Research Writer Interview With Jay

I've been interested in creative writing all my life and have been writing fiction for over a decade. My voracious reading style meant that I always had something on the go and I never had a problem with grammar, since I was constantly observing and learning. In High School I won awards for my creative writing and essay writing, and the nature of my work in University meant that I completed a broad range of research and report topics before I was through. My favourite essay topics were questions of philosophy, book and film reviews, and scientific explanations. At the moment I'm working on a novel about spies in Britain and do some big project for one of my private clients.

In High School I took a writing course in my final year, where we worked on the basics of every aspect of fiction and non-fiction creation. In University I did a General Degree (Minor) in English Literature, as well as several film and philosophy courses, which also required a great amount of reading, writing, and editing.

My reading experience means that I'm able to spot problems in a piece of work quite easily, even while skimming them. I'm extremely particular in my editing, though I can tone that down to edit others' work so that their own personal style shines through. I've edited many essays for other students, as well as a full length novel which was going out for publication.

My novel length fiction tends to be genre fiction, with the intent to entertain, though I have yet to write a piece of fiction which doesn't have some underlying theme derived from my own experiences learning, travelling, or simply as a human being. My shorter fiction like the poetry or short stories I've written tend to be more literary fiction. My favourite themes are those of acceptance of change and discovery of self.

In fiction, my style of writing had developed so that my voice is strong and natural and easy to read. I've moved beyond questioning my abilities to construct the story and so the real joy in the writing is the character or characters and their journeys. In essay writing, I have a well developed ability to identify the important points and organize them sensibly. I have never had a problem with essay structure and I am good at finding the balance between too wordy or too brief.

If I'm interested in a subject I can research it to death and create a much fresher piece than if I'm working on something that doesn't interest me. I'm good at discovering new subjects and the value within them, but if I find that something has only vague information or unreliable sources I get disheartened.

Deadlines are no problem for me, so long as I am able to acquire the necessary data. I work in a library and have access to research materials both in the library and online, so that helps me to know how to best find the information I need. I read quickly and can digest great quantities of material in a short amount of time.

My ideal would be to write exactly the things that I'm writing now: my novels, my journals, and the random research topics that have interested me. So, things are pretty perfect as they are.

You're welcome.