David B. Holton
Oyster River Pages: How is your art or writing informed by current social and/or political issues?
David B. Holton: I have always felt a heightened sensitivity to the conflicts & feelings of others (a quirk I think most artists share), & like everyone else, I am in some way a product of my time, place, & culture. Being that I “write what I know,” this all finds its way into my fiction, whether I mean it to do so or not. That said, I try not to write directly to any one social or political issue… I find that if I set out with “something to say,” I get blocked up pretty quickly, or my characters end up thin, or my story starts to be THEME, THEME, THEME, & I might as well write an essay instead. When I write, I try hard to maintain what Keats once called “negative capability”—withholding judgment for as long as possible & allowing my characters to act. I usually find that somewhere along the line, some response to a topical issue shows up without my asking it to.
ORP: What do you hope readers or viewers of your piece take from it?
DBH: I believe strongly that writing (all storytelling, really) is a collaboration between the writer & the reader (or listener, or viewer, etc.). A story is like a person standing somewhere alone with their hand outstretched—to others, they might look lonely, strange, vulnerable, crazy, or any number of adjectives. But then someone else comes along & takes their hand, & suddenly, the picture changes—it becomes two people making a connection, sharing a handshake. I hope that at some point, a reader comes to my work & experiences a feeling that “I see you, I hear you, & here’s an answer to a question you didn’t even know you had.” Or they come away with a small sense of completion, a notion that there is someone out there who, while perhaps different on every other level, offers at least one point of contact, one moment of “hey, maybe I’m not so alone after all.”
ORP: How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your relationship to art and writing, either in the creation of it or the consumption of it?
DBH: I have always been more of a planner than a pantser, but the uncertainty of these past few months has pushed me toward an improv style of creation & made me willing to take more risks. My experience played out like this… I was cast to act all summer in an outdoor theatre production, slated to go on six nights a week for three months, but then the show was canceled, full stop, & suddenly I found myself with a lot more time on my hands. At first, I tried to make new plans (old habits die hard, as the clichés say), but those plans got scrapped, too. Finally, I gave up planning more than a day or two ahead, & treated each day as an opportunity to experiment—this pandemic has been a stark reminder that we don’t know how many we’ll get, anyway. The result of this approach has been a stack of work across three mediums—writing, photography, & filmmaking. Whether any of it is any good or not, well... I’m sorry, what was the question again?
ORP: Years from now, when historians look back on the art and writing of the early 21st century, how do you think they will articulate the zeitgeist?
DBH: There is great division on whether we are trending up or down, especially among artists. On the one hand, many platforms & stages worldwide have been dismantled, & the viability of art as a career has never been more in doubt. But on the other hand, the gatekeepers have vacated their posts, & artists are innovating furiously & putting out work with great feeling. All around me, I see artists working without perfect conditions or permission, without much money for that matter, often forced to build their own stages, define their own rules, & employ creativity to overcome restrictions. I hear voices that used to be silenced speaking out loud & getting louder every day. At times, it’s hard to say whether people will look back on this era as the Renaissance that followed the Dark Ages or the Dark Ages that preceded the Renaissance. But I believe that someday, this might be known as an era of “revolution.” I guess I’m just an infernal optimist.
ORP: What do you think is the most essential advice that most writers and artists ignore?
DBH: “In order to write about life first you must live it.” You might disagree with Hemingway’s lifestyle & you might be quick to point out that his weren’t the best choices to emulate. Well, you might be right. But this quote is always one that I keep close by for quick reference. For one thing, it can be an encouragement when the work doesn’t pay off as quickly as I’d like it to… which it so often does not. For another, it can be a good reminder that great stories are about people (even when they’re not), & the only way to know people is to go out there & meet them (& to be a person yourself, from time to time). Back when I was a script reader, I read story after story that wasn’t bad, but somehow just… off… like a good song played on an out-of-tune instrument, or a travel writer reporting on a far-off country they’d never actually visited. I’ve seen this in other arts as well. It’s like the painter who only paints their cat because that’s all they ever see… they might be the best painter of cats ever, but how many cat paintings does the world need? Actually… that last analogy might be a bit off the mark… maybe the world does need more cat paintings. What this answer does not need is more metaphors, that’s for sure.
