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

(17:30) [Nickole Brown] Welcome to the Sarabande in Education Chatroom! Tonight Dawn Reno's online creative writing class will be chatting with Brian Griffin.
(18:35) [Dawn Reno] Hi Nickole
(18:37) [Jayne] Hi Everybody
(18:37) [Mandy] Hey guys!
(18:37) [Dawn Reno] Hi Jayne!
(18:38) [Dawn Reno] Hi Mandy — Welcome! How are you both doing?
(18:38) [Jayne] Still have this cold.
(18:39) [] Guten Morgan
(18:39) [Mandy] Great! I wanted to make sure to get here early so I could get the feel for everything.
(18:39) [Jayne] Are you feeling better?
(18:39) [Dawn Reno] That flu tends to stick around a lot.
(18:40) [Mandy] I know the bug has been going around
(18:40) [Jayne] Mandy, it's alot of fun. I do something like this with Mr. Schultz.
(18:40) [] Hello, from Sherry.
(18:40) * Mandy says hello to you all!
(18:40) [Dawn Reno] Hi Sherry! How are you doing?
(18:41) [Jayne] Hi Sherry.
(18:41) [] How come my name isn't written first?
(18:42) [Dawn Reno] Sherry, go back out and check in again. It'll ask you for your name.
(18:43) [Yvonne Shope] Hello Everyone
(18:43) [Dawn Reno] Hi Yvonne — Welcome!
(18:44) [Mandy] Hey Yvonne
(18:44) [] DID IT WORK?
(18:44) [Jayne] Hi Yvonne.
(18:44) [Yvonne Shope] I had a very hard time getting on the internet..
(18:44) [Yvonne Shope] Hello Everyone
(18:44) [Mandy] I do not think so
(18:44) [Dawn Reno] Well, at least you're here, Yvonne ;-) Who's your server?
(18:45) [Yvonne Shope] Nefcom
(18:45) [Dawn Reno] Sherry, we'll just dub you "the box."
(18:45) [] I went out put my name on the last screen before coming in but it hasn't put my name on yet. I'll type it in.
(18:46) [] lol.lol.lol
(18:46) [Dawn Reno] Don't know that server, Yvonne. Well, everyone, we're waiting for Brian. Do you all have your questions ready? Everyone get the books?
(18:46) [Yvonne Shope] mine did not come.......
(18:46) [Dawn Reno] Yvonne, you have general questions, right?
(18:47) [Mandy] Yes got my questions! No my book has not come in!
(18:47) [Yvonne Shope] yes I do. I read his interview and the sample of his book.
(18:47) [] I have all but the main book. thought I had them all but then realized I was missing the Writer's Craft
(18:47) [Jayne] I have my questions ready. Yes I have the book
(18:47) [Dawn Reno] Great! You should all just remember that you can ask Brian whatever you want.
(18:48) [] [sherry] I really enjoyed his stories
(18:48) [Jayne] I was looking through this area earlier and found some insight into him. He sounds very interesting.
(18:49) [Dawn Reno] You'll learn a lot from his stories, Yvonne. He's a real craftsman.
(18:49) [Yvonne Shope] I am going to look around the site, be back in five minutes
(18:49) [Jayne] How many people are we going to have online this evening?
(18:49) [Mandy] I enjoyed his stories too!
(18:50) [Dawn Reno] Which ones did you like best?
(18:50) [] [sherry] I liked the Sparkman in the sky best
(18:50) [Jayne] I enjoyed Home fot the Weekend
(18:51) [Mandy] I'll I had was AFew Casualties andHome for the weekend! But I enjoyed them both. I love how he is so descriptive!
(18:52) [Jayne] Which one is your favorite?
(18:52) [] sherry] Me too!!! I was amazed at his detail
(18:52) [Dawn Reno] He creates some wonderful similes and metaphors — and his voice is great, especially when he's talking from a kid's perspective.
(18:52) [Deanne] Hey class everyone is here early
(18:53) [Dawn Reno] Have any of you started your stories?
(18:53) [] sherry] Barnes was so good I didn't like him.
(18:53) [Dawn Reno] Hi Deanne! How are you?
(18:53) [] sherry] Hey, Deanne
(18:54) [Mandy] Hey Deanne
(18:54) [Deanne] Good how are you?
