Grumpy graduate student by day. Scribbling daydreamer by night. Sleep deprived parent full-time. Currently, Devon Widmer is meandering down a long, winding road toward a PhD in physical chemistry. Her talents include drinking copious amounts of coffee, forgetting where she set her glasses, and laughing at her own jokes.
How long have you been writing and what got you started?
When I was about five years old, I dictated my very first “novel” to my mother. She jotted down the words while I doodled the kind of crayon masterpieces only a five-year-old could create (think dinosaurs riding spaceships and blobby people who look like their arms are coming out of their necks). The story chronicled the genre-bending adventure of a mother dinosaur in search of her lost child (Spoiler alert: the baby dino was neither on the moon nor hiding in Peter Piper’s pepper field). Although only one copy of Where is the Dinosaur? was ever printed, it launched a lifelong love of writing. I did, however, spend far too many years between then and now wanting to write but not actually doing it. Only recently have I started writing with the intention of publishing, so I’d say I’ve only been seriously writing for a few years now.
What is the best piece of advice you have for new writers?
There’s never going to be an “ideal” time to start writing. I spent a lot of years telling myself that I’d start writing seriously once my life settled down and I was less busy—then something new would crop up and I’d become even busier than before. Then, in the middle of graduate school, I had my daughter and my life became more hectic than I could have even imagined. It was then that I realized that if I ever wanted to be a writer, I was going to have to find ways to make time for it instead of waiting for the day my ever-increasingly complex life magically became simple. So, if you want to be a writer but have been putting off writing until you finish school/get your dream job/retire/become less busy/whatever, please realize that even if you reach that milestone, it’s no guarantee you’re going to feel like you have enough free time for writing. Start small—a mere handful of words on paper each day is so much better than none, after all—but start now.
If you could go back and find yourself five years ago, what advice would you give yourself?
Stop worrying and start writing! When I first started writing seriously, for every minute I spent putting words onto paper, I wasted at least two or three worrying—worrying about what other people would think when they read what I was working on, worrying that the writing wasn’t good enough, worrying that I would never get it published, worrying that I was never even going to finish it. With time and practice I’ve gotten a lot better at chugging along without wasting time worrying, but I sure wish I could go back to assure my past self that completing an imperfect bit of writing is a lot more satisfying than worrying over the same few paragraphs and never finishing!
How do you measure success when it comes to your writing?
If I can read what I’ve written the same way I would read a story by somebody else (just reading to enjoy rather than nitpicking this or that word choice or agonizing over the structure of that one sentence), then I consider that piece of writing a success. We authors tend to be our own worst critics, so if I enjoy reading it, there’s a good chance other people will too.
What tips do you have for finding time to write?
If you have a busy schedule like me, you’re never going to feel like you have “enough” time to write. Instead, you’ll have to actively find ways to carve writing time out of your schedule. It won’t be easy, but even little snippets of time can be enough to get yourself started. When I first decided to write seriously, I took a good hard look at my daily schedule and realized that, although I was genuinely very, very busy, I wasted a good amount of time flipping through social media on my phone. I didn’t even enjoy that time. It was just something I did to fill the few spare minutes in between obligations. Since a writing tool (the phone) was already in my hand during those moments, I decided to use that time to jot down story ideas and compose microfiction pieces. I still don’t have a perfect writing schedule, but I’ve made a habit of gathering up as many spare moments as I can so that I have a little time to write every day.
Are you an outliner or discovery writer? Or somewhere in between?
I would say that I’m somewhere in between. If I can force myself to plan at least the basics of the story ahead of time, I generally have a lot more confidence while writing. However, I often find that the process of writing brings out little sparks of inspiration that take the story in directions I wouldn’t have thought of during the planning stage, so I try to be open to deviating from my plan.
How do you deal with rejections?
Keep writing! When I was just starting to write seriously, each story I submitted for publication felt like it carried all of my hopes and dreams. With such high expectations, rejection felt like a slap in the face, like fate was telling me I just wasn’t cut out to be a writer. However, the more stories I’ve written, the more confident I’ve become in my writing ability and the less those rejection letters sting. Now when I receive a rejection, I let myself wallow in self-pity for an hour or so, then I set that story aside and get to work on a different project. After about a month has passed, I take out the old story, work to make it better, and see if there are any other markets where it might find a home. I’m ok now with the reality that I might not publish every single story I write. Having a reservoir of finished but unpublished stories is actually really useful because those are all plots and characters and ideas that can be worked into new projects. And you never know when an anthology call will pop up asking for stories just like one of the ones you’ve tucked away!
What are your writing goals for the next five years?
My main goal for the next few years is to write a novel or two. I’ve gotten into a good rhythm for completing short stories, but novels are a completely different beast. With a dedicated writing schedule, I think it is definitely a doable goal, but it’s going to be a challenge to keep myself focused!
What book(s) are you reading right now?
My husband got me a copy of Steven King’s On Writing as a Christmas gift, so I’m looking forward to reading that soon and hopefully picking up a few writing tips. I’ve also been rereading some of my favorite novels. I just finished rereading Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness and plan to get back into reading Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels next.
Is there anything you’d like to plug? Feel free to share a link.
A few of my published stories can be found on my amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Devon-Widmer/e/B00TCQUFDK
Also, be on the lookout for my short horror story “The Passing of the Reaper Journal” coming out soon in Pixie Forest Publishing’s At Death’s Door anthology.
