JIM TOMLINSON - Interview


  

Jim Tomlinson's Website

  

BLOG INTERVIEW - AUTHOR OF THE WEEK
Things Kept, Things Left Behind
Recipient of The Iowa Short Fiction Award


Q: Hello, Jim. With the recent release of your short story collection by The University of Iowa Press, it sounds like you will be having a busy fall schedule, so I appreciate that you've made time for this. First of all, are you enjoying yourself now that the collection has been published?

A: It’s hectic, Jennifer, but in a very good way. And it’s so gratifying, seeing the stories out in the world and well received. So, yes, I’m definitely enjoying it.

Q: I read over some of the notes you made in your on-line journal while you were writing this collection. That's a great resource for writers and I encourage readers to take a look. (Writer's Journal) Often authors craft stories that express some of the details of their own autobiographies. Your emphasis seems to be on the creation of characters who are reacting to an event that has occurred. Is that an accurate interpretation?

A: All stories end up being somewhat autobiographical. How could a writer avoid it? But that’s rarely my aim starting out.

What draws me most in fiction are characters bound together by family, by history, by romantic or other ties. My stories tend to be about husbands and wives, about brothers, sisters, mothers and daughters or ex-spouses. When something major happens, what does it do to them? How does it alter how they are with each other? I’m interested in the tensions between characters. And I’m interested in the secret conflicts within each of them. How or why the “event” that upsets things happened is less important than how their world is changed and the new place it drives them to.

Q: I noticed that several of your stories end with a great deal of impact, but the final outcome is not revealed to the reader. I don't want to give away the element of surprise to future readers, but I did notice this in "Lake Charles," "Things Kept," and "Things Left Behind." What's a reader to do? Imagine his/her own ending?

A: Endings in fiction sometimes feel contrived to me. How often in real life are things tied up neatly and put away? More often, things change in some way and keep on going.

For me, a story ends when something substantial changes for the characters or the reader, the moment how they view their slice of the world is altered in some essential way. That sharp realization is the impact you’ve mentioned. I don’t know. It’s hard talking about my stories in specific terms. I don’t like deconstructing them. After all, I’ve worked very hard to have them appear to be these organic, seamless things.

I like your idea, Jennifer, of readers taking the stories in Things Kept, Things Left Behind in whatever direction they want. I’ve done my part with what’s on the page. Now they’re free to take it beyond that to wherever their hearts desire.

Q: Can you explain your writing process: from moment of inspiration, to writing it down, choosing language, and then revision. Some authors say the story is complete when they begin to type while others say the act of writing produces the story. I'm particularly interested in getting regional dialect and dialog just right, and selecting language like: "Randy horses a fat log next to her." I think I said an audible "wow" after I read that.

A: My process for beginning seems to change with every story. In the middle somewhere there is always a moment where I step back and try to understand what the story wants to be. And my process always ends up the same way—seemingly endless revision, rewriting, and working on the language. Which is a long way of saying that almost nothing of the ultimate story exists when I first start typing. Nearly all of it comes from the work, the process.

“Lake Charles” began with a first sentence almost identical to what you see in the book—and nothing else. “First Husband, First Wife” came out of a newspaper clipping about a judge’s ruling in a minor drug case. “Stainless” began with the story’s final image of the man, the cookware and the birds. For me the key seems to be to find something intriguing, then sit at the keyboard until the bright idea dies or until I’ve made something artful from it. If you’ve read my online journal, then you know that most short stories take many weeks, sometimes many months, for me.

Story narrative voice and character dialect are things I allow myself to over-write in early drafts. But during revision, as a story starts rounding into shape, I cut both back. And I’ll usually keep cutting back on them right up to the end.

Some wise person—and I’ve forgotten who—said that often in writing, one plus one equals one-half. That applies as much to dialect, to folksy sayings, as it does to similes and metaphors. Adding another flourish often ends up detracting from what’s already there. The actor’s version of that is: Less is more. Randy “horsing that fat log around next to her” works because it’s not competing with the five other folksy sayings that I edited out of adjacent paragraphs in revision.

