New Writer Interview
| Khome | Jimmetta |
| Besides freefall, have you pursued any other literary ideas, newsletters or journals? |  |
| Actually K, this is my first venture of this nature. I haven’t really had the opportunity to do anything like this before, I guess I always found an excuse not to. Free Fall came about because I had this dream of creating a literary magazine, that gives amateur writers a place to go, a place where they can feel welcome. I've heard so many times, "you’re not a seasoned writer," or "you don’t have any clips yet," but how is anyone supposed to get that experience without being given a shot. I want people to feel free to fall into the world of writing, hence the name Free Fall. | |
| As a writer and editor, doesn't the time you have to spend preparing a publication, detract from the time you have available to write? | |
| Yes and no. While I love the fact that I have Free Fall, it's not the only thing I want to do as a writer or editor. I do get moments where I feel bogged down and there’s never enough time for everything but those moments are few and far between. As I get more into my writing, I find I'm becoming more focused and separating out what's most important. Actually, I've got a third job that takes up more time than anything and that's my 3 year old daughter, Brooklynn. As a mother, it’s that much harder but if you want something bad enough you make it happen. | |
| What do you imagine your readers thinking when their reading your writing? | |
| Well in all honesty, and I’m not being cocky or anything, I would think they'd say damn (can I curse?) she’s good. I’m realistic and I know that I have a lot more to learn as a writer, and that the more writing I do the better I will get. But I happen to be pretty confident in my writing. I work hard at it and I'd like to think it pays off, that I reached someone. I'd like my readers to feel what I felt when I wrote those words. | |
| What or who inspires your work? | |
| That's a tough question because so much inspires me. I started off writing poetry and my inspiration for that was Maya Angelou but through the years I have found many more things that inspired me. Other writers inspire me. I go to poetry shows, and I listen to music a lot and the talent that other writers possess is truly amazing. The two people who inspire my writing most are the love of my life, who always tells me that I have the potential to be a literary genius, and my (old college) friend, also a writer. She has come to be one of my best friends and biggest supporters. But what she doesn’t realize is that I’m one of hers because she has this amazing way with words. See I told you that there was a lot that inspires me. (smiles) | |
| What're you writing or working on currently, aside from Free Fall, that is? | |
| Well, I just finished my first novel which is currently being edited, so soon I’ll be working on the second draft of that. In the meantime I’m working on my second novel and my fifth book of poetry. And before you ask, no the first four are not published. Well actually, I do have The Art of Love available at LuLu.com (authored as GEMINI) through print on demand publishing. In addition to that, I am also pondering a book of short stories but I can’t tell you what it’s going to be about. I think that I’ve covered everything for now. | |
| When you read, do you prefer books written by male or female novelists - why? |  |
| You know it actually really doesn’t matter to me. I read both but now that I think about it, I believe I tend to lean towards reading books by males. I guess it’s just interesting to see what’s inside a man’s head and to get some insight into their train of thought. Especially when it comes to them writing in the voice of a woman. It’s really interesting to see what they think goes on inside our heads. | |
| What are the hardest lessons you've learned as a writer? | |
| Oh, you just keep asking these difficult questions. Let’s see, the hardest lessons. As a writer I think the hardest thing I've learned is how to deal with the fact that people don’t take me seriously when I say I’m a writer. That’s hard because writing isn’t easy and I work hard at it. I am constantly researching things on the craft of writing or revising something that I am working on. It's hard to have people simply say it's a hobby. Another thing that I have learned is that in the business of writing you have to have very thick skin. Everyone isn’t going to like what you write or what you do. You have to learn not to take that personally. I'm actually a very sensitive person but when it comes to writing, I have learned to tune out that sensitivity. You can’t really control what others are going to say, you just have to deal with it and move on. | |
| And finally -sorry for the tough questions- what have you done to develop your writing? What advice would you share with others in terms of developing their ability to write? | |
|
Research a lot, both writing craft and the styles of other writers. Writing is in large part having a very vivid imagination but it's also research, research, research. Advice, I'd tell others to read a lot of other writers, to talk to other people that write. Try and make sure that you at least have one friend that writes because it really does help in a big way. Also, just write. You can’t get better at it if you don’t practice it. And although a lot of books say that you don’t have to write everyday to be a good writer, I believe that if you want to be a serious writer you do have to write everyday. |
