.
Read, read, read. Read in at least a 3 to 1 ratio to your writing.
Mitchell R. McInnis
After a lot of hard work, the chance to write something powerful and elegant that impresses even you. Or expressing a thought and or illuminating an image in a very unique way. The pure power of really good writing, that sense of breakthrough.
And, if you're lucky, for someone else to echo that sentiment. Getting a reader off is much better than sex. No question.
And, if you're lucky, for someone else to echo that sentiment. Getting a reader off is much better than sex. No question.
Mitchell R. McInnis
Pure apostasy. I don't believe in writer's block, and I'm agnostic about inspiration. I like what the painter Francis Bacon said, "What most people call inspiration comes from regular work."
If desperate, I do exercises like free writing, erasures or even mimicry of favorite poets. That usually dislodges the cork from the ink.
If desperate, I do exercises like free writing, erasures or even mimicry of favorite poets. That usually dislodges the cork from the ink.
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