Samuel Cromwell Member Member since 2021

Where do you prefer to do your creative work?

Coffeeshops, park benches, at my desk below a wall of comic book covers, on the balcony in the afternoon summer sun, at the kitchen table after dark, with a glass of whiskey.

If you could only take one book on a ten-year voyage, what book would you choose?

"The Poetry of Pablo Neruda." Ten years is a long time. It would have to be a book I could not only read over and over, but that would change each time I opened it, and for that I'd have to pick a book of poetry. Something with enough gaps between the words for newness to break through.

How much of a typical day (or week) are you able to dedicate to your creative work?

It's always a difficult balance. When I can't fit in enough time to write, I have to remind myself that everything else-- reading, researching, thinking, searching for new experiences-- they are all part of the creative process too.

What makes you procrastinate when you could be doing your creative work? What are your strategies for finding focus?

Somedays, it feels like everything makes me procrastinate. As if everything is conspiring to keep me away from my writing desk. To find focus, I cultivate a space that engages the senses. Music. The smell of a fresh pot of coffee. The warm light of a lamp, or the morning sun.

How do you celebrate your successes, such as acceptances? How do you handle rejections and other setbacks?

After my most recent publication, I bought a nice bottle of Scotch, and I celebrate with a little pour and a toast to my current self, the effort of my past self, and the coming successes of my future self.

It's been a journey figuring out how to handle rejections. Some hit harder than others. On my best days, I handle them by diving into another work, submitting something else, just keeping the momentum going. Thinking of it as a numbers game. But on worse days, I might need a reset, shift out of my creative brain for a little while. Watch a movie, play a video game, go for a walk.

Do you have a personal creative style? How would you describe it?

Speculative, lyrical, internal, contemplative. Looking for the awe in the ordinary, and sometimes the terror in an ambiguous darkness.

Where do you find inspiration?

Reading. Reading with as much variety as possible. Across genres, mediums, styles. Classic sci-fi novels, continental philosophy, New Yorker Articles, short story collections, random headlines, etc.

If you could choose to be born in any era, which one would you choose and why?

I feel like this question is always a trap. You choose an era that seems glamorous, and only later realize all the drawbacks or deficiencies that the idealized image has cropped out. But I'd choose to be around for 1920s Paris (Midnight In Paris is one of my favourite films).

What advice would you give to a young, budding writer (or artist) with less experience than yourself?

Keep learning. Trust your instinct. If you have to question if something is working, you are probably picking up on something that needs to be examined more. Conversely, if there is a part of your work you absolutely love, be skeptical of it. You don't always have to "kill your darlings" per se, but be wary of an over-emphasized idea or image that might be warping what's around it.

For your first draft (or sketch), do you prefer analog or digital tools, or a mix?

A mix. Sometimes I'll start on my laptop, and then write a draft by hand, before finalizing on my laptop again. And sometimes I'll just brainstorm with pen and paper, and then complete the rest digitally.

Do you incorporate generative AI/LLMs into your creative process? If so, how?

No.

What is your favorite word and why?

Phantasmagoric.

Like all great words, it's fun to say, and makes me think of wonderful, abstract images that no other word can conjure on its own.