But I was more into visual art as a teenager and didn\u2019t really write fiction after that sad first attempt. There was a period, however, during which I thought I was Jim Morrison reincarnated. I had the role down, too: the attitude, the hair, the reckless abandon, the concho belt\u2014pretty much everything but the leather pants and the talent. But then, I was only like 14 and a total idiot. Nevertheless, that was the beginning of writing poetry and songs for me. I did that for many years, still not knowing what the hell I was doing, and eventually I took a fiction class, because deep down that was still something I had an inkling to do. For the last, say, four years, fiction has been my primary focus. I\u2019m still figuring things out, though.<\/p>\n As for favorite writers, I can never answer this question without listing the following authors: Donald Ray Pollock, Richard Lange, Daniel Woodrell, Benjamin Percy, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Flannery O\u2019Connor, Jim Carroll, Sherman Alexie, Stephen King, Clive Barker, and many other seemingly dissimilar writers. Quite recently, I\u2019ve just discovered the work of people like Craig Clevenger, Brian Evenson, Mitchell S. Jackson, and Denis Johnson (people seem to be shocked and appalled that I haven\u2019t read his work before\u2014and after reading some, so am I). Those are some of the big ones for me right now.<\/p>\n You\u2019re currently working on your MFA while simultaneously teaching undergraduates. How has teaching affected your own approach to writing?<\/strong><\/p>\n I can\u2019t say that it has. Not yet anyway. I have recognized that I need to practice what I preach a bit more when it comes to certain things: trusting the revision process, reading my work aloud to find the hiccups in syntax, etc.\u2014but this really applies more to my own academic writing. When writing multiple critical papers at any given time, sometimes it\u2019s all you can do to get them written, never mind toiling over multiple drafts. When it comes to my<\/em> writing, however, especially my fiction, I don\u2019t have this problem so much. I\u2019ll toil as long as it takes, and then some.<\/p>\n In terms of how teaching and being a student (and a husband and a father, among other things) has affected my writing routine<\/em>, well, it can be draining, downright exhausting wearing so many hats. With my writing, it\u2019s become a matter of fit it in when I can. But then, I never had a solid routine to begin with. I\u2019ve tried, but I haven\u2019t found what works best for me in terms of a schedule. I invariably do something writing related every day. Often it amounts to little more than brainstorming or jotting down potential first lines, but some days that\u2019s enough to make me feel accomplished. Some days\u2026<\/p>\n You recently returned from the Juniper Summer Writing Institute in Amherst, Massachusetts. What was the most unexpected or surprising thing you learned during the writing intensive?<\/strong><\/p>\n I learned a lot while at Juniper and met some terrific people. The workshop I was in was revision based, so I didn\u2019t generate much new material while I was there, but I came away with the beginnings of a few new things, several more pages of a work-in-progress, and some excellent feedback on some of my stories. I was so inspired by the atmosphere and sense of community that I had trouble readjusting to life for a couple days after I got home. The passion and talent there was nothing short of invigorating.<\/p>\n Without outlining specifics, I can say that what I got most from the instructional programming were the tips and insights I received from Brian Evenson and Mitchell S. Jackson.<\/p>\n I had the privilege to work with Brian all week, and frankly everything that came out of that man\u2019s mouth was brilliant. He helped me see some areas in my own writing that worked well and some areas that could be better. He also held a craft session that focused on the distinction between people and characters\u2014it was great.<\/p>\n Mitchell likewise helped me identify some things in my own writing. I had a manuscript consultation with him, during which he went through two of my stories with me line by line, showing me areas where the narrative was strong and areas where I should capitalize more on my strengths, which he said are \u201cthe acoustics of the sentence,\u201d \u201cdialogue,\u201d and \u201cdescription of setting, especially natural setting.\u201d These comments were very motivating and encouraging, as these are three elements of prose that are particularly important to me. He also held a craft session that focused on \u201cthe poetry of prose,\u201d which was an absolute goldmine.<\/p>\n What was most surprising, though, was the community of writers. I probably got more from spending time with all these awesome people, from our trips into town, our nightly readings, than from anything else. It was a time I\u2019ll never forget, and I can\u2019t wait to cross paths with some of them in the future.<\/p>\n While in Massachusetts, you posted pictures from Emily Dickinson\u2019s house. In my past travels, I\u2019ve always searched for any opportunities to visit the workrooms of famous authors. What kind, if any, inspiration do you find from visiting the home of famous writers, and how does it inform your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n Visiting Emily Dickinson\u2019s home was the first time I\u2019d ever done anything like that. The most inspiring part of the tour was seeing her bedroom, which they\u2019re in the process of restoring to its original state. Seeing her tiny writing desk and looking out the same windows she gazed through while penning many of her poems was surreal. (I still want to visit Robinson Jeffers\u2019 home in Carmel, CA. That\u2019s supposed to be one hell of a sight.)