Interview Q&A with Lou Storey
We offer our first and exclusive Q&A Interview with Lou Storey, a writer whose literary works have been featured on our Spillwords pages as well as being Author of the Month of October 2024.
- What does it mean to be selected as Author of The Month?
What being selected as Author of The Month means for me is that I will be sending the Spillwords link to everyone I can think of while maintaining an offhanded air about it. Like, “It rained the other day, and, oh, by the way, did I send you this link yet? Just a little something.” I will then wait eagerly for a response, hopeful for kudos, but will be very disappointed if my ravenous ego goes unfed. As a selected Author of the Month, please know that I am really touched, and feel seen and validated.
- How have your friends and/or family influenced your writing?
My friends and family are a part of my writing. They are the world around me that I try to capture on a page in some meaningful way. Another powerful influence is if someone exhibits any satisfaction in reading my work. That feedback provides a type of encouragement that feeds my need to continue writing. No one has ever directly said “You should write,” but storytelling was big in my family, and I caught the bug early. I love finding the right way to tell a story, and I am grateful for places like Spillwords that can share those stories with a wide audience.
- What inspires and motivates you to write?
The thought “That’s interesting” is usually what inspires me to write something down. Motivation is more complicated. I tend to commit fully once something has caught my imagination. At that point my inclination to get things done and see results fully kicks in. Luckily, I have never been forced to write anything, no job has ever handed me a tough writing deadline. Writing has remained exclusively in the arena of play, an easy motivator, which keeps my inner child happy (and busy).
- Can you tell us about the catalyst that sparked your writing journey?
I circled writing at a distance for a long time, fascinated with it but wary of my own limitations and failings regarding knowing THE RULES, particularly spelling and grammar. Art making did not have as strict a gatekeeper, so I was heavily involved in making narrative art, picturing things that were important to me. In the 1970s I studied painting at Pratt Institute. Artists were doing color fields and abstraction, so my narrative pictures were not championed in any way. My eventual employment in museums led to a fascination with putting together idea-based exhibitions that told a story, which became my specialty for twenty-five years. I retired early, returned to school to earn a master’s in social work and a doctorate in psychology. Several of my journal articles were published which gave me confidence that my written communication could be shared. Now in (second) retirement I have made writing a priority, both prose and poetry, my overall intention unchanged, a need to communicate something that feels important.
- Please share a glimpse into your writing process.
My writing has a two-part process that fluctuates between a rigid schedule of morning writing, 8 AM to noon, and a random schedule of writing whenever I can. I find that being able to switch between the two parts keeps both feeling fresh, the random liberates me from the drudgery of routine, and the rigid schedule bolsters a sense of forward motion and accomplishment. I was also given some good advice once: when you feel blocked at the keyboard, try typing the word “The” over and over. Strangely, it seems to work, I suspect it works because my brain thinks, “Well, I may not be a genius, but anything is better than this!”
- What do you find most fulfilling about the act of writing?
For me, writing has rewards that are like those long-acting medications: the first hit is the fun of jumping into something new, a space filled with possibility. The next is the thrill of surprise, how words, thoughts, actions start presenting themselves in unexpected ways. Second to last, I find the act of finalizing a piece initially onerous, like having to clean my room as a kid, but very satisfying when everything has been put right. And lastly, gratifying in uncountable ways, someone reads what I wrote and it gives them something that they value.
- How does the use of imagery contribute to conveying your story?
As a visual artist I think in pictures. I enjoy putting together words that may direct the reader to see as I do. Perhaps that’s what drew me to poetry, an opportunity to really dig deep into the alchemy of combining words in just the right way to form perfect images.
- What is your favorite reading genre?
I’ve always been drawn to fiction in its various forms. As a kid it was science fiction, more in fantasy and fascinating worlds and not monsters or planets at war. I suppose in that regard one of the benefits of fiction is escape from my own reality. However, in the last few years I have been pulled in a new direction and find history really fascinating and informative about human behavior in a way that might not have made sense to me when I was younger. Also, I have always liked reading obituaries, not because I am a morbid person, but because it is a complete story that guarantees a beginning, middle and end.
- What human being has inspired you the most?
Viktor Frankl. I’d read his book Man’s Search for Meaning back in school, but it was on my second reading as an adult that I was inspired. I read his other books and eventually focused my doctoral work on understanding his concepts in connection to the act of creativity. His philosophy and his way of seeing the world gave me a new lens in which to understand nearly everything. The title of his first book was changed by the American publishers. Originally it was Say Yes to Life, In Spite of Everything. That title, for me, is pure inspiration.
- What message would you have for the Spillwords Press community that voted for you?
My friend (poet and writer) Jenny Morelli was the first to tell me about Spillwords, and I remember thinking, “Spillwords! How perfect! That’s exactly what we do as writers, we churn up all those words in our head and spill them right out onto the page.” As a painter it was the best possible metaphor for the urge to write. Thank you fellow Spillwords community, keep churning up and splashing those words out there into the world. Don’t give up! We serve a purpose we cannot know.
- What would you like your legacy as a writer to be?
I don’t expect to be remembered too much beyond my lifetime, but I like to think that every action I did that was directed toward creation or appreciation in this lifetime had some kind of effect that helped keep alive the things I consider of benefit to the world.
- Is there anything else you would like to add?
One of my favorite quotes by Viktor Frankl is: The greatness of a life can be measured by the greatness of a moment. As writers we are the collectors of moments. We piece them together, word by word, then share them with the world. What could be greater than that?
- Interview Q&A With Lou Storey - November 19, 2024
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- Better Than That - August 5, 2024
