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An Interview With Dallas Woodburn

Tell us a bit about yourself. What would you like us to know about you?

I am the author of two collections of short stories and a forthcoming novel. I have also written more than 80 articles for national publications including Family Circle, Writer’s Digest, CO-ED, Justine, and The Los Angeles Times, and I write a regular column for Listen magazine.

I am the founder of the nonprofit organization “Write On! For Literacy” that has donated nearly 11,000 new books to disadvantaged children. My latest endeavor is starting a publishing company, Write On! Books, that publishes the work of young writers. In addition, I host frequent writing contests, teach writing camps for kids, and am coordinator of the Young Writers Program at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference.

Contact her at my website www.writeonbooks.org or blog dallaswoodburn.blogspot.com.

What are you doing now? (Career? Married? Single? Children? Pets?)

I am a 22-year-old recent college graduate, building a freelance writing career, working on a novel, and starting a publishing company. I also do a great deal of volunteering work through my foundation Write On! For Literacy. And I am planning to apply to graduate schools for an MFA in Creative Writing in the near future.

What is your favourite food?

Italian. My grandmother is full Italian and is a terrific cook. Pasta, pizza, garlic bread -- I love it all!

What is your favourite colour?

The clear crisp blue of the sky after it rains and the clouds have cleared.

What is your favourite sound?

Rain on windowpanes.

Who is your favourite person?

I don't think I can choose just one! I am lucky to have so many remarkable and generous people in my life. My parents and my younger brother Greg are my biggest fans, always there for me, cheering me on.

What is your favourite place?

Another difficult question! I can't choose just one but the first that comes to mind is a place I fell in love with a couple years ago. I studied abroad in Norwich, England for a semester in college and felt so at home in that quiet English coastal town. Outside my dormroom was a grassy field that led down to a beautiful tranquil lake, with ducks and sheep and willow trees. I spent many hours writing down by the lake, feeling so blessed and free.

What is your favourite memory?

My first memory is also one of my favorites -- the day my brother Greg was born. I was two and a half years old. My mother's water broke in the shower and she didn't realize she was in labor until she was practically giving birth ... we have a family joke about me almost delivering the baby in our living room. In all seriousness, I can't even imagine what my life would be like without my brother, so my favorite memory is when he came into the world to join our family. He is my best friend and the greatest gift my parents could ever give me.

What is your favourite article of clothing?

I've always been a fan of scarves. Which is funny, as I live in Califoria, where it rarely gets cold enough for scarves to be necessary.

What is your favourite word?

Serendipity.

What is your favourite writers' quote and why?

I have been fortunate enough to meet the great author Ray Bradbury, and he is one of the most genuine and inspiring people I have ever encountered. He said, "Write with passion! Write with love!" I can think of no better advice for writing, or for living life, than those words.

What is your most favourite quality about yourself?

I am a very empathetic person, always imagining myself in other people's shoes. It has made me a better writer, of course -- it helps me get inside my character's heads fully and deeply and nonjudgmentally. More importantly, empathy has also made me a better human being.

What is the least favourite quality about yourself?

Sometimes I can be too shy and self-conscious. I wish I didn't care so much what other people think of me.

If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?

I would go to this tiny pub in the small coastal town of Galway Bay, Ireland. I've only been to Galway once, for a mere 34 hours, but I was so thoroughly charmed I wished I never had to leave.

What inspires you to write and why?

I am inspired by the countless complexities, incongruities, mysteries, wonders, annoyances, sorrows and miracles of our daily lives.

When I write, I feel I have done something essential to my being, in a way I find difficult to express or even to pin down. Inhabiting the lives of fictional characters and evoking these lives on the page is an impulse so strong that it has merged into my definition of self.

What is your favourite book and why?

Another question I can't answer! Here are a few of my favorite books, in no particular order: Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath, Ella Enchanted, Midnight's Children, The Great Gatsby. Also anything by Lorrie Moore.

What is your favourite genre and why?

