What led you to submit your work to RED SKIES?
One of the professors in the Professional Writing program I’m taking at Algonquin College let us know that Splintered Disorder was taking submissions. I loved the idea of taking pieces from creative writers to put 2020 into a different perspective.
How have you spent the year? Do you have any goals for 2021?
I’ve spent this year working on school and improving my writing. I’m trying to take 2020 and all the chaos as a time to reflect and be with family safely (For example, as I write this my four-year-old Nephew screams in the background and my father has the vacuum going…). So far, my only goal for 2021 is to write and create as much as possible, I hope to start writing a book, and to try and stay in a positive mind set.
What is your creative process? As a student of the Professional Writing program at Algonquin, does group settings impact your writing? Or, do you prefer to work alone?
Inspiration can hit anywhere and anytime, but sometimes you must sit down and force it out as a writer. Sometimes the best work comes out of forcing your brain to be creative (as strange as that may sound), and by training your brain that way, you begin to see everything as creative inspiration. I used to think I could only write alone, mainly because I didn’t have anyone to write with. The program has really taught me differently. Having the opportunity to bounce ideas off other creative people and see the process from the point of view of other writers has helped develop my own writing.
When looking at writing programs, were there any other options that you looked at? What made the Algonquin program stand out to you?
I’ve taken a couple courses at Algonquin (The Tourism and Travel program as well as the Law Clerk program) so it’s sort of my go to place! Creative writing has been the one thing I’ve always felt I was good at and I wanted the opportunity to improve in any ways I could. The learning will always continue.
If you had to pick a single book during quarantine, what would it be?
I’m a big fan of Stephen King and I’ve been reading his book The Institute, which is about the kidnapping of a boy who shows signs of psychic powers by a strange institute where they perform experiments on like-minded children. I find his writing in this piece different than his other works, but it’s a great read.
I’ve also begun reading Great Expectations by Charles Dickens and love the voice and tone from that time.