How did you get into writing? Do you remember your first piece of writing?
I covered high school sports for local newspapers while I was still in high school. I planned to be a journalism major in college, but during my first quarter at college I took an introduction to literature class, and after we read a Stephen Crane poem called “In the Desert,” I wrote a poem in homage to it, and I signed up for a creative writing class the next quarter.
How has your writing evolved over time?
Evolved? Writers are creationists. Little gods. We love our big bangs. But seriously, as a young writer, I was really hung up on the Beats, and I believed in Kerouac and “first thought, best thought.” Somewhere along the line, I came to love revision as much or more than any other stage in the writing process.
What has teaching others to write taught you about your own writing?
It’s made it easier to see my mistakes, more open to correction. Once you’ve fixed the commas in a few thousand pieces of writing by other people, it’s easier to get them right in your own work. Or after a few hundred times saying “Cut the warmup and everything at the end after this resonant image,” it would feel hypocritical not to do the same to my own writings.
What author has inspired you the most?
After God, Shakespeare inspired most.
Do you have a writing routine or any methods that you use?
I center my entire life around my writing. Generally, I’m pissed off if I’m not writing, reading to get inspired, or discussing writing. Like I resent going to the dentist, except for that one time when it inspired one of my best poems (The Dental Hygienist). The same goes for grocery shopping (except when I turn it into shopping for images, ala Ginsberg); going to the bank; being put on hold by customer service; sitting in waiting rooms; picking up my kids from school; cooking a meal; cleaning the house; etc. etc. – If I can’t turn it into some kind of a writing exercise, I wish I feel like I’m wasting my one wild and precious life doing it.
What inspires your writing?
I try to surround myself with interesting people and write about them. I’m like Harriet the Freaking Spy.
What is the hardest thing about writing, and how do you work through it?
I hate not having ideas. I wrote a book of 110 prompts ( to help myself and others with that. The other hard thing is complacency/self-satisfaction. I have a lecture on revision techniques that I give several times per year, partly to remind myself that my own work needs to be revised and revised and revised.
Are you working on anything currently?
Of course. If I get this grant I applied for, I hope to make my second short film this summer. This morning I changed the title and revised it a bit.
I’ve also been brainstorming a possible book of prose poems about retirement from different imaginary careers.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Aspire to be a writer, not a fucking influencer. And marry money.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Thanks for your thoughtful questions!
About the Author
Tom C. Hunley is the author of eight full-length poetry collections, eight chapbooks, and two textbooks. He also wrote and co-directed You’re Not Alone, a short film produced by Forerunner TV., Inc., and he and Dr. Alexandria Peary co-edited Creative Writing Pedagogies for the Twenty-First Century (Southern Illinois University Press, 2015). Tom holds degrees from the University of Washington (BA), Eastern Washington University (MFA), and Florida State University (Ph.D.), where he held the Kingsbury fellowship. He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at Western Kentucky University, where he has taught since 2003. He has been married to Ralaina since 1996, and they raised four children together.
Follow Tom C. Hunley:
