Ms. Deborah Willis, author of Vanishing and Other Stories and Finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award, shares her thoughts on writing in this exclusive interview with Evadne Macedo, author of The 29^th Day: A Novel

Deborah Willis on Writing:

1. Are there any experiences that you can look back on as being defining moments in your career as a writer of fiction? At what point, did you seriously think of yourself as being a “writer” and did this require some sort of outside validation?

It wasn’t until very recently that I was able to admit to people that I was a writer; to say it out loud made me feel both pretentious and vulnerable. And now that I’ve published a book, people sometimes refer to me as an ‘author,’ which sounds even more strange to me. My writing has always been something I took seriously but that I kept fairly quiet, simply because writing is inherently quiet and solitary. But something certainly changed for me when I published my first story (“Traces” was published in Event magazine). I felt much more confident.

2. Terry Fallis spends months creating detailed outlines, John Irving writes his last sentence first, and Miriam Toews jots down notes until the story overtakes her. How would you describe your personal approach to writing? Would you say that your current process has been refined over time from less successful methods, or is this how you have always written?

Writing is often very laborious and time-consuming for me. Like Miriam Toews, I usually begin by jotting notes down in a notebook. Then I often write reams of pages which I eventually edit down to the finished story. It has happened a few times that I’ve been able to write a story from beginning to end, almost as if it dropped into my lap. But usually I begin somewhere in the middle, with no idea of where I’m going to find the beginning or the end.

3. When you set out to write a short story, what are your goals in terms of plot, character development or the craft of writing itself? Are there any non-fiction guides or great works of literature that you have found helpful in improving your writing?

When I actually sit down to write, I rarely think of such well-defined goals. I begin very intuitively, and often am surprised by the structure or the voice or the plot of a story. I’m always pleased when I surprise myself, because I hope that means the reader will be similarly surprised.

I find that I rarely read writing guides, though some can be helpful when I’m feeling stuck. I think writers learn more about technique from reading literature. In fact, one of the things that I find disturbing about being a writer is that I’ve almost completely lost the ability to read innocently. I can never be wholly wrapped up in a book the way I was when I read as a child. I now always read with one eye on the story, and the other eye on how the story is put together. I’m always trying figure out how a writer does what she does, and to learn from it.

4. At every writing event I have gone to, there is always a question about the mechanics of an author’s writing. Could you please comment on the practicalities behind your writing? For example, do you keep notes in a notebook? If so, at what point to you transfer them to a computer? Do you write on a laptop or a desktop? Do you hide yourself away in a quiet room or write at cafés? And the biggest question of all: Do you use a Mac or a PC?

First things first: I use Mac laptop. But I only use the computer after I’ve fleshed out some of the story in a notebook. If I move to the computer, it means I’ve made something of a commitment to that story. And when I’m writing, I usually need quiet though sometimes I’ll decide that I want some noise around and I’ll go to a public place like a cafe.

5. All writers are influenced by the work of other authors. My personal influences include Margaret Atwood and John Irving. Who has influenced your writing the most, and in what ways? Have you tried to distinguish your writing from these authors in any way?

The stories of Alice Munro have certainly been my biggest influence. Her use of time and the imaginative way she structures her stories thrilled me. I’ve also admired the fact that her stories are quiet, but not boring. Much happens in a Munro story. By that I mean, of course, that they have depth. But, to be totally obvious about it, they also have plots. As a kid, I grew up reading people like Stephen King and Elmore Leonard, and though I’ll never be able to write books like theirs, they left me with a sense that stories should generally have a good plot. Though my stories are short, I want them to have movement and drama.

6. When Miriam Toews spoke at the Humber Writers’ Circle on October 26, 2009 at Harbourfront, she indicated that it was very important to have someone in her life who felt that her writing was a legitimate use of time. Have you been mentored by someone? If so, in what ways was this helpful to you?