I tend to write realistic fiction. I base a lot of my stories on events that happen in my real life -- at least, they start with a real-life event, then diverge from there. Writing about my life is how I process it. I like taking real-life events and giving them shape and meaning through fictionalization.

List your three favourite authors (any genre) and why?

Lorrie Moore -- she "gets" me. When I read her writing, I feel like I am reading my own thoughts written by a wittier self.

Salman Rushdie -- it seems everything I read of his gives me goosebumps and reminds me what a truly great story is. He makes me fall in love with writing again.

J.K. Rowling -- she makes reading fun and magical. The world of Harry Potter is as real to my generation as our own real world.

What do you think makes a writer successful?

Perseverance, determination, and belief in yourself.

Whta is it that makes you successful as a writer?

In addition to the above qualities, I also feel like writing is not a choice for me -- it is a need. I need to write. I can't imagine my life without writing.

What are your goals as a writer?

My biggest goal as a writer is also my biggest goal as a person: to give back by "paying forward" to the next generation of writers. I do this through my nonprofit literacy foundation, Write On! For Literacy, and my publishing company that gives a voice to young writers, Write On! Books. www.writeonbooks.org

Some of my life-long writing goals are tangible: get into a top MFA program, produce a play, publish a short story in The New Yorker, be a guest editor of The Best American Short Stories series, win a Pulitzer Prize.

But my loftiest writing goal is intangible: be the best writer I am capable of becoming. Never stop growing.

What is the best tip you can give to fellow writers?

Elizabeth Berg told me, when I asked her for writing advice, "First, please yourself." I think that is quite well-put, and so very very true. You are your own most important critic.

What do you hope to provide your readers with through your writing?

I hope to provide them with solace, hope, connection, empowerment -- above all else, a sense that they are not alone.

List your three favourite online writer-resource sites and why (include URLS).

My website, www.writeonbooks.org, has lots of resources, particularly for young writers.

I also love the SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists, and Writers Network) website, www.spawn.org -- it has been recently revamped and is chock-full of market listings and opportunities. SPAWN is a terrific community for writers and artists.

Another one of my favorites is the online catalog of literary magazines at www.PoetsandWriters.com. Their magazine is also superb.

If you have published a book, tell us about your publishing success (title, publishing date and company, where it is available to purcahse).

"3 a.m." -- a collection of short stories; was featured on the national PBS book talk show Between the Lines. It is available at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and my website www.writeonbooks.org.

"There's a Huge Pimple On My Nose" -- a collection of stories and poems published when I was in fifth grade. The Los Angeles Times raved, "If you simply want to enjoy some remarkable writing, it would be hard to find a book more satisfying." You can order copies for $5 at my website, www.writeonbooks.org, or by e-mailing me at dallaswoodburn@aol.com.

** Proceeds from both of my books benefit my Write On! Scholarship Fund for young writers.

How long did it take you to write your book(s)?

My first book, There's a Huge Pimple On My Nose, was published when I was in fifth grade. The poems and stories in that collection were written throughout elementary school. My second story collection, 3 a.m., was published my senior year of high school, and I wrote and edited those stories throughout high school. It took me a year and a half to write my novel, two years to find an agent, and another year of revisions. We're currently looking for a publisher.

What would you do differently if you could repeat the same publishing experience?

I think I have learned something from each stage of my publishing experiences, so I'm not sure I would change anything. I would definitely hold onto that youthful naivete and fearlessness. I still try to remember and tap into that.

What have you learned about the publishing world?

It is so important, today more than ever before, to be your own publicist and promoter. You can't count on the publishing company to do promotion for you. Get out there and spread the word!

This is your chance to 'Talk Back' to your readers. What would you like to say to them?

Thank you so much for reading my books. I hope some of my stories have spoken to you and touched you in some small way. I would love to hear from you anytime -- visit my website www.writeonbooks.org or contact me directly at dallaswoodburn@aol.com.

What's the one thing that you want them to know about your writing?

I try to be as honest as I can, and to forge genuine connections, raise questions and foster understandings. Also, that I greatly appreciate them reading my work!

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