February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
What is your writing routine? Are there ideal conditions?
With Black 47’s crazy schedule, I tend to grab any possible moment. I can, and do write, in any circumstances. But you get crafty over the years. I tend to save first drafts for more pristine times when I might not get interrupted; but 80 percent of what we do is shaping and rewriting. I look at that process like a bricklayer. Better lay one brick while between showers rather than wait for the proverbial sunny day when you can finish a wall.
What advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Write every day and ignore all opinions. It’s a lonely business and you have to plough your own furrow. And if you can’t get accepted by a publisher, go the old punk rock route — put it out yourself. In most cases, publishers are about as together as record company executives; they just have slightly more proper accents.
Name three books that are memorable in terms of your reading pleasure.
“The Alexandrian Quartet” by Lawrence Durrell opened my eyes to language and possibility; Shakespeare’s Sonnets teach you all about loss and, hopefully introduce you to some wisdom; “An B