Interview with T. L. Sherwood

Meet NUNUM's Contributor: T. L. Sherwood

11/17/2024

NUNUM

Blending Flash Fiction & Art

Interview with T. L. Sherwood

What was the first book you remember picking and reading by yourself?

I have no idea! I tumbled into reading by myself seamlessly from being read to by anybody who would sit still long enough to read a story to me.

What writer(s) or which book(s) influenced your decision to become a writer?

When I was living in Texas, I remember taking a quiz in the Lifestyle section in one of the Dallas papers and on the 20 or so first lines of books, there was only one I didn’t know. It was by Larry McMurtry. While I was reading “All My Friends are Going to be Strangers,” I felt that I could write, too. I’d always written, but I remember that book being a personal propeller toward publishing.

Is there a writing craft book that you would recommend to new writers?

The craft book I return to over and over is Natalie Goldberg’s “Writing Down the Bones.” My copy is so worn! I’ll often pick it up and find an answer to something I was struggling with. When I pulled it out this time, I fell upon the “We Are Not the Poem,” chapter. It starts out by saying, “The problem is we think we exist,” and guess what? I needed a reminder to not take my words so seriously. My writing was going fine until I started getting in the way. I’m not saying it’s a magic book, but it helps.

Are there other craft books you’d recommend?

I think Anne Lamont’s Bird by Bird is wonderful. I’m new to Annie Dillard’s “The Writing Life,” but am enjoying it.

Is there a writer who has influenced your current writing style?

There are so many writers I admire and read; I’m sure they all influence me, but as it relates to my current writing style? I’m not trying to be anyone else, so I guess the answer is my inner self. Does that answer the question?

Why write flash fiction?

Flash fiction has been something I’ve done since the beginning. I recently found a story I had to write for class. The teacher read it aloud because she was so impressed with it. D-y-i-n-g of embarrassment, the mean girl who sat in front of me turned around and gave me a compliment about my story. Counting the cursive words in pencil, it was about 400 words. Another story from a few years later was 775. So, flash isn’t a choice for me as much as the word range I write.

What advice would you give someone who is just starting to send their work out to journals?

My advice is no different than most. There’s no shortcut to checking out the places you are submitting to and reading the guidelines. Rejections happen, so accept them as the temporary setbacks they are and carry on.

What do you think about writing prompts?

I know some writers feel confined by prompts, but I love the challenge of them. I don’t finish them every time – or “in time” if it’s for a contest—but it can be fun to let loose using them as specific guardrails. If words are involved, I try to think of ways they aren’t the go-tos. If the prompt is “clutch,” I would think “car,” so I’d try to use the clutch in a different way, like as a purse, if you see what I mean.

Do you write every day?

If we count “Congratulations” to someone in a tweet, then yes. I’m not as great at self-discipline as I feel I should be. I know I’m capable of getting into grooves where I write at certain times, and that helps flow and output so much –I’ve repeatedly written 50,000-word first drafts in a month—but keeping up that pace is unsustainable for me.
Lately, I’ve been rewriting, which is more unwriting and rewording, so I don’t have a word count to write to, which is hard. I’m using chocolate as a reward to put in 28 minutes at a time to get it done. Chocolate works. The thing is, what works for me now won’t necessarily work in the future. Some advice you “hear” a million times, and then one day, that trite thing rings true, and you feel like an idiot for not getting it before. “Write what you know” is one of those. It sounds simple, and it is, but there are different levels to it, just like there are to the write everyday adage

Among other places, T. L. Sherwood’s work has appeared in New World Writing, Elm Leaves Journal, Rosebud, Bending Genres, Page & Spine, Fictive Dream, Milk Candy Review, and The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature. She lives in western New York and blogs here: https://tlsherwood.com/