Q: It seems like anyone with an idea and a computer wants to write a novel, but what does it take to write a book that keeps a person turning the page?
A: I don’t think that’s necessarily a computer related issue, since everybody with a typewriter thought they could write a novel. It depends on the degree you’re writing on, whether it’s a literary piece of fiction or some sort of genre fiction. It all depends on who you’re writing for.
Q: How has your writing changed as computers and the Internet have become more prevalent?
A: The way I write has changed, that’s for sure. I started out handwriting before typing it out on a typewriter. It’s impossible now to realize what a pain that was, because if you had a 20-page story and there’s something you really needed to change on page three, there was no alternative but to retype the whole thing.
The ease of generating is now so easy. Now everybody uses computers and hardly anyone would ever think of a typewriter.
Q: What is it about this expanding profession that keeps you writing?
A: I can’t really say I like to do it, (laughs) because it’s difficult and it’s often pretty painful and tricky. It’s what I’m doing, and I think it’s a pretty honest answer, and it’s the thing I do best. I’d love to be a musician. I mean I play, but that would be a mistake of a choice of profession.
I think you drive yourself crazy if you worry about competition. It’s nice to know that people do write.Ultimately the only thing that works for you, is the thing that you do yourself. That is going to set you apart from everyone. The more you agonize about what other people are doing, I feel like you are pulling away from what you want to do.
Q: Did you always see yourself becoming an author? How did your career play out?
A: Things rolled out in a completely different way. I had no thoughts of being a fiction writer until I was 33, and the last thing I could have ever predicted was that I’d have a career in journalism. That was not in the plan at all. The reason I ended up with that low level job at Newsweek was that I was out of work. I couldn’t find a job anyplace and was frantically casting ideas, and I was close to taking a job moving furniture. I happened to be living next door to a guy who worked for magazines in New York City for a long time, and he suggested that I should call a friend of his who ran the department at Newsweek that answered readers’ letters. He said he would hire anyone off the street.
Q: Would you consider yourself a journalist or a novelist first?
A: If you did a word count, I’ve surely published many, many more words of non-fiction than fiction. Since I left that full time job at Newsweek in 2008, I’ve done far less journalism. The training I got in journalism not only helped the journalism, but my fiction. I essentially went to j-school for free. Not just for free, but I got paid to go to j-school by working at Newsweek. It was unbelievable. But also it’s very helpful in fiction writing. I learned to edit myself and I learned how to organize and how to present information. That’s another benefit of working that job.
Q: Where do you see long form writing and books going from here?
A: There’s always been that divide between genre fiction and literary fiction. Genre fiction is more popular. It seems to me that literary fiction and journalism are going to be around, judging by the number of people who are going to MFA programs. Do they all think they can get a book published? Well, yeah, they probably do. Will they all? Probably not. This program at Montana has been successful. There are still teaching jobs and other things with that knowledge, and books keep coming out. If anything, MFA programs are training students to be excellent readers.
Q: Final Word: What’s your getaway spot in Montana?
A:I am away. I live about 35 miles west of Missoula near Alberton. It’s very quiet and beautiful, so I don’t have to go many places. I might take a daylong road trip, but it’s just nice to be here.
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