Q: You mention that you get reader feedback on early drafts from Zoetrope's On-line Studio, and also participate in in-person workshops and conferences. At this point, which do you prefer?

A: It’s changing. I rarely submit anything for critique now at Zoetrope Virtual Studio that doesn’t seem nearly finished. The most valuable thing I can hear is where the reader is confused or misled. Those are almost never good things. And they’re aspects you, as the author, can be quite blind to. The great thing about the people online with Zoetrope is that they’re incredibly diverse. So the feedback is, too.

I have excellent reviewers in my face-to-face group. But they know my writing so well now and they understand what I’m trying to do. Yes, in many ways, that’s helpful. But that makes them less able to spot things that might confuse or mislead less familiar readers. So each have their limitations.

A local group is a social thing, too. Writing is a solitary activity, and it’s wonderful to spend time with others who do it. In fact, that’s what I enjoy most about conferences, too, getting to socialize with like-minded folks.

Q: I also noticed, from your on-line journal, that you study other authors' beginnings and endings. Isn't it fun to share crafting habits with the on-line world? I take notes on action and information in the opening chapters of novels and draw charts (to understand pacing.)Have you always done this or is this a more recent practice? Which authors have been the most helpful?

A: In my prior incarnation, I was a manufacturing and design engineer. Taking things apart to see how they work is what I’ve always done. In industry it’s how competitors’ products are analyzed. The process even has a name – reverse engineering.

While I don’t view Andre Dubus II or Raymond Carver or Jill McCorkle or Tony Earley as competitors, I do try to deconstruct their stories. I want to understand how they create them. Of course, I read the stories first for pleasure, and to experience them as a reader. But then I reread with a writer’s eye. I study them, looking for the story’s bones, the structure, the craft.

I just named four authors, and there are probably twenty more whose work is instructive to me. Every writer has a different list, and that’s as it should be. The important thing for someone learning to write fiction is to read widely. Find those few authors whose work truly speaks to you. Then read and re-read their stories. See if you can catch them doing what they do. And then try to create a story of your own in a similar way. Other artists—painters, for example--do this all the time. Musicians cover each other all the time.

Q: Many of the stories in this collection seem to be good openers for novels, and I see that you are currently at work on one. Are you lengthening any of the stories from this collection or does your novel involve new characters? Do you find it a challenge to switch from the short, intensity of a story to a long, more-drawn plot and the deeper characterization necessary in a novel?

A: Novels are a huge challenge for me, Jennifer. I wrote three novel manuscripts in recent years, none of which is publishable. I’m hoping what I’ve learned from working in short fiction will help with the new novel. Both forms are fiction, but shaping a novel with its long story arc is quite different from creating the moment that lies at the heart of a short story.

I’ve tried lengthening and extending a couple short stories from Things Kept, Things Left Behind to see if either felt as if it might become a novel. Neither wanted to, though. What I’m writing now is a fresh start with a new cast of characters. It feels more novel-sized from the start.

Q: Any advice to writers who are new to the game?

A: Nothing but clichés.

Read.
Write every day.
Revise and revise and revise again.
Don’t lose faith.
Trust yourself.
Listen to criticism, but don’t give it undue weight.
Rejection, while necessary, is ultimately irrelevant.
Dare.

(Did I miss any? They’re all true, by the way.)


Q: Would you describe writing as an art or a discipline?

A: My wife, Gin Petty, is an artist. (Gin Petty) She’s largely self-taught and expert in several media. When I watch her at work, I see a creative process much like writing. She’s concerned with things like physical shapes, colors and surface textures, while my concerns are typically narrative shape, tone, and character voice. Ultimately, we’re both trying to create an artful thing. Mine just happens to be a story.

Yes, it’s an art, but it requires craft and discipline on the writer’s part. For me, an inspiration is a bare beginning. Coming up with a fantastic idea for a story means the hard work is about to start.

Thanks, Jim, for participating in this week's interview. Best wishes to you and for your continued success with this collection.

Thanks, Jennifer. I’ve truly enjoyed it.

  

(Sign near author's home in Madison County, Kentucky)