Interview with:Robert L. Bacon [robertlbacon]
WRITING
 | What did you first read? How did you begin to write? Who were the first to read what you wrote? I remember reading comic books initially, primarily of the superhero variety;
i.e., SUPERMAN, BATMAN, THE FLASH, etc. Then in grammar school I had a wonderful fifth grade teacher, Bernice Hunt, who read a chapter to the class
each day from a book in THE LITTLE HOUSE IN THE PRAIRIE series, and this encouraged me to read all of the books in the oeuvre. In junior high I read mostly young adult material (although the genre certainly wasn't called that at the time) by authors such as John R. Tunis and Will James, before moving on to Poe, Hawthorne, and Twain. I also liked science fiction, especially books by Arthur C. Clark.
When I was twelve years of age I wrote a poem about horse racing, THE LIFE OF THE TRACK. It was not the product of a class assignment, so I guess it's fair to consider it the first thing I composed by way of my own initiative.
My mother always read what I wrote and encouraged me to write more. Unfortunately, it wasn't until almost 30 years later, and well after her death,
that I decided to pursue writing in a serious way. |
| What is your favorite genre? Can you provide a link to a site where we can read some of your work or learn something about it? I enjoy the Mystery and Thriller genres most, and this makes sense since I write in these. For a change of pace, however, I like contemporary literature from authors such as Pat Conroy, Barbara Kingsolver, and Jane Smiley.
I have two books that are currently under review. One, a thriller by a major publisher, and the other a mystery that an independent film producer is considering turning into a screenplay.
One of the best ways to sample my writing is to read the articles on both Writing and Publishing that I create for my newsletter. The articles can be viewed by visiting my web site at http://www.theperfectwrite.com and clicking the Articles button on the right side of the page. And if someone should wish to receive my newsletters on Writing and Publishing (they are free), I presently post material every other Tuesday. A Sign up/Subscription box is at the bottom of the pages on my site. |
| What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write? When something hits me, I set up the principal plot in my mind. I later commit the primary story element to a physical format with plot points I can manipulate as necessary. |
| What type of reading inspires you to write? I still espouse the classics. They are the classics for a reason, and I feel strongly about looking at the best as the motivation to try to also write my best. And I preach what I practice. I facilitate writers' workshops sponsored by The Palm Beach County Library System, and classical literature is the foundation for almost every aspect of my syllabus material. |
| What do you think are the basic ingredients of a story? Very few stories are solely plot driven, so redemptive characters are generally paramount. Without these there is little hope for a work to have legs. After intriguing characters, there is the standard bill of fare (minified as follows): a strong beginning, conflict at various stages, and an ending that satisfies the reader. |
| What voice do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Third person. |
| What well known writers do you admire most? There are too many to name. But my favorite writer is undeniably Faulkner, followed by Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, and Hemingway. I also especially admire Conroy, Kingsolver, and Smiley, whom I've mentioned earlier, and to the list
I would add Doctorow, Wouk, Leonard, McMurtry, Rand, Dos Passos, Tolstoy, Greene, Le Carre, Sinclair, Breslin, and Vidal, plus toss in Dickens and Shakespeare for good measure. |
| What is required for a character to be believable? How do you create yours? For a character to be believable, he, she, or it has to engender an emotional bond with the reader. Whether the character provides good or bad vibes, a relationship (sic, reaction) must occur. This means that I create some characters who people in many ways see as themselves--or wish they could be--if they were tossed into a comparable setting; while others I design for the opposite effect. A character has to resonate with the reader, regardless of its proclivity. |
| Are you equally good at telling stories orally? No, I'm often desultory when I speak at length. I can correct discursive writing, but it's pretty hard to remedy rambling or disjointed oratory after the fact, since I haven't yet figured out how to turn back the clock. |
| Deep down inside, who do you write for? It's easy to say that I write for myself, but the truth is that I write for an audience. I've always written with the thought that someone else might like to read what I committed to paper (or now a computer screen, ha ha). |
| Is writing a form of personal therapy? Are internal conflicts a creative force? Writing for me has always been a personal catharsis. And, yes, internal conflicts have provided the impetus for many of my ideas and even entire projects. Writers have to get their inspiration somewhere, and individual conflicts, whether they be mine or others, provide me with a never-ceasing water supply. |
| Does reader feed-back help you? Sure. Many of us who write get so close to our work that the only way we can develop an accurate evaluation of our efforts is receive honest reader criticism. |
| Do you participate in competitions? Have you received any awards? I don't participate in competitions, but at times my writing has been cited in a positive way for one reason or another. |
| Do you share rough drafts of your writings with someone whose opinion you trust? Even though I am a professional editor, dependent on the specific type of novel it happens to be, I use different industry-respected editors to read and critique my manuscripts. I do not have anyone read my rough drafts, except for my wife on occasion. |
| Do you believe you have already found "your voice" or is that something one is always searching for? I see voice as "the moment." My writing is constantly evolving; therefore, so is my voice. I hope. |
| What discipline do you impose on yourself regarding schedules, goals, etc.? When I'm writing the first draft of a novel, I commit to a four-hour a day schedule until I finish the work. And although I find I lose my creative stamina after 4 hours, I often spend 10 to 12 hours a day during the revision process.
I routinely go through a manuscript, word for word, around 15 to 18 times before sending it to an editor for a critique. If this should be of interest to anyone, I've found that, on average, I spend a minimum of six months making revisions to any manuscipt I write. |
| What do you surround yourself with in your work area in order to help your concentrate? Nothing and nobody. Just my computer and the 19 reference books on grammar that I keep on the shelf above my desk. |
| Do you write on a computer? Do you print frequently? Do you correct on paper? What is your process? I write on a computer. And it took me a while, but I've finally gotten to the point that I'm comfortable reading and editing on a computer monitor. For the final draft, however, I always print the material and read it from good old, really white, 20 lb. paper. Antediluvian as it is, I doubt I'll ever get away from this. |
| What sites do you frequent on-line to share experiences or information? |
| What has been your experience with publishers? I've worked with many different publishers over what is now going on 15 years.
I currently have a book under consideration at Pinnacle, and I have found the executive editor to be superb. Conversely, I recently had another book with a well-known indie, and I determined the thinking of the editorial staff to be quite narrow, while also taking whimsy to another level.
The key in my opinion is to find a publisher who is compatible with the specific genre--or sub-genre, as the case may be--in which the book is crafted. The problem, however, is that a publishing house's critical requirements are many times not clearly defined, yet it is incumbent for the author to understand these nuances. Once these elements are determined, the process can become more bearable. |
| What are you working on now? Since I have two books "working," I'm waiting to learn their disposition. I am kept busy, however, reading clients' manuscripts and offering editorial suggestions via my business, The Perfect WriteŽ at theperfectwrite.com |
| What do you recommend I do with all those things I wrote years ago but have never been able to bring myself to show anyone? Don't take this the wrong way, but my suggestion is to write something else. That old story is just that. I don't think it's beyond the pale to say that people acquire more knowledge as they age. This growth is often reflected in a person's writing.
However, if a person is heart set on relating an old story, I would strongly encourage parsing the original, setting up a story board, and rewriting the work. In this way a fresh look is guaranteed. |
| 
517 visits Whohub
Robert L. Bacon
Boynton Beach, Florida
|
INVITE YOUR FRIENDS
More
About Whohub ![[robertlbacon] Robert L. Bacon](http://www.whohub.com/_pics/25461.bmp?1283746374)