Ask the Author: Eric Witchey
Answered Questions (5)
Eric Witchey
I whine about it. I drink too much coffee. I piss about doing things that won't help. Eventually, I give up and sit down to write. One of my favorite techniques for getting going after a fallow period is to abandon projects I care about and come up with something to work on that I consider completely absurd and silly. Oddly enough, that technique has led to a number of sales: Brieanna's Constant, The Tao of Flynn, How I Met My Alien Bitch Lover, and others.
Eric Witchey
Aside from the wonder and surprise that comes with the actual process, my favorite things are that I am allowed to explore many possible perspectives and that I get paid to remain a child filled with the pleasure and joy of imagination. The former has made me more patient and accepting, though I still find that I occasionally rely on the crutch of righteousness in order to avoid understanding. The latter keeps alive my hope for the human race.
Eric Witchey
Get as many teachers as possible. Find teachers who can show you executable, practicable techniques rather than teachers who show you examples of what good writing should be and then send you off to mimic it. You can mimic other writers as a learning tool on your own time. If you are paying for instruction, expect more than vague advice like "show, don't tell," or any instructions that begins with the word "Never." Instruction should begin with, "This is how you..." Beyond that, write, experiment, and more than anything else, have fun with your stories.
Eric Witchey
I don't get inspired to write. I write to get inspired. I find that for every idea I express on the page, a new idea appears in mind and heart. If I don't write, I stagnate. If I do write, inspiration comes to me.
Eric Witchey
Bull's Labyrinth, a novel that will be available from IFD Publishing in 2015, was inspired by experiences I had while teaching a ten day intensive creative writing seminar on the Island of Crete. Several images seemed to embed themselves in mind and heart. One was an image in a restored mural in the ruins of Knosos. Another was the enigmatic Phaistos Disk, which was on display in the museum of Heraklion. Another was a classically beautiful, Greek woman I was privileged to chat with for a while. These, and other images blended with mythology to become the story of lovers cursed to live out life after life knowing they love one another and never being able to be together. I find it particularly interesting that when I first composed the book, the Phaistos Disk had no translation. Now, a partial translation exists, and it still works in the story. The universe is strange and wonderful.
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