reprinted from Writers Crossing.com Fall 2004 Mridu Khullar interviews author Kathleen Gibson cont'd. For first portion of interview, see p.1 4. Religion often has a way of finding its way into your writing, and your personal beliefs and experiences often have readers from all over the world writing in to thank you. How important do you think it is for a writer to share a part of her life and beliefs in her work? Whether we express them or not, our beliefs and experiences always influence our words, no matter our writing genre. Personal essayists like me do this deliberately - it's our calling to rip our hearts open and bleed in public, I think! Readers who recognize our bylines and feel they know us are seldom surprised by our revelations, our opinions, our beliefs, whether or not they agree. In fact, they actually expect it, and we'd better deliver. Writers in other genres express their beliefs by the slant through which they consistently approach a story or article. They too, become known by that. It's what makes us gravitate toward a certain author, feature writer, or journalist - we are interested in their take on things, which almost always reflects their personal worldview, whether they use the pronoun 'I' or not. Therefore, if we write from a platform of strong faith, the morals and ethics of that faith will also permeate our writing. And I've noticed that whether we mention God or not, he always shows up when truth is told. We don't always need to give him a nametag. I write only one newspaper column (Sunny Side Up) that is openly Christian faith-based. My other articles may be about anything from living with hamsters to the plight of the poor to what it means to deliberately let go of a friend. Strangely, people responding to those articles frequently bring up their own faith. They're responding to the common human experience, and God is always part of that. 5. These beliefs and experiences brought you close to one of your readers in India, so much so that when you visited Andhra Pradesh, India in February, you went to visit her. Tell us about your experiences. There's something awfully humbling in realizing our writing has impacted someone on the other side of the country or world. When readers' respond, I get the same thrill I get from standing in a valley, shouting "HELLO!" and hearing the rocks fling it back. Sometimes those echoes can change one's life. India did that for me. But there's far too much to tell here! If your readers are interested, here's a link to some of my Sunny Side Up columns in which I talk about some of my experiences. They can go there later: http://www.geocities.com/just_as_i_thought/TheINDIAconnection.html 6. Have these memories changed your writing in any way? I want to write about things I've never had interest in writing about before. I'm less content to write the stuff I write best! I'm an evolving personal essayist, I think. I'm still figuring out exactly what that means for the writing days ahead. Features, perhaps? Fiction, even? Whatever else, it means I must keep learning and listening. 7. Any tips you'd like to give our readers on how to make a career in writing? There's no magic pill, I'm afraid. Learn everything you can about the business of writing. Think more about writing well than earning well. Know your strengths and strengthen your weaknesses. Write with integrity. Find a writing partner to act as a second pair of eyes before either of you submit anything. Hold your words loosely - edit firmly. Expect and learn from rejection. Keep submitting. Treat editors kindly. Work like mad. 8. Anything else you'd like to add? Fame, fortune, and impressive bylines are highly overrated. In the end it's not what we've done, but who we've been that decides our worth. Ignore the 'being' for the 'doing' and no career in the world will satisfy. Get the 'be' right. Then write. About the Interviewer: Mridu Khullar is the former publisher of writerscrossing.com, and an internationally published writer with credits from across the globe. Some of her pieces have been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Business World, New Woman, Byline, Freelance Market News, CollegeBound Teen, Next Step, Senior Connection, Delhi Times, Femina Elle Magazine, and hundreds of others. http://www.mridukhullar.com/ |