Hew Davis
Why did you submit to trash to treasure lit?
I was actively seeking a port of refuge for some of my more recent writing when I chanced upon tttl. I have been writing for years, but rarely sharing my work, so I felt the call to resurrect this particular piece. I thought it was good when I wrote it and thought, Why not?
How would you describe your writing practice?
I write to escape, to dream, to hope, and to mend, if I am able to affect such a remedy. I try to write creatively everyday. That has always proven to be too bold an endeavor for me to attend to with much reliable success, however, but I'm writing once a week, at a minimum. I am a middle school teacher, so summer break is when I am able to busy myself with personal writing projects, primarily. During the school year, I'm often too distracted to focus on my own creativity. Some days, though, and some nights - late - it's inevitable.
What is the biggest thing that stops you from submitting work to lit mags/journals/publications?
Oh, the snobbery of it all, certainly. I read recently a rejection letter that made the preposterous claim that 40-year-old writers are too old to write a first novel. I'm not concerned with the leviathan of the publishing industry, though. I write for myself and my friends and family. Writing is thinking and thinking makes it personal.
Do you think the writing industry has an impact on your confidence in your work (good or bad)? Why?
It's absolutely a negative impact. The publishing industry takes less risks than they used to, in my opinion. My work is often risky business, but why submit my writing when the industry aligns with sellable writers discriminately? Name recognition and popular trends might work for the industry of selling lots of books, but it does very little to inspire writers to give their all.
When do you start to doubt a piece that you are working on?
Strange question. Doubt seeps in for weeks before I put pen to page. Once the work has begun, I think my confidence builds, actually.
Once you trash one of your pieces, what makes you come back to it (if ever)?"
Honestly, I usually horde away my past writing on Google Drive and come back to pieces in a random way, pressured mainly by the boredom of perusing the internet, or sickened by it.
How many pieces do think you have currently in your 'abandoned' folder?
Um, a hundred?
What is the ultimate reason that you trash your work?
A lack of audience, probably. Here in the middle of America, it is quite difficult to create and foster an community of writers and readers. I'd probably have better luck, and buoying inspiration from other writers, if I moved out to the coast, east or west. The Midwest Brain Drain, they call it. They coasts strip us of our creative people and the folks who are left have little time to create. Sad, really. Sadness trashes me.
Is there anything that would stop you from trashing your work? (More education in writing, more publications/less rejections, a change in the industry, etc)
Yes, yes, yes... all of the above.
What writing advice have you been given that has changed your perspective on how you treat/view your work?
"Only boring people get bored." "Always have the courage to say, I don't know." "The world has enough destruction, so be a creator instead.
If you have any upcoming work (books, publications, features, art, etc), feel free to mention them here, so that we can support you!
Thanks, but there's no telling!
Hew Davis