10 Questions with Gabrielle Friesen
Gabrielle Friesen is deeply invested in monsters and androids, and very frightened of large bodies of water. She has had work featured in Hello Horror Magazine, Devilfish Review, and in 18thWall’s anthology “Those Who Live Long Forgotten.”
How long have you been writing and what got you started?
I’ve been writing since I was little, although the results of my younger writing mostly amounted to thinly-veiled Redwall fanfiction. I’ve only started writing seriously within the past two or three years, after taking a creative writing course on a whim that was taught by a very supportive professor.
What is the best piece of advice you have for new writers?
Value your own work.
Are there any writing resources, such as books or websites, you’d like to recommend?
The Horror Tree and Dark Markets have been very helpful in finding fiction markets, and The Horror Tree’s posts on writing and the writing process are very helpful.
What is your favorite type of fiction and who are your favorite authors?
My favorite types of fiction are magical realism and historical fiction, and some of my favorite authors are Jorge Luis Borges, Jeanette Winterson, Steven Pressfield, Sarah Waters, Angela Carter, and Mary Shelley.
What tips do you have for finding time to write?
Even if its fifteen minutes and all you have time for is a quick bullet list of phrases or loose scenes, its worth it to sit down and do it. In my experience, eventually it will add up, both word wise and as a practice, until those short fifteen minute bursts grow into longer designated writing times.
Do you prefer to outline a story in advance or write on the fly? Why?
I prefer to have an outline, otherwise I get mired in the minutiae of the story and have trouble moving the plot along, which has resulted in me abandoning half-finished pieces in the past. Outlines are nice maps to have for your big idea when moving through the little hard details.
How do you deal with rejections?
They don’t really bother me, its normal to get a bunch of rejections before even one acceptance. Sometimes I’m even excited to see a rejection in my inbox, because it just means that I can send the story off somewhere else.
What are your writing goals for the next twelve months?
I’m working to improve my dialogue, I think its one of the things I’m weakest at right now. The first fiction piece that I ever considered submitting anywhere two years ago has yet to be accepted, and I’m hoping to find a place for it in the near future.
For the next five years?
If that one piece doesn’t get accepted anywhere in the next twelve months, I’ll bump my hopes back a few years. I’d also like to have a polished draft of at least one of the book ideas I have within the next five years.
Is there anything you’d like to plug? Feel free to share a link.
My short story “Painted Hounds” re-imagines the Greek monsters Scylla and Charybdis in a modern-day setting and is featured in 18thWall’s Those Who Live Long Forgotten anthology, which just came out recently and can be found on Amazon.
