tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61365763099555774852023-06-20T06:56:38.245-07:00An Interview with Michael ArnzenFSU Creative Writing Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11343309515015496407noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6136576309955577485.post-8997609645785953832015-06-15T08:16:00.003-07:002015-06-15T08:21:14.080-07:00An Interview with Michael ArnzenIn preparation for the upcoming Nightsun Writer's Conference (July 23-26, 2015), we've asked horror author <a href="http://gorelets.com/" target="_blank">Michael Arnzen</a> a few questions. Arnzen will be teaching the sci-fi, fantasy, & horror workshops as part of Nightsun alongside Allison Joseph (poetry), Tim Wendel (creative nonfiction), and Karen McElmurray (fiction). You can find more information about the Nightsun Writer's Conference <a href="http://www.frostburg.edu/cwcenter/workshops/nightsun-writers-conference/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<b>As a four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, what is it about the horror genre that you find so fascinating?</b><br />
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I think horror is such a part of my worldview that I don't really
think other genres can satisfy me anymore. I'll read a story or watch a
movie and no matter how compelling the conflict might be, I find myself
imagining how much worse things could be --
how creepier it could be, how gorier, or how much more psychologically
devastating. Horror is the genre of the "worst case scenario" and
that's what I like to read and think about. As a writer, it pushes me
to go "over the top" with my imagination, since
the genre really is grounded in surprise -- in "going too far."<br />
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<b>Who is your favorite horror author? Beside horror, what is your favorite genre to read? Why?</b><br />
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Lately, I'm re-reading Thomas Harris. He's a "thriller" writer, I
suppose, but the Hannibal the Cannibal books are frightening and
horrifying and just filled with "the evil that men do" in a really
artfully-written and deviously-designed way. Aside from
horror and thrillers, I'm reading a lot of action/adventure titles of
late, too, rediscovering what is fun about James Bond and The
Executioner and other forms of pop lit that I sort of skimmed and
overlooked when I was growing up. I'm captivated by the simple
draw of a well-delivered noir line of dialogue or exposition, and I
think the simplicity of character motivation doesn't make the books any
simpler. But as far as "favorite genres" go, the true answer is
literary criticism. I know I will learn something new
or be provoked in some way when I read theory, and it often feeds into
my fiction in a way that reading other storytellers does not.<br />
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<b>100 Jolts is a book of flash fiction stories. Do you enjoy writing terrifying flash fiction or horror novels more? Why?</b><br />
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I enjoy flash more. Why? Because flash invites and allows more
experimentation with form, whereas novels are more about playing with
content and character. I love the puzzling out that goes on with
poetry, and flash is more akin to poetry writing: the
language seems to matter more, because there's less of it and it invites
scrutiny -- and it also can be more implicit than direct. The world of
the novel can be a great places to spend time in, but for me the
"wanderlust" of writing for me isn't in exploring
a character, so much as it is located in an intricate plot and
psychodrama.<br />
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<b> What is your most successful revision strategy? Do you revise
differently depending on whether you’re working on flash fiction, short
stories, or novels?</b><br />
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No. It's all the same. I try to open the can of worms that is my
unconscious brain when I write. It isn't well composed. While revision
can be dull if it's just copy-editing, I try to approach revision as
just as much fun as inventing new things. It's
all a form of discovery for me -- an opportunity to around in what fell
out of my fingertips and seeing what diamonds are in the rough, and how I
can polish them up. But I do try to take off my "writer's cap" when I
revise, and instead just approach the manuscript
as a reader. That means setting the work aside for a day or two, and
maybe even reading something else, then returning to my words and seeing
how well they welcome me into a full experience of the text. I also
see if I can add more layers of depth to the
text -- such as by foreshadowing an outcome with a subtle symbol or even
inventing a new plot twist. I bring that same impatience I have with
non-horror fiction to my own fiction -- as I said before, imagining the
"worst case scenarios" implied by any given
scene...and trying to make them even worse than I had in the first
draft!<br />
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<b> What advice would you share with aspiring writers that you wish you had known when you were just starting out?</b> <br />
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I think one thing I was slow to realize was that writing is not the
solitary act we all assume it is. We do have to spend a lot of time
alone with our word processors and notebooks, penning privately. But
writing is foremost an act of communication.
So my advice is to seek out opportunities to share your work with a real
audience of readers. This does not mean just posting stuff online in a
blog (though you can) -- I think corresponding with a critique partner,
attending a workshop or a conference related
to your area of the industry can work wonders for you. It can be a
wake-up call or a siren's call. You shouldn't do this stuff if you
don't feel "at home" in the industry. We don't learn how to write from
things like classes and workshops, so much as how
readers read, but that might be more important when getting started than
we realize.<br />
Otherwise, all the usual advice applies: write daily, even if it's
junk; read more than you already are -- in many genres; recognize that
everything you encounter and experience is all grist for the writing
mill; and persist at trying to improve. <br />
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Four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author Michael Arnzen (<a href="http://gorelets.com/" target="_blank">http://gorelets.com</a>) will be leading the workshops on speculative writing (science fiction, fantasy and horror) at Nightsun in July. FSU Creative Writing Centerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11343309515015496407noreply@blogger.com0