What made you decide to be an author?

I wrote my first book at age 35, Running Loose. It was an evolutionary process, and after finding the guts to write the first one, I realized by the third or fourth one that I was an author with a publisher and a deadline. It may have started in high school with two teachers that motivated me to write, not in the traditional sense, though. For English, I would knock off my essay in 15 minutes for the C-minus. It was my biology/shop teacher and the band teacher that inspired me to write. When I would get in trouble with either one of them, I had a choice – the wooden paddle or a 500 word essay. I chose the essay and would stay up until two o’clock in the morning trying to write something that would make them laugh. I wrote those just like I write now; I’d write it, I’d read it out loud, I’d fix it. I wrote it with the idea that I had something in mind, a purpose behind the writing.
Beginning as a Writer (1:44)

How important is humor to your writing?

Humor is something that comes naturally to me as I write, but it has another purpose. It allows me to write about deeper and darker issues because I can use the humor to balance the tragedy. Without that balance of comedy and tragedy, I don’t know that I could write about some of the themes that I do. Humor also allows you to say certain things without sounding like you’re preaching.

Humor and What Keeps Him Writing (3:28)

What drew you to writing and still draws you to it now as a published author?

A friend of mine from college, Terry Davis, was writing Vision Quest when I was in my early thirties, and I saw the whole process and that it was something I thought I could do if I was willing to do the rewrites and had a story to tell. I was also drawn to the storytelling and the small piece of fame that might come with that. It also became the feeling and huge sense of satisfaction of finishing a piece and being able to say, “That did exactly what I wanted it to do,” however small it may be. What draws me now is the ability to experiment more and to try and tell stories that haven’t been told.

In your opinion, how close is the link between reading and the ability to write well?

I read a lot when I was younger, but during adolescence, I was preoccupied with adolescence. Certainly I began reading again as an adult, and I think reading and writing are linked in every possible, positive way. I think that if you write, you will read. If you start respecting the story you have to tell, it gives you a reason to go look at other people’s stories, and all of a sudden reading becomes personal. It’s something we can all do, and the more we actually sit down and do it, recognizing how hard it is, but also just to go through the process, it becomes almost like breathing in and out. The more you do one, the more you understand the other; the more you write down, the more you become partners with other writers.

On Reading and Writing (2:03)

You sometimes draw on your life experience in your works. Do you think that makes for stronger, more authentic writing?

I do. You may not write just from your experience, but you write within your experience or your capacity to imagine, which is what experience is. So much about writing is using your imagination, but the truth has the ring of truth to it and people will recognize that.

Is there a process that you use when you write and revise what you’ve written?

It is usually the same process, though to watch me, you may not recognize it. I was watching something on Public Access with author Joseph Heller, and he described the process as throwing up in the morning and cleaning it up in the afternoon. Though it may not actually happen at that time of the day, when I heard it I thought, “God, that’s exactly right.” You put down whatever is in your head, it can be the dumbest stuff in the world, but get it down anyway. Then, you go to the process of writing by cleaning it up and using what works. I may dump out a chapter or short story, and then go back and rewrite it. John Irving once said on National Public Radio, “I’m not much of a writer, but I’m a hell of a rewriter.” That’s when I realized that the real creativity of the process comes in the rewrite. It’s like a sculptor throwing a lump of clay out and then molding it.

The Writing Process and Writer’s Block (3:07)

What do you do when you experience writer’s block?

I usually walk away from it because I have blinders on at the time or my focus is off or too narrow. I usually run or swim, something that has a mantra effect or rhythm about it that can help me free my mind. If I have writer’s block over a longer period of time, I’ve realized that it is telling me something. I’m either telling the wrong story or telling it the wrong way. If it really persists, then I say, “Okay, you’ve got to get back to your passion.” If I’m not passionate about a story, I’ll have writer’s block all day long. There’s nothing about me that wants to write something I don’t care about.

If you could offer one piece of advice to students today with regards to their writing, what would it be?

I’m going to try and cram three things into this one piece of advice. The first would be to read a lot! Read what you enjoy, and read in the genre you wish to write in. Secondly, write a lot. Write anytime something happens that you have an emotional response to. If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry – write it down. It will be the heart and soul of what you write later even if you’re making stories up. You’ll be looking for the truth of laughter or the truth of tragedy or the truth of despair, those things. To capture that moment to use later, and you’ll know you have it because you wrote it down before. The third, and perhaps most important thing, is to never let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. It’s what almost derailed me. Look around a bookstore or library, there are lots of writers. People are writing books. Sit down and tell the story. Writers aren’t superhuman. Writers write books the way that good carpenters build houses. We get the right tools, the right materials, and we take our time. Writing will go where it goes, not always where you expect it to go.
Advice to Students (1:57)

Additional Chris Crutcher Resources

Crutcher reading an excerpt from his latest novel, “Deadline,” at Auntie’s Book Store.

Whale Talk

Running Loose

All Books by Chris Crutcher

iSEEK Education Resources for Chris Crutcher

Interview Date: July 22, 2008

Interviewer: Drew Sterner

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