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Interview with Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, Pen on Fire |
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| Barbara DeMarco-Barrett teaches creative writing at the University of California-Irvine. For the last six years DeMarco-Barrett has hosted and produced "Writers on Writing," a weekly radio show on KUCI-FM in which she interviews authors, poets, and literary agents. She is a contributor to the Los Angeles Times and The Writer. She also is editor of the ASJA Monthly, the official publication for the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Before becoming a full-time writer in 1997, she worked in a series of jobs that ranged from publicist to movie extra and TV actress to bookseller to waitress, baker and restaurant manager. She lives in Southern California with her husband and son. |
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Synopsis |
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In her fifteen years of teaching, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett has found that the biggest stumbling block for aspiring writers (especially women) is not fear of the blank page but frustration with the lack of time. What woman doesn't have too much to do and too little time? Finding an hour free of work, children, or obligations can seem impossible.
But anyone can find fifteen minutes, whether you're sitting in traffic, waiting at a child's soccer practice, or watching the coffee drip. DeMarco-Barrett has created a practical, inspirational guide for fitting serious writing into these stolen moments. She offers writing exercises and techniques for generating ideas, as well as pragmatic advice from well-known authors who have appeared on her radio show. With fifteen minutes a day, she can help you to ignite your pen and become the writer you have always wanted to be.
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Interview |
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Q: Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman's Guide to Igniting the Writer Within is written for the woman who aspires to write but believes she's too busy. You encourage would-be writers to find fifteen minutes a day to write—maybe while they're waiting in traffic or waiting for the water to boil. Why did you choose this approach?
A: There are many wonderfully inspiring writing books out there, but none that I've read address the question of time or take into account that a great difficulty in writing—especially when you're starting out—is working it in. Books on writing talk about producing a certain number of pages or words, but that can be very daunting to the new writer. What writers need to do is look at their day and see where they have extra time and use that time—those moments—in creative ways. I wanted to help writers see that there are minutes sprinkled throughout their day that are just waiting to be used.
Q: If a man could get past the subtitle, how would he benefit from your book?
A: Actually, many men have gotten past the subtitle. Many of the reviews and pieces written about Pen on Fire have been written by men. The book is for people with little time, or who have trouble prioritizing—usually women. But there are men, too, especially those who are caretakers, who have to find time in their busy days in which to write. The book speaks to busy people who need to find time in their day. Men also tell me they love the quotes by authors and that the exercises are invaluable.
Q: With the many books about writing available today—for example, some that appear in your suggested reading include On Becoming a Novelist by John Gardener, On Writing by Stephen King; and Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott—what distinguishes Pen on Fire from the others?
A: Pen on Fire incorporates not only personal stories and writing instruction, but also quotes from many, many authors who have been on my radio show and exercises that can be done in fifteen-minute segments. Pen on Fire inspires writers to begin, and it also instructs writers—especially in the large section on craft—to write well and to learn their craft, whatever it takes.
Q: Your book is broken up into seven parts: "Before You Begin," "Getting Started," "Tools & Rituals," "Mining Your Life," "Craft," "Overcoming the Obstacles," and "Living the Life." Within each respective part, short chapters identify specific challenges that writers may encounter and give suggestions to spawn creativity. On top of that, each chapter ends with "Set Your Timer"—a fifteen-minute exercise that puts the chapter to practice. Where did you collect all of these ideas, rituals, and suggestions?
A: I've been teaching for 15 years and so many of my suggestions come from what I do in class. The exercises have been tried out first with students. There are many more ideas that didn't make it into the book. The exercises work. If a person is serious about writing, if they follow the directions given in the book, their writing inhibitions will fall away and they will find themselves writing, happily so.
Q: Imagine for a moment that you didn't write Pen on Fire and a friend recommended it to you. What chapter(s) would you bookmark as a reader, and why?
A: The first chapter that comes to mind is "Late Bloomers." If I were coming to writing at this point in my life, I would be worried that it was too late. I believe this chapter would make me cry tears of joy because it talks about how it is never too late to pursue your writing dream. So much great creative work gets done later in life. I would bookmark "Significant Others" because it can be a challenge being a writer in a relationship and knowing how to ask for privacy. "Using the Ones You Love" I would bookmark because I find it fascinating how writers decide what to use from their lives. Actually, the entire "Mining Your Life" section I would bookmark because each chapter within it addresses a different aspect of using your life in your writing. "That Black Hole: TV" would interest me, too; I stopped watching TV because it was such a time eater and now I read anything that encourages people to not watch TV. "Compassion 101" is bookmarkable, too, because it talks about how having compassion can make you a better writer—sounds simple enough but it's a topic you never hear about in writing classes. I can find a reason to bookmark every chapter so I had better stop now. It's apparent that I've written the type of writing book I would like to read!
Q: Throughout the book, you quote many authors whom you've interviewed on your radio show, "Writers on Writing": Tom Paine, The Pearl of Kuwait (Harcourt 2003); Janet Fitch, White Oleander; Frances Mayes, Under the Tuscan Sun; among others. How did they influence or shape Pen on Fire?
A: I wouldn't say they shaped the book, but they definitely fleshed it out and made it even more useful and interesting. It's one thing to say what works for me and my students; it's another thing to get the opinions and feelings of published authors who are known and respected.
Q: Which author—living or deceased—would you love to interview?
A: I'd love to interview Don DeLillo, but I hear he doesn't do radio; he's very shy. Carol Shields, author of The Stone Diaries and Unless, was scheduled to come on my show but she died a few days before our scheduled interview. I so wanted to interview her. Dorothy Parker would be a hoot; so would Flannery O'Connor. Tolstoy—now there's an interview I'd love to do, and Virginia Woolf, too. There's no end to the writers I'd love to interview.
Q: You're a creative writing teacher at the University of California-Irvine, you host and produce a radio show, you contribute to the Los Angeles Times and The Writer, and you edit the ASJA Monthly. When you find your "fifteen minutes a day," what do you enjoy writing the most?
A: I'd have to say that these days it's fiction that I'm enjoying the most. I keep my Moleskine notebook with me wherever I go and I write longhand—often it's longhand for first drafts of fiction. I also try to have a timer with me at all times, too. You never know when you'll have time to write.
Q: For the week of October 24, 2004, Pen on Fire made its debut as number ten on the Los Angeles Times bestseller list. Congratulations! What were your expectations for this book?
A: As a newly published author, your hopes and dreams are boundless, and yet, I really think that to avoid heartbreak you should expect little. I've been talking to authors for seven years about the art and business of writing and I hear more publishing horror stories than glorious tales of success. So many publishers do little or nothing for their authors, so I pretty much expected the same. I have been happily surprised. At the same time, I worked on and off for eight years on Pen on Fire and believe it's a tight, useful, inspiring work that many people—women and men—should find complements the writing books they already own. But did I expect my book to make a bestseller list so soon out of the gate? No. Am I gratified? Yes. My expectations, if I dare utter them, are that my book's effect multiplies exponentially and that it affects more people than I will ever know in positive ways.
Q: Do you have any more books on the horizon?
A: I'm working on a proposal for another nonfiction book, though it's a little early to talk about. I'm also writing a novel, and for novels, the horizon can be quite distant.
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