Interview with Brian Griffin and Dawn Reno’s Online Creative Writing Class

(18:39) [Tiffeney] Hello!
(18:39) [Tiffeney] Anybody here?
(18:40) * Tiffeney is happy :)
(18:40) [Tiffeney] Anybody here?
(18:47) [Tiffeney] Hello, am I in the wrong room?
(18:48) [Nickole] Hi, Tiffeney! No, you’re not in the wrong room, you are just the first one here.
(18:48) [Tiffeney] Cool!
(18:49) [Nickole] I’m Nickole Brown, from Sarabande Books. I’m here to help moderate the chat and whatnot.
(18:49) [Tiffeney] Have we talked over the phone before?
(18:50) [Nickole] Ah, yes. Didn’t you order your copies over the phone? I remember.
(18:51) [Tiffeney] That’s me
(18:51) [Dawn] Hi Tiffeney and Nickole -- How are you?
(18:51) [Nickole] My guess is that everyone will be getting here within the next few minutes. Do you have any questions?
(18:51) [Tiffeney] Fine, I thought I was going to get lost so I came early
(18:51) [Nickole] Hi, Dawn!
(18:52) [Dawn] Best to come early, right, Tiffeney? I’m glad I started early because my computer‘s being bad . . . Netscape doesn’t want to work right for some strange reason.
(18:53) [Tiffeney] Well, my screen keeps jumping
(18:54) [Dawn] The screen is just refreshing itself, Tiffeney.
(18:54) [Nickole] Tiffeney, your screen will refresh itself about every 10 seconds. That’s the jumping you’re experiencing.
(18:54) [Dawn] How’s your short story coming?
(18:54) [Rebecca] Hi
(18:55) [Tiffeney] ok
(18:55) [Dawn] Hi Becca! Welcome to the crowd. I feel like we have a real coffee-house type of atmosphere going on here.
(18:56) * Dawn is happy :)
(18:56) [Rebecca] Hi, I’m glad I figured this out... it kept telling me I was not referenced.
(18:56) [Tiffeney] I’ve started it. Must know something. Do you want anything specific in the story? Or do you want us to just follow our book/homework material?
(18:57) [Rebecca] I’ve never chatted except for when my friend had me say hi, so I was wondering if I could do all this okay.
(18:58) [Dawn] Sometimes you just have to keep trying, Becca, right? And Tiffeney, if I can help with your short story, email or call me sometime this week. Sometimes it’s good to talk about ideas with someone else. No, you don’t need anything specific in it. Follow the suggestions in your book and let your imagination do the rest. I’ve always said that stories that bother you should be written.
(18:59) [Dawn] You’re doing fine, Becca. It’s kind of fun to have a whole group together. Things get interesting. The only thing we need to remember is to take turns once Mr. Griffin comes on. I think if we go alphabetically, we’ll be fine. I’m going to sit on the sidelines and let you guys ask the questions.
(18:59) [Tiffeney] Good, then I have the perfect idea
(18:59) * Dawn is happy :)
(18:59) [Tiffeney] I go first, I go first!!!
(19:00) [Dawn] Yes, T -- you do!
(19:00) [Nickole] Rebecca—FYI: I just want you to know I have received your registration twice. I’ve got all your info now, so no need to go through the registration again or anything. Thanks!
(19:00) [Brian] Greetings from the University of Tennessee, where our tireless researchers are working round the clock to turn Hereford Cattle into football players. Any questions?
(19:01) [Rebecca] I’m trying to help Casey
(19:01) [Tiffeney] hahahaha
(19:01) [Nickole] Hi, Brian! Glad to see you made it tonight. . .
(19:02) [Brian] Oh, is Casey also trying to turn cattle into football players?
(19:02) [Holly Daniels] Hello everyone!
(19:02) [Dawn] Hi Brian -- Enjoying your book and the many articles I’ve found on the web. How are things in Tennessee?
(19:02) [Nickole] Tiffeney, you wanted to start the interview questions?
(19:02) [Brian] Hi Nickole, Hi Holly, Casey, Dawn, Tiffany
(19:03) [Dawn] Hi Holly -- Welcome! Tiffeney, you have the first question. Then Casey (when she gets here).
