Writers At Work
To give other writers a realistic idea of what writers do, Ravenshead has started a series interviewing writers. The interviews will provide other writers with help and inspiration and an insight into how real writers work.Ravenshead (RH) interviewed John Rymell (JR) in May 2006 and the interview is reproduced here:
An Interview with John Rymell
John is both editor and contributing writer for the Muncy Station Review, a bi-monthly anthology magazine. He has been a winner in the National Novel Writing Month contest in 2004 and 2005. He has just published the first novel of a trilogy Adjudicator which has received a 5-star review on Amazon.com and he's busy working on the second and third volumes.RH: When did you start writing?
JR: Parents tell me that I had a very active imagination as a child. The actual writing began on a toy single (uppercase) typewriter that was a Christmas present when I was twelve. I remember banging out pages on the little typewriter until my parents allowed me to use their Smith Corona portable typewriter. Used the portable all through Junior/Senior High School, as I wrote short stories and articles for the school paper, and of course, the usual term papers and assignments.
RH: Do you still have your old typewriters?
The Smith Corona was passed down through the family after I left for college. Unfortunately, the toy typewriter was lost when my family moved.
RH: What makes you write?
JR: Best described as an instinctual urge. The world fascinates me, the active imagination is still up and running, and when the two combine, or sometimes collide, in my head, the result is one of the best aspects of my life. Stories play out in my mind like afterimages of movies. I like to do "what if's" by thinking a scene through. I seem to "hear" dialogue as I step through the scenes. In the end, it's a great experience to put it all on paper to share with others.
RH: Which writers have influenced you?
Some of the first books I read were the old classics by H. P. Lovecraft, Jules Verne, and H. G. Wells. By High School I was reading Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, and Heinlein.
The writer who influenced me the most was Rod Sterling, who was from Binghamton, NY just a short distance from my family home in the Elmira area, so it was a case of local boy makes good, and perhaps I could, too. I was hooked on episodes of the Twilight Zone, but to me it was more than the weekly TV show. The story and the characters, the odd plots twists, the somewhat slanted point of view, all added depth and meaning. Because of this writer, I became a student of human nature and the story we weave into the tapestry of life.
RH: How did you write your novel "Adjudicator"?
JR: One keystroke at a time.
But, seriously, it began as a premise and grew into a plotline. Then supporting characters were added to fill out the plotline. Through the editing process, the roles of the characters expanded to add depth to the story. In the final stages, I added more to both the opening and the closure of the novel.
RH: How did you get the initial idea for the novel?
JR: It began as a conversation with a friend about police procedurals in the media. One of my pet peeves with the mainstream procedurals is the writer's use of a quick and dirty way method to narrow the search for a suspect. As an example of this is the tendency of the writers to have the police discover an empty shell casing at the scene of a shooting, and to decide to check the latest purchases of that caliber at local gun shops. While this sounds logical at first, it does not take into account the fact that the cartridge was brought in from another location nor that it may have been long time stored. From there I researched how law enforcement would investigate a shooting if no other evidence was available, and proceeded to develop the novel.
RH: Did you find writing it easy or not? What's the easiest thing about writing? What's the hardest?
JR: I find writing to be very enjoyable.
The easiest part is allowing my imagination to run freely on a topic, and to see where it is taking me.
The hardest part of writing is my concern about giving a reader a written work that I feel is worthy of the reader's time. While I write for my enjoyment, it is the reader who deserves a work well done.
RH: How do you keep track of all the details?
JR: I keep a steno book to jot down ideas, notes, loose pieces of dialogue, plotlines, etc. Then I begin building the short story or novel using WriteitNow. I transfer details from the steno book to the program, lay out the plotlines, map out the story, develop characters, create timelines and check for overlaps or mistakes, and begin writing chapters.
RH: Any advice to first time writers on getting published?
Fail and get it over with - really.
Our culture is one where winners are best, and we cannot be seen as losers or failing.
The biggest downfall for first time writers is the uphill battle to find an agent and/or publisher. Writers go through so many rejections in the process, and it is tough to keep going.
I've taught classes where I have the new students take a sample final exam on the subject material, at the beginning of the course. Every student fails miserably. We discuss the fact that failure of the final exam was a major concern for every student. I point out that now we have failure out of the way let's proceed to learn the material and go for success. With a sense of relief, the students relax and learn well.
My advice is to count that first rejection as a failure, put it behind you, learn how the process works, do your best, and keep at it until you reach your goal.
RH: How much of the rest of the trilogy have you written or planned?
JR: Books two and three are in WriteitNow. Major plots, major characters and events, dates and times, theme, notes and ideas are done.
RH: Well John, thanks for taking the time to answers our questions. I'm sure it'll give other writers ideas. Good luck with the second and third books in the trilogy.
JR: Thank you.