Coffee Talks

With Bruce Elgin

Hi Bruce, thank you for taking the time to get involved with Coffee Community. It's great to hear from authors like yourself and get to know a little bit about what motivates you to write longer works of fiction.

Thank you! It's an honor to be able to talk with everyone about writing. This is my favorite thing in the world to chat about.

So let's chat! Tell us a little bit about yourself as an author on Wattpad. For anyone who hasn't met you before, how would you describe your fiction?

I strive to write stories that are satisfying. I try to layer meaning and a sense of personal involvement in with characters and action that are both believable and addictive to read.

Writing for sustained periods is a hurdle that every writer, beginner or experienced, faces from time to time. What powers you through those longer bursts of creativity and keeps you focussed?

On a mechanical level, a lot of it comes from the environment we write in. I actually do best in coffee shops. There is enough noise that I have tune it out, which requires some focus. Plus, it's good not to be at home when I write. At home, there are always chores, or things to cook. The fridge is my biggest enemy when I should be writing! I always want to make snacks or meals as a way of procrastinating.

On an internal level, it's all about being in love with your story. I actually plan my stories out, to a degree where I know most everything that is going to happen. And I polish these plans to the point where I am excited and anxious to get to write each scene. That keeps me going.

What top tips would you advise for getting a novella or a longer piece of fiction off the starting line? What kind of story developments motivate you to see it through to the end?

Once again, I'm into the planning. It's pretty hard to finish a novel or novella when you don't know where it's going to end up. I know a lot of "pantsers" just dive in and see where they end up. I do the same thing, but with notes and outlines. That way I can know if a story is going to keep my interest all the way through.

Oh, we know all about "Pantsers". Just ask gabycabezut ! But, how much do you edit on the fly? Or do you prefer to edit after you've finished the initial draft?

I know I should save the editing after I'm done with a draft, but I just can't do it. Once I'm into the prose I agonize over sentences, changing them repeatedly. It's a bad habit that I know I should move past.

Personally, what kind of novella -- be it any style, theme, or genre -- would you like to see emerge from the Open Novella Contest?

Anything with great characters that pull in the reader. I don't believe that any genre is better than another. It's all about the quality of the writing.

Lastly, because we're always curious... What was your ever first experience with the power of the written language?

Oh boy, that's tough. I've been reading and writing for as long as I can remember. I guess I remember checking out novels from my grade school library and just devouring them, experiencing the stories so vividly in my imagination. My father was also a writer, so I had early experiences watching him write really cemented my desire to become a writer.

It's been great hearing from you Bruce, and thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge in storytelling.

Thank you, and thank you for putting together this fantastic competition. Best of luck to everyone! Keep writing!

Our goal is to bring you many more exclusive interviews with people who aren't just Wattpad Stars or Staff, but also some pretty awesome authors.
In that quest, next we will be talking to FinnyH , so stick around for more fun!