Writing Wednesday: Sneaky Peek

I decided to change my weekly Wednesday post just a bit.

Where normally, you would find me talking (mostly) about my WIP(s), now I will also include all things writerly, including writing news from my BFFs, my fellow TCA peeps, my tweeps and any other VIPS 🙂

Have no fear, however, dear readers. I'll bore you with one of my WIP updates later today (I just thought the interview below deserved its own post free from my signature brooding). Things are happening – at a snail's pace, mind you – but I'm still plugging away. Hey…..every little bit counts, right?

Anyway…..as many of you know, Barry Napier is kicking you-know-what and taking names in the dark fiction & poetry world. Exciting things are abound for the lad, and he took some time to give me the inside scoop on his first comic, Birdwatching From Mars.

Do be sure to check out Parts One & Two of my interview with Barry.

If you want to peek even further into the mind of Mr. Napier, he also shared a bit about his writing process. I love hearing about how my fellow authors come up with ideas, seeing their workspaces, getting the lowdown on how their minds work. And short of taking a roadtrip to Barry's place so I can see his Manly Man Writing Cave, this is the next best thing 🙂 Enjoy!

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Getting published is a fantastic rush. Seeing your friends get their writing published is just as exciting! So, when my musical kindred spirit Barry Napier continued to announce one acceptance after the other recently, I decided it was time to get the inside scoop on how his creativity flows.

Q: How does dabbling in different mediums impact your creativity? Is it beneficial or do you feel overwhelmed by ideas?

BN: Recently, I've been writing tons of poetry.  Not only is it a fun creative exercise, but it sort of purges me of over-descriptiveness.  I have a bad habit of over-explaining things in my fiction.  I'll find myself in the midst of this gory violent scene and I somehow turn it into morbidly poetic prose.  Writing poetry has helped me fix this in terms of my fiction…it sort of gets channeled into the short story writer in me.

For example, I currently have a poetry manuscript that I'm shopping around that has a very odd narrative woven throughout it.  So in one way, it can read as a collection of poems and nothing more.  But at the same time, it can also read as this very quick novella in a way.  I'm working on another project like this at the moment that is more fiction based, yet still poetry.  It's been a lot of fun to experiment with things like this and, as a result, I find that I am constantly challenging myself to be a better writer without meaning to do so.As far as being overwhelmed, I don't really get that much.   Sometimes I just have to set one project on the back burner for a while.  But I think having numerous active projects actually helps stir up my creativity…particularly in working with different genres.  It doesn't leave room for barriers or excuses.

Q: How do you handle the scheduling of working on so many varied mediums? Do you plan to work on a story or poem on any specific day, or do you go where your creativity takes you?

BN: No schedules for me.  It really is a matter of going wherever creativity takes me.  The great thing about trying my hand at so many different venues is that if I don't have time in the day to really get involved in a novel or short story, I can always jot out the rough draft to a poem.  And with novels or short stories, having so many active projects is beneficial because if you hit a wall in one, you know that there are a few other options to resort to.

This also has a downside, obviously.  I have two novels-in-progress that have been active for over two years and haven't really seen much growth in a few months because I get other ideas that seem much more important at the time.

I don't allow myself to schedule my writing.  If I force myself to work on something in particular while my mind is wandering to other projects, I have found that the result is poor.  So I write whatever strikes me that day.  It's very similar to chainsaw juggling, I suppose.

Q: Tell me about your recent/upcoming releases & acceptances

BN: First and foremost I am incredibly excited to have recently had my novel The Bleeding Room picked up by Graveside Tales.  It's a book I spent about 2.5 years working on, so it's nice to see it find such a great home.

I'm also still reeling from having Strange Publications release my chapbook The Final Study of Cooper M. Reid.  There are still a few signed, hand lettered copies available.

I have been incredibly fortunate in 2010.  I've had an overwhelming number of poetry acceptances from a wide variety of venues: These Apparitions: Reflections of Ezra Pound, Breadcrumb Scabs, Nefarious Ballerina, Kaleidotrope, and Pedestal just to name a few.
I'll also have fiction appear in the Norton Hint Fiction Anthology and InkSpill Magazine a little later this year.

There's also a very good chance I may have another big announcement later in the year regarding a release in late 2010 or early 2011, but I've been told to keep it hush-hush for now.

The best way to keep up with such news is to frequent my blog.

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If you want to know more about Barry and his upcoming comic book, Birdwatching From Mars, follow Barry on Twitter or hit up the BFM blog.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, Barry! Here's to your continued success!