sorry for the change, but, i needed it.
every so often i feel the need to re-invent myself from the name up.
i hope i'm not breaking any rules here. i won't use selectionill anymore.
now, i get to introduce, and prove myself, again.
what fun!
Vurtomatic Questions-Series One
Q: how long have u been writing?
A: seriously writing, about 9 years. i was 18 when i realized that writing was my form of expression.
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Q: what initially inspired u to write?
A: i had tried many different artistic mediums; painting, music, djing, acting, etc..., and, after either failing misersbly, or simply losing interest, i finally found writing. i come from a family of musicians. my grandfather was a doctor of music at michigan state university, my father was a jazz trumpet player, my brother is a very talented and well respected guitar player and performer, so it took me a bit longer to find my own avenue, after trying to follow the family path.
as for the initial inspiration, probably the mystery and the slightly askew regal impression of William Burroughs, J.D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway and Jack Kerouac. i wanted to be brilliant and mysterious, too.
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Q: what continues to drive u to write?
A: i can't sleep well if i don't.
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Q: what inspires u?
A: i find i am inspired in every aspect of my life, not just in writing. i am an inspired eater, worker, driver... i came to believe, a long time ago, that this is the one chance we've got. our one trip on the ferris wheel, so, i try to stay up at the top as long as i can. i burn like a torch when the sun is out, as well as after it's set.
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Q: how do u lubricate the creative process/how do u overcome a writer's block?
A: i know that every time i sit down in front of my computer or typewriter, i don't have to write a pulitzer prize winning short story or a poem the challenge the giants. sometimes the only thing i'll write in a day is a brief journal entry, others, a whole short story. you see, i just never stop writing, so i never have to worry about starting up again. (watch, just for that, i'll be hit with a great granite witers-block the next time i bring pen to paper)
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Q: what do u do when u find urself recycling images or words?
A: recycling is just as viable a form of writing to me as any other. sometimes, a line of dialogue or a brief routine, or even a setting or charachter will show up in many different peices. i try not to get too bogged down in this eternal chase after originality. evrything's connected and pulsing all at once, anyway, so just let them crash into one another is what i say.
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Q: do u personally think ur writing has a definitive style or free form experiments?
A: i guess i'm the wrong person to answer that question. see, i'm the one writing it, so it all seems pretty familiar and plain to me. i'd have to ask someone that's read enough of my stuff to offer their opinion. i'll let you know what i find out.
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Q: what do u think of ur writings in retrospect?
A: all of it? as a whole, i'd say it's certainly an effort. as for some of them, to quote william burroughs, 'you should take them and tear them into tiny peices and burn them, then throw the ashes in your neighbors trash can'
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Q: any particular subject matter u like to focus on?
A: it's a bit embarassing to admit this in print, but, anyone that's read even one of my works knows the answer to this question. me
Vurtomatic Questions-Series Two
Q: who/what are u influenced by, can u cite anyone?
A: my most significant influences, in literature, are Ernest Hemingway, William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, J.D. Salinger, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut and Flannery O'Conner. in poetry, T.S. Eliot, Leonard Cohen, Jason Wittmer (known to bluelighters as vocab) and Richard Brautigan, with maybe a bit of Emily Dickenson. in painting, Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon, Vincent Van Gogh, Bryan Penn, Marc Chagall and Edward Hopper. in music, Spiritualized, Sigur Ros, Squarepusher, Philip Glass, Autechre, Squarepusher, Charles Mingus, Thelonius Monk and Charlie Parker.
there are many more, but those are the basics.
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Q: can u describe a lifecycle in ur own creative process, from seed to fruition?
A: great question! a little difficult to answer though. the way i usually write, i'll sit down at the computer and warm myself up with some easy going free writing. this is why i love bluelight so much. this forum is where i do almost all of my warming up. it's that feeling of writing for an audience, you know. the possibility of immediate conveyance and response, and after i'm good and ready, i'll switch over to a word file and work on my regular stuff. sometimes, the peices i do in these threads becomes one my larger works and i'll continue working on it in earnest. most of my finished poems or stories get used in local periodicals, become one of my performance peices, or get collected after a certain period of time and i publish them independantly. my wife, who works as my editor as well is the one that rewrites them and figures out the best order, corrects grammer, etc... we have only just begun preparing some of my work for submission to magazines and publishing houses. i've only recently been feeling confident enough for this step. as for the completed life cycle, i don't believe i am ever truly done with a peice. as long as i retain the rights to it, i've been known to change things years later, or even morphing one into something entirely new.
wow, that was one hell of a long answer.
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Q:is there a next level in ur creative endeavour, what is it?
A: as a writer, i have been relentlessly trying to find new ways to convey, to present my stories and poetry to my audience in new and different ways. the old methods of performing spoken word are so dated and cliched, it's painful to watch. i work with live musicians as well as electronic musicians in trying to find a beautiful balance between music and poetry, without falling into the tire tracks of hip-hop and rap. i'm not saying rap doesn't have it's merits, but, i'm looking for something that's a little more free, not so burdened by raps strict time and meter codes. more atmospheric, less rigid. i am also trying to develop new ways of laying out written works. trying to break the restraints of the linear page. a novel shouldn't have to start at page one and click off one page after another till the end. our thoughts don't work that way. i'm always being distracted and misdirected, my attention being turned from A to B to G to R to V then back to C. what would you think of a novel that you could pick up at any point and read, taking that information, that mood and letting it develop based on whatever page you flip to next.
i would love my next collection or works to be an exact relica of the last note book i filled up. now that's poetry.
again with the long answer.
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Q: where do u see urself with ur writing in the future?
A: hopefully continuing with it, actually putting into action the above mentioned ideas, continuing to try new things and make new connections. i'm not too concerned with recognition or fame. just so long as someone out there reads it, and hopefully understands what i'm trying to do, that's enough for me.
great questions, vurt.
seemore
