Toronto Quarterly Interview - Scott Carter
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Scott Carter - Barrett Fuller's Secret (an interview)
Interview:
TTQ – What inspired you to start writing and who were some of your early influences or mentors?
Scott Carter – I’ve loved writing since I was a kid. It’s what I gravitated to throughout school, but professionally, I started thinking about contributing a verse during university. I was reading all the time, volunteering at a radio station so I was deep into lyrics, and watching all the movies I could, and I became obsessed with words and expression. I remember thinking that writing felt like the perfect mix of the thrill of entertainment and the importance of enlightenment, and so I started writing my own stuff. Some really bad stuff for while, and then gradually really average stuff, and then a few pieces that were accepted to campus papers.
As far as influences, almost everything I read and a lot of what I watched gave me a spark during university. When I took a swing at doing this professionally, Jack David at ECW Press was a wonderful mentor during my time there as an intern. I knew nothing about the industry and he was kind enough to let me behind the scenes, research and spend time with veteran authors, and observe how books reach publication from both a creative and business perspective. It surprises people when I tell them how important understanding the business end of the journey is as a writer but the time I spent at ECW all those years ago really was the catalyst for my professional writing.
TTQ – How did get you involved with film-making and tell me about some of your short films, and how natural was the evolution of being a screenwriter and now a novelist?
Scott Carter – A childhood friend of mine had just finished film school and was looking to make his first professional short. We wanted to work together, so he dug a short story I had recently published and so I adapted that into a short film. That short, “The Proposition Cheat”, played in numerous festivals and won an award, and that generated interest in feature-scripts, gave me the credibility to receive grant money, and lead to more shorts and more festivals and it flowed from there. My favourite short is one we made for Bravo! called “The Unspoken Promise”. It’s a poetic narrative set to jazz about a father trying to help his son navigate life. And then I had a number of feature-length films receive funding from Telefilm and Astral Media that never reached the screen for a variety of reasons. The development of movies is a slow-roast and things such as not being able to secure the right director for a project, disagreement about where the project should go creatively, and changes in funding administration are routine in the pursuit of getting films made. But everything I’ve written in that world has been worth the time. The collaborative nature of film and the flexibility and ability to re-write under tight time constraints are invaluable lessons for a writer, and have proven to be very useful when I write novels.
As far as the evolution from screenwriter to novelist, I was writing and publishing short fiction while working on scripts, so I was developing the skills required for the nuances of each genre simultaneously. And they feed each other. Ultimately, writing is writing and the more you do it in any genre, the stronger those neurological pathways become. Words come faster, ideas flow better and I see the flaws more clearly than when I become precious about one project.
TTQ – How would you best describe your second novel Barrett Fuller's Secret (Dundurn Press, 2013), and tell me about the genesis behind the storyline and the Barrett Fuller character?
Scott Carter – Barrett Fuller is a best-selling children’s author, who writes under a pseudonym because he is a pig of a man. His life changes when he receives a letter demanding that he live up to the morals he espouses in his books or be outed as the morally corrupt man behind the pseudonym.
The project started as an idea for a movie and the tone of Barrett’s character was clear to me from the beginning, but when I decided to write it as a novel the story expanded. Prose gives the author control over details that you rely on other people for in film, and I really enjoyed writing about his nuances. The secret aspect is fun, but the most intriguing part for me was asking, how is this man who is a walking Id that will choose debauchery over reason every time able to captivate children so effectively? It’s a compelling contradiction, so exploring that irony and what makes a man in his moral state so good at what he does really drove the creation of his character.
TTQ – Barrett Fuller enjoys writing at the beach where he is relaxed enough to do the emotional mining that writers do. Where do you find inspiration and how do you go about doing the emotional mining that writers do?
Scott Carter – The enjoyment of creation is the inspiration, and then reading, watching movies and listening to music feeds the whole process. As far as emotional mining, instrumentals are a must for me. Not while I’m writing, but before to take me into the vibe of whatever I’m hoping to conjour. It has to be instrumentals though, because while I love lyrics, they make me a passive consumer of the song, instead of triggering an emotional response.
TTQ – What kind of things were you better able to understand about yourself or society in general after writing Barrett Fuller's Secret?