(18:54) [Dawn Reno] Before Brian gets here, I just want to remind you all that we're going in alphabetical order. Let me get my roll sheet, so I can tell you when you'll be asking your questions. Also I want everyone to stay here until 8 p.m. Consider this class time, okay? ;-)
(18:54) [Mandy] Sherry Jinx
(18:54) [] [sherry] No, I was trying to wait on the book to read chap 8,9,
(18:56) [Jayne] I've been sick so I'll have to bear doqwn the next few days.
(18:56) [Dawn Reno] Brian sometimes will answer a question quite completely, so we'll have copies of the chat sent to you so you'll have it later on. Here's how the questions will go (and I'm listing by who's here already). Jayne will be first, then Mandy, Sherry, Yvonne, Deanne. We're missing a few people, but it's not quite 7 yet, so if they come in, things will change.
(18:57) [Mandy] Are we supposed to use our stories from chapter 8and 9
(18:57) [] [sherry] Ms. Reno do we need the writer's craft workbook to go along with the book?
(18:57) [Yvonne Shope] I have been sick also, plus I am fighting with my calculator TI83 I have never had a calculator that comes with a book before.
(18:58) [Dawn Reno] Mandy, you can use them as a starting off point. What I'd like to see is a complete short story. Sherry, no, you don't need the workbook. The questions/suggestions for writing are within the chapter.
(18:58) [Mandy] Okay thanx!
(18:59) [Dawn Reno] Does anyone else have any questions before we start? Brian should be here any minute now.
(18:59) [] {sherry] Good I've called the states alot over the last few weeks about books .
(18:59) [Nickole Brown] Hello, all. Good to see you all here, prepping and everything. Just to let you know, I've only gotten two registrations so far, so if any of you want a copy of the chat sent from here, make sure to register at the beginning of the discussion area.
(18:59) [Dawn Reno] Sherry, I forgot you were in Germany. Were you able to get the Sarabande books (Brian's and Belle Waring's)?
(19:00) [Brian Griffin] Greetings from the University of Tennessee, where our crack team of researchers (whom I've told you of before) has only this week discovered a cost-effective technique to turn defensive linemen back into Hereford cattle during the off-season. Needless to say, this saves the athletic department lots of money.
(19:00) [Dawn Reno] Nickole, I can always send the group a copy of the chat when you send it to me.
(19:00) [] sherry] Yes, I did get those .
(19:01) [Nickole Brown] Hi, Brian!
(19:01) [Dawn Reno] Hey Brian! Get those Tennessee boys shaped up or the Gators will eat ‘em for lunch.
(19:01) [Brian Griffin] The chimp-quarterback switch is still being perfected...
(19:02) [] sherry] GO GATORS
(19:02) [Mandy] Go Gators!
(19:02) [Dawn Reno] Chimps are too short . . . gotta get an ape in there. Well, Brian, I think the class is definitely ready for you. I warmed them up with opening remarks! Hope you're ready for us.
(19:02) [Yvonne Shope] Go Gators
(19:02) [] sherry] Mandy Jinx
(19:02) [Brian Griffin] Did I get this right — someone bought Sarabande books in Germany?? {AT LEAST GATORS ARE HONEST ABOUT WHAT THEY ARE...}
(19:03) [Brian Griffin] I'm ready.
(19:03) [] sherry Yes
(19:03) [Dawn Reno] Yes, Brian, we have an "international" creative writing class this semester. Cool, huh?
(19:03) [Dawn Reno] Okay, Jayne, you're up first.
(19:03) [Jayne] Hi Mr. Griffin, in your story "Home For The Weekend" a man comes face to face with racism. Was there a time in your life that you were suddenly faced with racism and did that have anything to do with you writing this story?
(19:03) [Brian Griffin] That's way cool. SHOOT...
(19:04) [Brian Griffin] Okay Jayne
(19:05) [Brian Griffin] That story is probably the most autobiographical of all the stories in the book. But it is pure fiction. It is autobiographical in the sense that yes, I came from a racist family that went through some changes. And I wrote the story to try to understand those changes.
(19:06) [Dawn Reno] Brian, do you want to elaborate on how to use truth in fiction?
