The Queen of Spelling

Interview with fiction writer Steve Guinan about his short story "The Queen of Spelling" and his thoughts on the process of writing and reading.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• short
• story
• fiction
• guinan
• lohre
• writing
• spelling
• humor
• eduu

[Haboon1987]

Hi, my name is Sowda Farah and I'm also in Mike Lohre's English 265 class in Delaware Center. I really enjoyed the story that he had us read and I'm truelly glad that he did. It was a well written story and I actually took some of your writing style to help me write mine. I have one question for you now; watching this video made me realize that the story actually took you a year to rewrite, correct the mistakes, and whatnot, so I was wondering exactly what was difficult for you to write. Thanks

[violetsvenom]

Hello Steve! My name is Brittany Long. I am also a student in Mike Lohre's Writing Fiction Class. I really enjoyed reading your story and Im glad Mike made this interview. It was really neat to be able to hear you talk about you writing process.

I was just wondering what kind of literature inspired you to start writing. What kind of stuff did you enjoy reading when you were young? Thanks

[sguinan07]

@DonYoakam For me, plot must follow a sensible thematic thread. That may be a sin to some writers, because it's true following an idea instead of a character gets you in all kinds of trouble. But when I'm searching for plot, which is as Margret Atwood says is just a what and a what and a what, I guess I look for/chisel out shapes that are similar. In the case of QOS, I guess I combined moments that were shaped by both the theme(unorthodoxy) and the characters. So it develops as you write.

[sguinan07]

@aweujasn Definitely a lot of revising and revising to be faithful to that voice. Like ironing. You find lots of wrinkles, and sometimes you only create more the more you try to get rid of them. But the conceit of the ridiculously precocious narrator allowed me a lot of leeway/reach room for what I could sensibly attribute to that voice.

[sguinan07]

@mynameisbrianlol I'm going to say the structure. A lot of building and rebuilding of chunks that had to be re worked in the right places. That, and, of course, it takes time for characters to get born. Truth be told I'm a bit of a dullard, and sometimes it takes a while for the characters to emerge for me--even the minor ones, who at first are just window dressing, but over time grow into essential figures on the canvas and demand more attention.

[sguinan07]

@floppyoaktree Thanks for such a close reading. As I may have mentioned, the climax was the original impetus, and then the composition was the exploration of what the vision meant to me. Some books? Wow. Toughie. Like QOS, I am compelled by fiction that uses non fiction forms. Endurance by Alfred Lansing is one of my favorite all time books. Kinda obscure, but the voice like the fiction of Tobias Wolff is immediate and true, even when the phrasing is more representative than precise.

[DonYoakam]

Hello, This is Donald Yoakam and I am a student of Mike Lohre's writing fiction class.

I was just woundering. How do you develope a plot like in "The Queen of Spelling?" Does it just naturally develope as you are writing the story or do you already have it planned out before you actually start writing?

[aweujasn]

Hi this is Sean Moodie I attend English 265 at Ohio State University Delaware Center.

I have a question about your story and my question is -- Was developing the "voice" or tone of the narrator in any way a conscious choice or did it happen naturally as you wrote the piece? Or did you ever revise certain parts to make the voice more uniform throughout the piece?

[mynameisbrianlol]

Hello Steve, my name is Brian Shaw and I too am a student in Mike Lohre's Writing Fiction class at Ohio State. There was a lot going on in this story and I read at the end of the video that it took you over a year to finish polishing the story so my question to you would be:

Which aspect of the story was most difficult for you to get "just right" and why was it so difficult?

[floppyoaktree]

Hello Steve, my name is Matt Fowle and I am a student in Mike Lohre's fiction writing class. I really liked how you worked retroactively with this story, knowing what you wanted to achieve before you began writing. I also enjoyed hearing your reading of the story.

My question is: What books had most influenced you in your decision to become a writer?