Spotlight On Writers – Eric Robert Nolan

I was born in Queens, New York, and I grew up on Long Island. But I’ve spent much of my life in Virginia.

Caffeine, for starters.

I also like to begin by imagining something small and simple, and then “growing” it into something larger, more detailed or hopefully immersive. I’ll start with a limited set of thoughts or sensory impressions and then try to expand them into something more complex. Maybe the result will be a poem with a recurring motif, maybe it will be detailed character point-of-view in a story. It’s a fun creative exercise, even if I don’t actually write anything down.

Like most writers, I suppose, I enjoy combinations of words. I love consonance and assonance, and I like to discover new synonyms to enhance those devices. I like playing around with word order and sentence structure — to sort of “discover” the best version of the verse or sentence that I want to write.

I’ve been asked this a couple of times, and the word I keep coming back to is variant. I love the way it sounds — the way the electric “v” and the “r” sounds slide into a firm, terminal “t.” It’s like the sound running through a power line; it’s wicked cool. To me, the word variant implies something that was deliberately altered to become different or special. In the world of comic books, for example, a limited-edition variant cover typically features artwork by a sought-after artist. Those covers are harder to find, and they might cost a little more. But they’re special. (Yes, I am a comic book nerd.)

Here’s a shot at a sentence: “All our online avatars are variants of inner selves.” Okay, that wasn’t terribly good, but you get the picture.