(19:06) [Jayne] Okay. Thank you. I really enjoyed it.
(19:06) [Brian Griffin] By the way, I intend the story as a statement of how the changes are still incomplete...hence the ending.
(19:07) [Brian Griffin] Okay Dawn...
(19:08) [Dawn Reno] Mandy, when Brian finishes his answer to my question, you're up.
(19:09) [Brian Griffin] Real events in real time often fail as fiction. Often they work, too, but it is important to remember that just because "it happened" doesn't mean anyone will believe it or care about it. All story telling is fiction, when you get right down to it. May as well allow yourself total freedom by letting characters take over and change "what happened" into a good construct for the reader to roll in.
(19:10) [Mandy] I also noticed racisim! But a theme that seemed to stick out more was in A Few Casualties, when the war seemed to have a big impact on everyone! How did the Vietnam war effect you and your writing? By the way I really enjoyed your stories and writing style!
(19:11) [Brian Griffin] Thanks Mandy...just a second...
(19:13) [Brian Griffin] In A Few Casualties I was trying to capture how it felt to grow up expecting to fight in a war. We forget how pervasive a war is, on a personal level, when ordinary folks see it as what all their education and youth is leading to. The sotry is an exploration of war as idea and destination, and how it numbs ambition.
(19:14) [Mandy] I agree. Did it make you feel that way.
(19:14) [Tangela Williams] Where was the setting of the story and was it fictional
(19:15) [Dawn Reno] Wow, Brian, I never thought about it that way. But it certainly is true. I remember growing up in that generation and always having a boyfriend to write to in VietNam. Sherry, it's your turn.
(19:15) [Dawn Reno] Sorry, Tangela. I didn't know you were here. We're going alphabetically ;-)
(19:16) [Brian Griffin] To Tangela: just a second
(19:16) [] sherry Mr. Griffin I really enjoyed your writings how do you remember all the sensory details you put into a setting?
(19:17) [Brian Griffin] The setting of that story (and of all the stories) is a fictionalized version of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, where I grew up. I took great liberties with the landscape. That's the joy of writing fiction — everything is like clay.
(19:17) [Brian Griffin] Now to Sherry...
(19:17) [] sherry] I could see so much pictured in my mind from your descriptions
(19:18) [Deanne] I am back I keep getting kicked off the net
(19:19) [Brian Griffin] I focus on sensory detail as a kind of self-hypnosis. It is a good thing to do, because it puts me mentally into a place, where fictional people are, and I can be there with them. And it works well, too, because if you provide the reader with those sensory details, you've captured him/her. You've bullied your way into their minds, as Joan Didion would say.
(19:19) [Brian Griffin] The best way to capture a reader is to make her see, taste, feel...
(19:20) [] sherry] Your a good bully.
(19:20) [Dawn Reno] That's the truth — then twist one of those senses into a simile or metaphor. Yvonne, you're up.
(19:20) [Yvonne Shope] Hello Mr. Griffin, When did you first start writing? Was it something that you felt inside, some need? I think that most writers are basically called to write and that when they are creating stories it gives them fulfillment. Do you agree with that statement?
(19:20) [Brian Griffin] aw shucks
(19:21) [Brian Griffin] Okay Yvonne...
(19:23) [Brian Griffin] I spent several years as a visual artist before writing seriously. I get some of the same satisfaction from writing that I got from painting and photography — a feeling that I am making sense of things. I basically agree with the statement you proposed, except I quarrel with the word "fulfillment" SOmetimes its much less than that...and simultaneously, more than that too.
(19:23) [Brian Griffin] It is a sense of doing righteous battle...
(19:23) [Brian Griffin] with myself
(19:24) [Brian Griffin] okay, next
(19:24) [Dawn Reno] Ah, writing is always a battle with oneself. Deanne, you're up?
(19:25) [Brian Griffin] she must be battling with herself
(19:25) [Deanne] Hi Brian, which short story is your favorite in "Sparkman in the sky & other stories"? Which story was the most difficult to write? And why? Your characters are so deep, are most of these characters yourself? "
(19:28) [Brian Griffin] I'm not sure of the answer to either of those questions. Maybe my favorite (now) is Goats, simply because it is such a confection. But I know that the others look harder at life, and tell more. The hardest to write was "Sparkman," because it changed so much in the telling. I was trying to write about taking a ride in a Volkswagon with my grandfather. Didn't turn out that way, though.
