Finnian Burnett

Welcome to the 5 Questions Series. Each week, I’ll ask five questions of some of my favorite authors, editors, publishers, and other industry professionals. This week, I’m talking with Gail Anderson-Dargatz.

I know a lot of writers who want to work with a writing coach but aren’t sure what it involves or what they’d get out of it. What is the process like?

Years ago, when I was presenting at the Writers at Woody Point Festival in Newfoundland, my husband took this wonderful, crazy photo of a couple of musicians playing. The energy flowing between them was evident in colour and light. That’s what the relationship between a writer and a writing coach can be like: a dance, a song, an exchange of excitement and energy. The practical end of the process is simple. Writers send me their submission and I read and critique it. We meet and I present my notes. But then something magical happens as we bounce ideas off each other in the brainstorming session that follows. The process takes on a life of its own. It’s very much like the state of flow that all writers experience, when the writing is really cooking, and we loose our sense of self and of time in the act of creation. A session with a good coach is like the play involved in noodling, improvising, between two musicians.

How do you balance working on your own writing with helping other people with theirs?

Balance? Well, it’s more like a teeter-tooter. Some weeks all I can do is mentor and edit. Some weeks all I can do is write. To keep myself sane, I try to book off days of the week that I use exclusively for writing as it’s hard to get into the flow on days when I’m editing or meeting writers.

My own mentor, Jack Hodgins, said that he didn’t even try to write during the university year when he taught. He did all his writing in the summer when he wasn’t teaching. I sure get that. But you know, I need the energy that I get from working with other writers as much as I need the time alone to write. Each practice feeds the other.

You’re a fellow nerd! Does any of your fandom love show up in your person writing?

I am such a nerd! I’m a science geek and sci-fi fan, and I dive into my VR headset daily. I’m working on a time-travel novel now. And yes, indeed, I do sneak Easter eggs into my writing, references to my favorite sci-fi shows. In my early drafts, I often name my characters after Star Trek or SG1 characters until I figure out what I’m really going to call them.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Oh, I would love to hover. Not fly. Hover. Just cruise ten feet above the ground. You know, like we do in dreams. Or a virtual reality headset.

What are you working on now?

Like I say above, I’m working on an upmarket time travel novel. It’s a hell of a lot of fun. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun writing a novel. I’m already working up a second one. I’m best known as a literary writer, but mid-career I realized I wanted to play. So, I wrote a couple of thrillers, and now I’m moving to a light time travel novel. Who knows? Maybe I’ll try a space western next. I’m all about Firefly.

Have you ever taken a picture of a weird bird?

No, but I am an odd bird. Here’s me in my VR headset.

Gail Anderson-Dargatz’s novels The Cure for Death by Lightning and A Recipe for Bees were both short-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her thrillers The Almost Wife and The Almost Widow were both national bestsellers. Gail also writes hi-lo books for the educational market. She taught for nearly a decade in the CW MFA program at UBC and now works as an editor and writing coach. For more, see her website: www.gailanderson-dargatz.ca