About Writing
First Published July 21, 2015
Questions & Answers About Writing
I Answer Questions From Gretna Poet, Mick Friesen.
MF: Could you describe the mundane details of writing: How many hours a day do you devote to writing? Do you write a draft on paper or at a keyboard (typewriter or computer)?Make it stand out
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DM: I have seldom found writing mundane, except for an occasional hard news story on a topic that held no interest for me. It was easy to write for hours at a time during those years I freelanced and our children were in school and later when I worked as a newspaper reporter and editor. It wasn’t uncommon for me to spend eight, sometimes nine, even ten, hours each day when I wrote my novel. I found it energizing. A first draft was and is always written on paper, a second draft was done on a typewriter and now on a computer.
MF: Where do you write? Can you describe the space?
11040882_412979152195523_4143888245943413567_n DM: In a 40-square-foot space with two windows, one of which is of glass blocks. There’s a file cabinet and two bookcases on either side of me, all within easy reach of my chair. I am privileged to write at my maternal grandfather’s drop-leaf, pigeon-hole desk. Above it hang framed copies of a Celtic prayer, the prayer of St. Francis, a scene of the shore line at Saint Martins, NB, and a reproduction of Van Gough’s Sunflowers that I bought in Amsterdam. A coloured glass ball, a gift from my dear friend, hangs from the ceiling near the window. There are photos of our grandchildren on nearby shelves; it’s a cozy place.
MF: Any writing rituals?
DM: I prefer to have a cup of coffee nearby and classical music playing in the background.
MF: This is something of a stereotype, but it seems people often consider writers to be solitary and nonsocial. Agree? Disagree? How would you describe yourself?
DM: I agree to a point, but I can only speak for myself. I enjoy socializing, preferably one on one, and know when I’ve had enough. I love solitude and I don’t fear silence.