<\/p>\n Being there only informed my work insofar as it reinforced something I\u2019ve always believed: that great art can spring from anywhere\u2014 if only we pay attention.<\/p>\n In what directions would you like to take your writing (e.g. more short stories, novels, nonfiction)?<\/strong><\/p>\n I want to do it all. Poetry, nonfiction, novels, story collections\u2014you name it. Right now I\u2019m focused on getting some more of these short stories out of my head and working on my thesis, a (tentative) collection of linked pieces. I do want to tackle a novel at some point, but I haven\u2019t taken that plunge just yet. I\u2019ve got an idea brewing, but I\u2019m keeping myself busy with several other shorter projects for the time being.<\/p>\n I have the urge to write creative nonfiction, but whenever I think of an experience I want to write about, I end up turning it into fiction instead. I\u2019ve come to realize people will believe a lot more of your insane life history when you present it as fiction. Much of my fiction has autobiographical moments, sometimes entire scenes wrenched more or less from memory (a lot more than many people would be willing to swallow if I presented it to them in an essay or memoir) but I\u2019ll leave it to readers to decide which of those are fabricated and which are not.<\/p>\n \u00a0Out of your published pieces so far, do you have a personal favorite?<\/strong><\/p>\n The story I consider to be my best, in terms of published pieces, is one called \u201cSomething Special,\u201d which appeared in the Winter 2015 issue of <\/a>Floyd County Moonshine<\/a>.<\/em> Not only do I feel this piece contains an emotional undercurrent while maintaining a relatively hard-edged surface, but it\u2019s much more representative of the type of work I\u2019ve been producing for the last couple years. Most of what I\u2019ve published, with the exception of maybe two pieces, is quite different from (and in many ways not nearly as good as) what I\u2019m writing now. Which is why I\u2019m often reluctant to link people to my earlier work\u2014I\u2019m just not as happy with it as I once was. Nevertheless\u2026<\/p>\n Any links you\u2019d like to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n If you\u2019d like to read something for free, here\u2019s a link to the only creative nonfiction piece I ever published. It\u2019s a decent blend of the kind of prose I\u2019m writing now and the more \u201cspeculative\u201d stuff I haven\u2019t written for a while. A bit of a mashup of fiction and nonfiction. There\u2019s a lot about it that I like and some minor things I don\u2019t. For one, there are some typos, which horrifies me, but I\u2019m human, and so are copyeditors, thus it happens. Anyway, you can read it here: http:\/\/www.jennymag.org\/fall-13-issue\/sad-beauty<\/a><\/p>\n There are some others out there. Somewhere in the ether.<\/p>\n Big thanks\u00a0to Bill Soldan for being part of our author series this week! Find him on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Happy reading!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For this week’s author spotlight, I’m pleased to present jack-of-all-trades author Bill Soldan. Like several of my previous interviewees, I met Bill through\u00a0Sanitarium Magazine where we both\u00a0toil away\u00a0as\u00a0slush pile readers. During the course of our interview, Bill shared his thoughts on everything from balancing work and family to what it’s like to hang out at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-interviews","tag-sanitarium-magazine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2291,"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604\/revisions\/2291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Bill](\"https:\/\/www.gwendolynkiste.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Bill-Soldan.jpg\")
<\/a>Well, I\u2019d like to say I sprang from the womb with writerly ambitions, but I first fell in love with the idea<\/em> around age 12. I stress the word \u201cidea\u201d because, although I was a ravenous reader my whole life, I never really tried to write anything of my own. When I was about 12, I was reading Stephen King\u2019s The Shining<\/em> and discovered my mom\u2019s electric typewriter at about the same time. The result was about a paragraph of something called \u201cThe Deadman\u2019s Shortcut\u201d or something equally ridiculous. I had no idea what I was doing, but King\u2019s novel was the first book to make me cling to the idea of writing stories.<\/p>\n<\/a>Though it\u2019s far from my best work, I\u2019m still in love with my story \u201cPatchwork,\u201d which appeared in Sanitarium<\/em> magazine issue 13. It was the first story I ever completed in my first fiction class as an undergraduate, so there\u2019s some significance there. The story has a lot of flaws, the least of which not being that it\u2019s virtually all surface, meaning there\u2019s little to no emotional undercurrent. I have a tendency to write fairly \u201cdetached\u201d first-person narrators, but since doing this for a few more years, I\u2019m learning the importance of emotional weight and resonance, even in characters that at first seem cold and indifferent. It\u2019s something I think I\u2019m getting better at, slowly but surely.<\/p>\n