Scott Carter – So many things. The dangers of excess, the beauty of kids, the importance of balance, the value of creation, and ultimately the idea that one’s relationships should trump everything. Having a four-year old and one-year-old, I’m definitely on the pulse of how kids affect change. They are humbling, inspiring and ambient in a way nothing else can be.
TTQ – How arduous was the editing process for the novel, and who helped you get through that process and how important was their input in completing it?
Scott Carter – My editor, Allister Thompson, who I was lucky enough to have edit my first novel as well, is a master at what he does, so it wasn’t arduous at all. There were rewrites and tightening of bolts, but he has this wonderful way of making me want to do it, and I can tell you having worked with numerous story editors in film over the years and many editors in various literary journals that it’s not always the case. What he’s great at is pushing the material to be the best it can be instead of trying to insert his creative vision on the project. That’s likely always tempting as an editor in any genre, but I never feel that with him. And that trust allows me to focus on the important part, which is writing better where necessary.
TTQ – What message do you hope your readers will take away with them after reading Barrett Fuller's Secret?
Scott Carter – The word message makes me uncomfortable because I want them to take away whatever they’ve experienced while reading, but I will say that I wanted readers to think about the secrets they keep and whether or not their lives would be better if they faced the truth.
TTQ – Do you have aspirations of seeing Barrett Fuller's Secret made into a movie one day and are there currently any talks underway that might see that happen in the near future?
Scott Carter – There are no talks right now as the book isn’t released until the end of September, but as I mentioned, it started as an idea for film, and I do have experience in the industry so I could see it happening. I’ll keep you posted.
TTQ – What words of advice would you give to aspiring writers and filmmakers?
Scott Carter – That while there is no step-by-step process to follow like becoming a lawyer or doctor, there are blueprints. It’s a slow roast, so put in your ten-thousand hours, start by publishing short fiction or making short films to build your credibility and then feed the momentum by making sure you keep creating new product. Consistency over time is a good goal.
TTQ – What’s next for Scott Carter?
Scott Carter – I’m in the early phases of another novel, and I’m loving it. The world of this concept is a bigger canvas than I’ve created before so it’s been fun immersing myself in that headspace.
Posted 9th September by The Toronto Quarterly
Scott Carter - Barrett Fuller's Secret (an interview)
Interview:
TTQ – What inspired you to start writing and who were some of your early influences or mentors?
Scott Carter – I’ve loved writing since I was a kid. It’s what I gravitated to throughout school, but professionally, I started thinking about contributing a verse during university. I was reading all the time, volunteering at a radio station so I was deep into lyrics, and watching all the movies I could, and I became obsessed with words and expression. I remember thinking that writing felt like the perfect mix of the thrill of entertainment and the importance of enlightenment, and so I started writing my own stuff. Some really bad stuff for while, and then gradually really average stuff, and then a few pieces that were accepted to campus papers.
As far as influences, almost everything I read and a lot of what I watched gave me a spark during university. When I took a swing at doing this professionally, Jack David at ECW Press was a wonderful mentor during my time there as an intern. I knew nothing about the industry and he was kind enough to let me behind the scenes, research and spend time with veteran authors, and observe how books reach publication from both a creative and business perspective. It surprises people when I tell them how important understanding the business end of the journey is as a writer but the time I spent at ECW all those years ago really was the catalyst for my professional writing.
TTQ – How did get you involved with film-making and tell me about some of your short films, and how natural was the evolution of being a screenwriter and now a novelist?
Scott Carter – A childhood friend of mine had just finished film school and was looking to make his first professional short. We wanted to work together, so he dug a short story I had recently published and so I adapted that into a short film. That short, “The Proposition Cheat”, played in numerous festivals and won an award, and that generated interest in feature-scripts, gave me the credibility to receive grant money, and lead to more shorts and more festivals and it flowed from there. My favourite short is one we made for Bravo! called “The Unspoken Promise”. It’s a poetic narrative set to jazz about a father trying to help his son navigate life. And then I had a number of feature-length films receive funding from Telefilm and Astral Media that never reached the screen for a variety of reasons. The development of movies is a slow-roast and things such as not being able to secure the right director for a project, disagreement about where the project should go creatively, and changes in funding administration are routine in the pursuit of getting films made. But everything I’ve written in that world has been worth the time. The collaborative nature of film and the flexibility and ability to re-write under tight time constraints are invaluable lessons for a writer, and have proven to be very useful when I write novels.
