DL Shirey’s writing has appeared in 40 publications, including Confingo, Page & Spine, Zetetic and Every Day Fiction.
How long have you been writing and what got you started?
I’ve been fortunate to write for my entire working career, just not in the capacity I do now. I started as a copywriter in the advertising/marketing field. But it wasn’t until I took an early retirement that I started writing short fiction. My first short story was published in September 2015.
What is the best piece of advice you have for new writers?
Put your butt in the chair and do the work. Make it a job. Write every day if you can, and if you can manage it, the same time each day.
Are there any writing resources, such as books or websites, you’d like to recommend?
This is totally self-serving, but dlshirey.com/the-short-list/ is a good tool for writers of short fiction. I use Duotrope to research publishers and track submissions, but I found myself making a list of journals with a preference for lesser word counts. Most of the stuff I write falls below 5,000 words, so I compiled a ready-made list organized by word count. I put it online a couple years ago and update it every month.
If you could go back and find yourself five years ago, what advice would you give yourself?
Let’s go back even further than that: 10, 15, 20 years. I wish I would have kept track of every hair-brained story idea, plot point and character trait like I do now. If something strikes me, it goes in a little notebook I carry. I’ll even text stuff to myself, but the ideas end up being transcribed into that notebook. I should have started doing this a long time ago.
Do you favor the traditional route or self-publishing?
Traditional. @marisabcrane said it best when she tweeted “can we all take a brief time-out to think about how fucking cool it is that you can write something, send it off to a complete stranger or strangers, and have them love it so much that they want to publish it and show it to the world?”
How do you deal with rejections?
I track them. Right now I get published once for every nine submissions. Every rejection puts me 1/9th closer to an acceptance.
Do you ever get criticism from family or friends who don’t understand your passion?
Not criticism, puzzlement perhaps. They don’t understand why I put in so many hours when I rarely get paid for it. My wife, though, is great. She’s very supportive and leaves me alone to do my thing. Even proofreads my manuscripts before I send them out. She’s more of a non-fiction reader, so the speculative stuff I tend to write is not her cup of tea. Still, she is very enthusiastic about my writing and encourages me every day.
In your opinion, how important is a writing degree or MFA when it comes to achieving success in writing fiction?
Depends on the person. Some need it for motivation, others find a niche or genre that they might not have discovered otherwise. If that person feels it helps with their writing, then it’s worth it.
Do you participate in any online or in-person critique or writing groups?
Glad you asked. I’ve been with the same group of five writers, more or less, going on three years. We meet every week at a coffeehouse in Portland, OR. For the same reason standup comedians try out their stuff on open mic nights, I get feedback about what works and what doesn’t in my latest story.
What are your writing goals for the next twelve months?
I am going to write a novel. I’ve signed up for a nine-month workshop to help get me there. Portland is a great city for writers, there are so many meet-ups and classes and workshops and literary groups to help achieve your goals.
What books are you reading right now?
I volunteer at a used bookstore that is part of our local library system. They order lots of copies of new releases, then when demand wanes a few months later, sells the overstock in our store. I prefer a paper book to an e-reader, so I’m always buying something to add to my stack. I just brought home “Less” by Andrew Sean Greer, “Saturn Run” by John Sanford and “The Book of Joan” by local Portland author Lidia Yuknavitch.