(19:03) [Tiffeney] Mr. Griffin - in the 3 stories of yours I have read, you don’t really give any of them a true ending. Why is that?
(19:05) [Dawn] Am I still on?
(19:05) [Holly Daniels] Yes
(19:05) [Tiffeney] yes
(19:05) [Brian] I’ve had this question before, and it was while standing on a stage in front of about 80 people. I handled it quite well by talking about something else. But now that you ask...one of the things I tried to do in some of those stories was ditch the Freitag pyramid and aim for what Joyce called "moments of epiphany." I thought that having a character solve everything in a tidy little package wou
(19:06) [Brian] would be too artificial. I can explain further if you like
(19:06) [Dawn] Brian, could you please define the Freitag pyramid for my students? We’ve talked about it recently on the Vermont College list, but my students are probably not familiar with the term.
(19:07) [Tiffeney] please explain
(19:08) [Brian] The Freitag pyramid is a teaching tool that implies that stories must always follow a predictable pattern of complication, crisis, falling action and resolution. Of course, that’s useful. But sometimes stories that follow too closely seem artificial.
(19:08) [Casey] In the short story \"Training to be an Astronaut\", do you feel that the character Webb resembles you in any way.
(19:09) [Rebecca] I totally agree that follwoing the pyramid can seem artificial.
(19:09) [Brian] No, I patterned Webb after someone I knew years ago. I think there may be a bit of me in there, but usually I find bits of myself in narrators, most often.
(19:10) [Dawn] Holly, I believe you have the next question.
(19:10) [Casey] Do you chose to have yourself as the Narrator
(19:10) [Holly Daniels] Ok. Brian, in your story Big Ash, did the tree in the begining represent Karlen?
(19:12) [Brian] Let me say one more thing about \"lack of endings\" and Freitag, and then I’ll go to Casey’s question about the narrator. I think teaching tools are useful, and following them is sometimes essential. But I just like to be ornery and not follow rules. Now to Casey, and then Holly. When I’m done, another please...
(19:13) [Wendy Sanders] yes
(19:14) [Brian] Casey asks if I choose to have myself as narrator: an excellent question. I think that sometimes is a good way to get started, but you need to work toward a point in which you can inhabit the skins of NEW, invented characters, which are made up, quite often, of bits and pieces of folks you know, as well as sometimes youself. As Elizabeth Bowen said, Characters pre-exist. Now for Holly’s...
(19:16) [Dawn] Nickole -- Can you call me please?
(19:17) [Brian] In \"Big Ash,\" it may be useful to think of the tree as some sort of archetype of Karlen, but it might be more than that, too. One thing to realize is that, when I began writing the story, I happened to be sitting outside watching some people cut down a big tree. I described it, then the story just happened. At the time, I didn’t know where it would go.
(19:17) * Casey is happy :)
(19:17) [Rebecca] Mr. Griffin, where do you get your ideas and how long does it take you to write a story... do your ideas just flow easily or do you easily get writer’s block? By the way, your imagery is really good... I could actually \"see\" some of what was happening.
(19:18) [Brian] Okay, give me a minute...
(19:20) [Brian] Almost all my stories begin with a disjointed memory that I start playing around with on paper. Sometimes I just suddenly take off with a certain VOICE, and I mean voice in a particular way, while at other times I have to work at it by writing lots of stuff that goes nowhere. I get writers block sometimes when people bother me. I have to have very particular working conditions to avoid it.
(19:21) [Rebecca] My writer’s block tends to happen when people bother me, too.
(19:22) [Holly Daniels] Brian, in the stories I read, war seems to be a player. Were you ever involved in war?
(19:22) [Brian] Rebecca, find yourself a place. A place with no distractions. Visit it every day and work every day. You’ll be prolific if you do...
(19:22) [Brian] Holly, give me a minute
(19:23) [Rebecca] Okay, thanks
(19:23) [Casey] War can be a very tramatic experience and could influence any writers work.
(19:24) [Tiffeney] So, are lovers and you don’t see him writing too much on that subject.