As far as the evolution from screenwriter to novelist, I was writing and publishing short fiction while working on scripts, so I was developing the skills required for the nuances of each genre simultaneously. And they feed each other. Ultimately, writing is writing and the more you do it in any genre, the stronger those neurological pathways become. Words come faster, ideas flow better and I see the flaws more clearly than when I become precious about one project.
TTQ – How would you best describe your second novel Barrett Fuller's Secret (Dundurn Press, 2013), and tell me about the genesis behind the storyline and the Barrett Fuller character?
Scott Carter – Barrett Fuller is a best-selling children’s author, who writes under a pseudonym because he is a pig of a man. His life changes when he receives a letter demanding that he live up to the morals he espouses in his books or be outed as the morally corrupt man behind the pseudonym.
The project started as an idea for a movie and the tone of Barrett’s character was clear to me from the beginning, but when I decided to write it as a novel the story expanded. Prose gives the author control over details that you rely on other people for in film, and I really enjoyed writing about his nuances. The secret aspect is fun, but the most intriguing part for me was asking, how is this man who is a walking Id that will choose debauchery over reason every time able to captivate children so effectively? It’s a compelling contradiction, so exploring that irony and what makes a man in his moral state so good at what he does really drove the creation of his character.
TTQ – Barrett Fuller enjoys writing at the beach where he is relaxed enough to do the emotional mining that writers do. Where do you find inspiration and how do you go about doing the emotional mining that writers do?
Scott Carter – The enjoyment of creation is the inspiration, and then reading, watching movies and listening to music feeds the whole process. As far as emotional mining, instrumentals are a must for me. Not while I’m writing, but before to take me into the vibe of whatever I’m hoping to conjour. It has to be instrumentals though, because while I love lyrics, they make me a passive consumer of the song, instead of triggering an emotional response.
TTQ – What kind of things were you better able to understand about yourself or society in general after writing Barrett Fuller's Secret?
Scott Carter – So many things. The dangers of excess, the beauty of kids, the importance of balance, the value of creation, and ultimately the idea that one’s relationships should trump everything. Having a four-year old and one-year-old, I’m definitely on the pulse of how kids affect change. They are humbling, inspiring and ambient in a way nothing else can be.
TTQ – How arduous was the editing process for the novel, and who helped you get through that process and how important was their input in completing it?
Scott Carter – My editor, Allister Thompson, who I was lucky enough to have edit my first novel as well, is a master at what he does, so it wasn’t arduous at all. There were rewrites and tightening of bolts, but he has this wonderful way of making me want to do it, and I can tell you having worked with numerous story editors in film over the years and many editors in various literary journals that it’s not always the case. What he’s great at is pushing the material to be the best it can be instead of trying to insert his creative vision on the project. That’s likely always tempting as an editor in any genre, but I never feel that with him. And that trust allows me to focus on the important part, which is writing better where necessary.
TTQ – What message do you hope your readers will take away with them after reading Barrett Fuller's Secret?
Scott Carter – The word message makes me uncomfortable because I want them to take away whatever they’ve experienced while reading, but I will say that I wanted readers to think about the secrets they keep and whether or not their lives would be better if they faced the truth.
TTQ – Do you have aspirations of seeing Barrett Fuller's Secret made into a movie one day and are there currently any talks underway that might see that happen in the near future?
Scott Carter – There are no talks right now as the book isn’t released until the end of September, but as I mentioned, it started as an idea for film, and I do have experience in the industry so I could see it happening. I’ll keep you posted.
TTQ – What words of advice would you give to aspiring writers and filmmakers?
Scott Carter – That while there is no step-by-step process to follow like becoming a lawyer or doctor, there are blueprints. It’s a slow roast, so put in your ten-thousand hours, start by publishing short fiction or making short films to build your credibility and then feed the momentum by making sure you keep creating new product. Consistency over time is a good goal.
TTQ – What’s next for Scott Carter?
Scott Carter – I’m in the early phases of another novel, and I’m loving it. The world of this concept is a bigger canvas than I’ve created before so it’s been fun immersing myself in that headspace.
Posted 9th September by The Toronto Quarterly
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