Interviews with Authors

Adriana Trigiani, author of Lucia, Lucia and the Big Stone Gap series, was recently interviewed by GYWO Editor Laura Jones.

LJ: When speaking at the '08 James River Writers conference about how you write, you said that you outline but then allow people to die because death brings out your feelings about people. Other than death how do you create emotional tension or engagement?

AT: There are many ways to create tension in a novel. The absent or unseen character can drive a protagonist to great heights or despair. Use the absent and unseen -- and if you're up for it, the mystical.

Another favorite way to create tension in a plot is to have the character seek something she or he desperately wants, then create the obstacles to that goal. Character is revealed in pursuit, so have that character go after something, even an intangible. I find that my characters send me on the path to develop story by virtue of their own actions, shortcomings and desires. There's really a million ways to go. Just like musical notes, words provide meaning to action, so have fun with this.

LJ: When asked about your research you told us the history of your family and finished with, "The other reason I write, I'm with them every day when I do this." Do you feel that your family created you as a writer?

AT: I don't know what creates a writer exactly. It may be a confluence of events. A writer must like or even crave being alone. I'm from a large family and longed for my own room and never had that, so even this laundry room that I write in is delicious because I'm alone in here. Great readers love to be alone also, but writing requires all the work that goes into creating the original story for the reader, so it's work, not entertainment. Writers own the creation of a world, stepping into it, living in it -- we actually go there in our imaginations. So, I'd say it takes a good traveler (!) to make a good writer. And all the passions, desires and wants that frame that journey are the jumping off points to telling a story.

Now, specifically to the point of family making us what we are -- of course they play an enormous role. We learn how to walk in the world from those who came before us. We mimic them, try to please them and often times ditch them entirely to step out in the world as we believe things ought to be. I write a lot about family because I'm fascinated by them -- us. Also, through colorful and often amazing stories handed down in my family, my grandparents and great grandparents became nearly mythical to me in the ways that they struggled and built their lives. Let's face it -- my inspiration comes from their life stories, so their lives and my creative life are deeply intertwined. I may not always be writing about them specifically, but their values provide a moral code for my characters. Perhaps this is true because I aspire to their moral code as well -- and fail -- so this is my way of reaching for it.

LJ: You mentioned the Melungeon people and finished with, "See how fascinated I am by all of this? That's where I get it from." Were you referring to the enthusiasm and passion that drive your story telling talent?

AT: No, I was referring to the glorious and often painful history of the Melungeon people, and how as outsiders in the Appalachian mountains, I related to them. I stand in wonder, and always have, about how people create families and communities. I am also fascinated as to why two people fall in love and decide to make a life together. For me, that's as big a theme as it gets.

LJ: In referring to writer's block you said, "that means an idea has not gestated long enough." How do you encourage an idea to grow?

AT: Leave it alone. Giving yourself time to live with the idea will help it grow within you. And you'll know when it's ready, just as you know when it isn't.

LJ: You said, "What you tell yourself is what makes it true. It's what you believe." What was the most difficult belief you ever had to establish to yourself about yourself?

AT: I really bet the farm, and hoped upon hope upon hope, that in the end, hard work pays off. I wasn't sure, because like all of us, you see people out there for whom it all seems so easy. But what I've found is that just isn't true. You don't see their sweat, and they don't see yours. It takes a goal, hard work and an occasional shout out to a Saint to get me through. These things never change.

While I'm on this subject, it becomes more difficult for artists in economic downturns. Grants are eliminated, funds are cut, theaters close -- we know the drill. The worst of times, however, are typically when we create our best work -- because we must. I always think of Mary Higgins Clark --and forgive me, Ms. Clark if I get the story slightly wrong -- but here it is: Mary was widowed in her 30s, left with no insurance or savings and six children to feed and clothe and educate. She was a stay at home mother who dreamed of writing books. So, when the kids left for school, she pulled out the portable typewriter and wrote her first novel. Today, she is arguably the most successful woman in publishing -- many, many novels later. I use her as an example in these times because she basically, in her grief and despair, turned to the one thing she knew to be true about herself --her talent -- and made it work for her. She didn't give up, she didn't wallow in self pity and she didn't make excuses for avoiding writing when she had good ones like taking care of a home and feeding the children. She stepped up. Her life story galvanizes me as a working writer. I think of Mary and remember that I always have my ability to sit down and write. There is no place at my desk for passivity, procrastination or entitlement -- just work -- glorious work.

LJ: Can you sum up your life in six words?

AT: Once upon a time there was...

More information at Adriana Trigiani.

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