(19:24) [Brian] When I was a child I grew up believing that I would fight in VIetnam. All my uncles were fighters, my brother was drafted, we had no money for college, so gee, may as well go to Nam. BUT IT ENDED! WHat a relief. And I got a scolarship. Ever since, I’ve been interested in how that war shaped my family and my community, so I write about it.
(19:25) [Brian] Whoa! Lovers!
(19:25) * Dawn kisses you all :*
(19:25) [Holly Daniels] My uncle was involved in Vietnam.
(19:25) [Rebecca] I read a lot and somehow the kinds of stories I read have influenced my writing.
(19:26) [Brian] Write about it
(19:26) [Dawn] Brian, don’t you think -all- personal experiences shape your writing?
(19:26) [Brian] Let me respond to Rebecca real quick..
(19:27) [Holly Daniels] I think personal experiences shape a person, and that definately shapes writing!
(19:27) [Dawn] Nickole -- Can you call Pearl please? Thanks.
(19:28) [Tiffeney] Brian to tell you the truth, The Sanctuary confused me a little bit. Ok, maybe a lot. What was the idea/theme behind that. I mean I know Sanctuary is a safe place. But, I just didn’t get it. Untangle my web, please.
(19:28) [Nickole] What is her phone number?
(19:29) [Brian] Probably one of the biggest sources of inspiration for a writer is found inside the writer’s psyche. Coming to understand how that psyche has been shaped by the WORLD is part of a writers business -- trying, at least to understand. But writers do not need to study that: you live in the world, so you can’t escape it. Studying STORIES is the real business of those who would like to be writers..
(19:29) [Wendy Sanders] I read your book. My favorite - Training to Be an Astronaut. I could actually \"hear\" the characters as they spoke. I have a difficult time providing my characters with a voice. Any suggestions?
(19:30) [Brian] Okay, I’ll respond first to Tiffeney, then Wendy...
(19:30) [Dawn] Okay. We need one question at a time. Brian will signal us when he’s ready for the next.
(19:31) [Nickole] Dawn, do you have Pearl’s number?
(19:32) [Brian] \"THe Sanctuary\" was written as an exploration of how the religious solace offered to assuage our human weaknesses often falls short. One way to think of it is to look at all the characters who, in one way or another, look for sanctuary in the narrative. Do they find it? I think someone does, but it is not what he or any of them expected...
(19:34) [Brian] Thanks, Wendy, for that comment about voice. If you look at my \"Questionnaire\" that is included on this website, you will see some interesting comments about how I approach voice -- I OBSESS over it. I think the best advice is to listen not to oddities of language -- southernisms, etc. -- but instead, listen to and try to imitate the RYTHMS of the langauage you hear around you...
(19:34) [Dawn] I’m trying to get it, Nickole. I think she got off the computer to take your call, but I don’t have her number. It’s at work.
(19:34) [Pearl] Yes, me and Brenda F are online together now
(19:35) [Dawn] Hallelujah!
(19:35) [Brian] Next question
(19:36) [Dawn] Brenda, I believe you’re up next.
(19:36) [Nickole] Glad to see you two made it!
(19:36) [Pearl] Ok, sorry. Mr. Griffin did you ever meet Shannon in person?
(19:37) [Brian] Oops...refresh my memory...I changed some names around from my working version, so I can’t remember which character became \"shannon.\"
(19:38) [Rebecca] Good question.
(19:38) [Pearl] Brenda here. Shannon was the girl you met over the telephone.
(19:39) [Holly Daniels] In the story A Few Casualties
(19:40) [Brian] Oh, yeah. In fact, something like this actually happened to me when I was a nerdy pimple person. I DID have a phone relationship with a total stranger, but unfortunately it was not even vaguely sexual. I made that part up. You have to pay money for those kinds of calls these days...
(19:41) [Casey] So write one about having to pay foe those conversations
(19:41) [Brian] Next?
(19:41) [Brian] I’m not that kind of guy
(19:42) [Dawn] On to Pearl . . .
(19:42) [Pearl] Pearl here. Whatever happened to Dixie Pepper?
(19:42) [Rebecca] Were you also a peeping tom like Victor?