I was so lucky to be taught by some wonderful people in the English and writing departments at UVic. Lorna Crozier and Lorna Jackson were very important influences for me, because they are wonderful writers and because they are wonderful women. I also have friends who are at about the same stage in their writing careers as I am, and being able to talk to them about the whole process has been so helpful to me.

7. Some authors rely on friends, peers or trusted advisors to review and provide feedback on early drafts whereas others write in seclusion and pass it only on to agents and editors once it is complete. Where do you fit on this spectrum and why?

I do like to show my stories to trusted friends before I send them off to an editor. For one thing, it forces me to put the story away and not look at it while my friend reads it. When I come back to it, I have a fresh perspective, and I also have comments from a reader who can see things that I’ve missed.

8. When I first spoke with you, I was surprised to find out that you did not have an agent, and yet had been able to get your book published and nominated for a Governor General’s Literary Award. Could you please describe how you got to this point after completing your manuscript?

I was offered a book contract based on a partial manuscript (about eight stories of the eventual fourteen that made up Vanishing). The process began after I won a fiction contest in Prism Magazine. My stories found a passionate advocate, who is my boss at the bookstore where I work, Jim Munro. He’s not an agent, and in Victoria, he’s far from any center of literature. But he adores short stories, and was impressed by the story that appeared in Prism. (That story was “Vanishing.”) He gave out copies of the magazine to anyone he thought might be interested in reading it, and eventually, it found its way into the hands of Nicole Winstanley, one of my editors at Penguin. She asked to see more of my stories, and then offered me a publishing contract. I was lucky in the sense that my stories found their perfect readers, and I’m sure that’s essential for any writer’s success. (A note about the GG: as far as I know, those nominations have nothing to do with agents. Publishers submit books for each year’s award, and the judges of the award choose the shortlist.)

9. You are rather lucky in that you have published your first book, and received literary accolades, at a relatively young age. Do you have any thoughts about where you would like your career as a writer to go next and how to get there? Has your life changed in any way as a result of having published this book? What about after having been nominated for the GG Literary Award?

Being published is wonderful and strange. I think it’s disconcerting when what is mainly a private endeavour is suddenly thrust into the marketplace. I don’t mean that I was totally unprepared for this transition; I was certainly aware of the business of bookselling though my job at a bookstore. And I always intended for my stories to be published. But it is an added pressure. It is frightening sometimes, but I’m also hugely grateful for it.

And no, my life hasn’t really changed! I still work at my little job, and live my little boring life. And that’s probably a good thing.

10. Do you have any final words of advice or encouragement for aspiring writers?

I think most aspiring writers who are serious about it already know what they need to do. I can remind them to read a lot and write a lot, but that’s not too original. I think the secret is to keep going, even though writing is difficult in the sense that it doesn’t pay and there’s never enough time for it. To remain in love with it despite all that seems to me to be only way to continue, and to continue is part of the point.

11. I have been developing some ideas about fiction as a form of cultural philanthropy or a force for positive social change. Do you have any messages or social goals that you try to bring out in your writing?

I’ve never had a social message that I’ve tried to impose on my writing. I wouldn’t be able to do that with any subtlety, though many writers have managed it marvellously. I don’t often feel noble when I sit down to write. I just write with the questionable goal of telling a story that interesting and meaningful, and of creating characters that are complex and contradictory. But my feeling about writing and reading is that both are acts of empathy, imaginative escapes from the self and therefore from self-centeredness. I don’t claim that this at all changes the world for the better, but taking the time to see the world through the eyes of a stranger––even a fictional one––seems an essential part of being alive.

Final words:

Thank you so much for reading the book; I’m so glad you’re enjoying the
stories. I’ll second what Joy Fielding had to say.  It was a pleasure to answer such intelligent questions.

For more information about Deborah Willis, please visit her blog at http://www.deborahwillis.ca/home.php

This interview was originally posted on November 25, 2009 at http://books.macedo.ca