(19:28) [Deanne] Do you look at life as deeply and as dark?
(19:29) [Dawn Reno] Sometimes it's hard answering questions like that, huh, Brian? Mandy, step up to bat;-)
(19:29) [Mandy] Okay
(19:29) [Brian Griffin] As Deanne: I look at life as full of smidgens of light. I think they can be found in the stories...
(19:30) [Brian Griffin] Okay, Mandy
(19:30) [Mandy] A question that I have always wanted to ask! When you are at the begining of your story do you know the ending or do you just let it evolve?
(19:31) [Brian Griffin] An excellent question...just a minute
(19:33) [Brian Griffin] Some stories have an ending even before they begin. But many of my stories evolve, even if an ending is already suggested before I start. Eudora Welty says "A story isn't the same thing when it ends as it was when it began...something happens in the writing of it...it BECOMES." I urge you to try that with your own writing. Set a stage, and let your characters act.
(19:34) [Mandy] Awesome thanx!
(19:34) [] sherry, ] Have you ever been totally discouraged after letting a publisher read a story? What is the toughest part of writing for you?
(19:36) [Nickole Brown] Hey, guys. Brian just called me. He's been kicked off line and is in the process of logging back on right now.
(19:37) [Dawn Reno] I'll step in for a couple of minutes. Sherry, every rejection is a discouragement, but if you want to write, you keep on keepin' on.
(19:37) [Dawn Reno] And I think the toughest part of writing is the rewriting. The first draft is like the blush of an adolescent girl. Perfect and exciting. Then you realize that the blush has disappeared and you see a few pimples here and there. Then, you really begin the writing process.
(19:38) [Dawn Reno] The great thing about writing is the excitement of finding your way in the story — then having your characters become so alive, you feel like they are part of your family.
(19:39) [] sherry] That's when you know you are back on track?
(19:39) [Brian] The thing is, re-writing is most of the fun, because it is there that you start to analyze your readers, so you can figure out how to keep the movie alive in their minds.
(19:40) [Dawn Reno] That's when you know you have a handle on the reality of fiction. Sounds like an oxymoron, but it's true. Fiction has its own set of realities, and first and foremost is that the AUTHOR believes in them.
(19:40) [Dawn Reno] Welcome back, Brian. Go for it, Yvonne.
(19:40) [] sherry]this sounds ecxiting to create/
(19:41) [Tangela Williams] Hello Mr. Griffin, Do you find yourself escaping in your writing into a sense of reality? If so do you find that your thoughts come more rapid to you?
(19:41) [Yvonne Shope] Mr. Griffin, When you develope a character can you see them in your mind?
(19:41) [Brian] Tangela: I'm not sure I understand what you mean.
(19:41) [Brian] I'll do Yvonne's
(19:42) [Dawn Reno] Tangela, while Brian's answering Yvonne, maybe you can reword your question and ask it when he's done, okay?
(19:43) [Yvonne Shope] Mr. Griffin, When you develope a character can you see them in your mind?
(19:43) [Brian] You know, Yvonne, I don't always see them in my mind, but I've found that if I remind myself to do so — to give them a cleft chin, or something — it helps immensely. I'm reading Dickens right now, and I know he saw all those characters quite vividly. Not seeing them physically might be one weakness I have, but I'm working on it.
(19:44) [Yvonne Shope] I try to see them in my mind also. I feel it makes them more real for me.
(19:45) [Dawn Reno] I often search for photos of "characters" in newspapers or magazines, hang them on my bulletin board, then "write them into a story." Tangela, are you ready?
(19:45) [Tangela Williams] When writing in a fictional sense do you find yourself thinking thoughts of reality to go along witht he fictional story. In other words do you blend fictional and reality in your stories?
(19:46) [Brian] okay, just a second
(19:48) [Brian] One thing a fiction writer cannot invent is detail. You can select detail — what a person looks like, what a place looks like — but you can't invent it. Every detail you use in fiction comes from the "real" world, ultimately. So in that sense, reality is pervasive. But fiction is an artifice, a fakery. You are trying to fool your reader into accepting it as "real."