(19:43) [Tiffeney] Hey, lets keep that hot tone down in here shall we
(19:43) [Pearl] Pearl here. Amen
(19:44) [Brian] I’m not sure what happened to Dixie Pepper. Very postmodern, isn’t it? It is also rooted in an old-fashioned story telling genre called the \"yarn.\" I was playing around with the idea that, in real life, we sometimes don’t really know the truth, so why should fiction always present \"the truth\" to us in a nice little package?
(19:45) [Brian] My theory is that Dixie was attacked by Oscar...but that’s just a rumor
(19:46) [Tiffeney] that’s mean
(19:46) [Pearl] Pearl Here. I enjoyed reading about Dixie Pepper with here red bikini and red hair. I could see the guy floating in the pool.
(19:47) [Holly Daniels] Brian, I like how you write your stories - with no closure. I think reality is very complex, the perfect form to write from. Even if it is fictional.
(19:48) [Brian] I consider that a high compliment. I try to appeal to the senses in my work, to create what George Garrett calls \"a sensuously affective texture\" with words. I try to appeal to the affect, the emotions, through sensual detail.
(19:48) [Dawn] Hear, hear, Holly!
(19:48) [Brian] Let me respond to Holly...hang on...
(19:50) [Brian] I think readers always expect closure, but it is important to realize (and I think this comes with time and experience) that there are many ways to come to \"closure\" besides tying all the loose ends together at the end. Look at Faulkner, Welty, Hannah -- they are absolute GENIUSES at bringing readers along in ways that can’t be graphed and charted...
(19:51) [Brian] Closure can be emotive as well as plot-driven...
(19:51) [Dawn] The old \"learn the rules before you break them\" . . . authors who know all the stuff we’ve never had a chance to learn. Woolf is like that, too.
(19:52) [Brian] As Annie Dillard says, it is like playing tennis. You have to know the court before you can play the edges.
(19:52) [Casey] I like closure in a story because it makes it seem complete in a neat little package tied up in bows
(19:52) [Nickole] Guys, just a heads up. . . we’ve only got about five minutes left. Any last comments for Brian?
(19:52) [Wendy Sanders] I noticed that each short story contained at least one character from a previous story. How does Sparkman in the Sky related to the other short stories?
(19:53) [Brian] Let me respond to Casey..
(19:53) [Holly Daniels] I agree. Emotions can be a more effective closure than a plot.
(19:53) [Dawn] Brian, I’d like to sneak in a question. What is the implied symbolism in your use of radiation and nuclear power in several of the stories?
(19:54) [Brian] Oops...maybe no time to respond to Casey...maybe I already have. Let me respond to Dawn...
(19:56) [Holly Daniels] I want to thank you Brian, for your time and your insights. I enjoyed it!
(19:56) [Brian] An excellent question that I can wax eloquent on...you know, the entire book can be read as a meditation on a changing world -- rusty barbed wire tripping us up, astronauts wandering the woods -- and I think basically in spite of changes in technology and in our culture, basic human nature stays the same. Karmen is an archetype of the guy who just keeps going, playing by the old rules, in a world
(19:57) [Rebecca] Yes, thank you... I enjoyed your stories and your thoughts.
(19:57) [Dawn] Yes, I saw that. Interesting statement on the world as it stands, and it really packed a lot of power.
(19:57) [Brian] that may require new behaviours...anyway, thanks to you! Been fun!
(19:57) [Pearl] Brenda and Peal here. We also enjoyed the chat. But most of all we enjoyed the stories. Keep up the good work!
(19:58) [Brian] You are too kind to me! Get tough!
(19:58) [Nickole] Just to let you know, I will be sending a copy of this chat to everyone who registered in the discussion area. I want to thank you all for your participation!
(19:59) [Tiffeney] bye
(19:59) [Brian] And just so you’ll know, I can’t remember a bit of what I said...
(19:59) [Wendy Sanders] Most impressive writing. I look forward to your novel.
(19:59) [Dawn] Thanks, Nickole and Brian. And thanks to all of my students. I’ll email you all tomorrow ;-)
(19:59) [Brian] Bye...
(19:59) [Rebecca] Bye
(20:00) [Holly Daniels] Bye:)
(20:00) [Nickole] You’re welcome! See you all at the next chat!