(19:48) [Dawn Reno] While Brian's composing his answer, let me just remind you guys that we can schedule a chat of our own later in the semester. Is that something you'd all like?
(19:49) [Dawn Reno] Sorry, Brian . . .
(19:49) [Mandy] Yes!
(19:49) [Brian] No problem. next
(19:49) [Yvonne Shope] That sounds good.
(19:49) [Dawn Reno] And those details are important! Deanne?
(19:50) [Brian] Selecting detail well is what ultimately makes a story succeed.
(19:51) [Deanne] When you were a youngster did you always have the dream or goal to be a writer? Have you always had the creative ability to create such stories? How many books have you written? Are you in the process of writting something now? If so, when will it be available to the public?
(19:51) [Nickole Brown] Dawn, you or any number of your students are welcome to meet in here at any time. Just make sure to check with me first to make sure that there isn't another class scheduled at that time.
(19:52) [Dawn Reno] Thanks, Nickole. I have a chat room in the online course site we have. Looks like we have about five more minutes. Anyone else have questions for Brian?
(19:52) [Mandy] I know you get asked this question 450 times a day but i will ask anyway! What strated your intrest in writing? What was the moment you know there was nothing else for you?
(19:52) [Jayne] Is there any kind of story that you would not write and if so, why? One more thing, what advice would you give us to become creative writers?
(19:53) [] sherry] What has been the shortest/longest time for you to complete a story? Can you tell us a little bit about the Novel I read you are working on? Yes, to the chat later on for the class.
(19:53) [Brian] When I was young, I was utterly oblivious. I had no idea what my options were. Nobody in my family read, except the Bible. I used the Bible as literature, and I jumped from there into novels, but I never once thought that I could or should write such things — I saw literature as sacrosanct, handed down. Certainly not something I could do. I do have a book coming out before long. More later.
(19:53) [Brian] okay Sherry, just a second
(19:55) [Dawn Reno] Before I forget, everyone, I won't be online until tmw aftn. I'm getting a new desk and the computer is in parts on my office floor. If you need me, call me, okay?
(19:55) [Brian] The shortest time for writing a story was 6 hours, and it got published in virtually the original form. (It is not in the book.) The longest to write was "Training to be an Astronaut" — probably about 8 weeks. About my novel: I've just finished a novel narrated by a child who tells the story of his racist, alcoholic father. And Elvis. Cheery.
(19:56) [Brian] I guess we're done?
(19:56) [Mandy] Thank you!
(19:56) [Jayne] Are my posts showing up?
(19:57) [] sherry] What was the title to the 6 hr story?Thanks
(19:57) [Dawn Reno] What a combination, Brian! I think there's one more question— someone asked for advice for the novice writer. Any words of wisdom?
(19:57) [Yvonne Shope] Thank you that was great!!
(19:57) [Jayne] Thanks it was great!
(19:57) [Brian] okay, Dawn...
(19:58) * Mandy is happy :)
(19:58) [Brian] Advice for a novice: forget trends and publishing, and reach for things that matter — it is all there inside you.
(19:58) [Nickole Brown] Thanks, again, Brian! You're wonderful!
(19:59) [Brian] I know
(19:59) [Dawn Reno] That's good advice even for ol' pros like me, Brian. Thanks a lot for your time — and thank you to my class for providing really thoughtful questions. Good job, guys!
(19:59) [Brian] Toodle-oo
(19:59) [Mandy] Bye
(20:00) [Dawn Reno] See you on the Discussion Board, everyone!
(20:00) [Jayne] Thanks to everyone. I enjoyed it but I'm off to my electric blanket again!
(20:00) [Dawn Reno] Thanks, Nickole.
(20:00) [Brian] NIckole: send me a copy...
(20:00) [Yvonne Shope] I know what you mean, but the dryer is calling my name. Talk to you later...
(20:00) [] [the box] [sherry] bye everyone, Good night
(20:00) [Nickole Brown] You're welcome. See all of you again on the 27th.
(20:01) [Nickole Brown] Will do, Brian.
(20:01) [Dawn Reno] Yes, with Belle ;-) Now, I'm off to grade papers!
(20:02) [Deanne] Bye-Now