David Denny
Oyster River Pages: Why do you write and/or create?
David Denny: I was a sickly child. Because I spent so much time alone, bouncing back and forth between sick room and hospital bed, I cultivated a strong inner life, rich in imaginings. Possibly because of this early psychological adjustment, as an adult, I am a classic introvert. I spend most of my days living inside my head. Which is perfect for a writer. I'm grateful to be surrounded by family and a small circle of friends, but I create in order to give voice and shape to my imagination.
ORP: What would you say is your most interesting writing and/or artistic quirk?
DD: I have a fairly strong case of writer's OCD. Luckily, I am only lightly haunted by obsessions in everyday life. But in my writing, a strong sense of aesthetic joy comes from working and reworking until all the details are just right. I am one of those writers who puts a comma in, then takes it out, then puts it back in—imagining that it makes a difference to the finished product. But lately I find it is easier for me to let things go. That's my advice for any artist who feels the perfectionist urge. Work hard, make it your best, but then let it go.
ORP: What do you think is the best way to improve writing and/or artistic skills?
DD: Like any skill, writing is best improved by practice. Lots and lots of practice. There are, of course, a few notable exceptions to this rule. Mozart and Keats and a few others seem to have emerged fully-formed artists at a young age. But for most of us mere mortals, we improve by doing a thing and failing (and experiencing artistic rejection) repeatedly until we develop competency and eventually find a path towards mastery.
ORP: Who do you consider to be your creative ancestors and contemporaries for your art and/or writing? How does your creative work converse with theirs?
DD: Although I haven't read him in several years, Raymond Carver was (and remains) an important role model for my writing. Carver wrote both short fiction and poetry, as do I. He focused on the lives of ordinary working people in moments of crisis and redemption. His style was concise and accessible. His imagination was formed in a west coast setting, primarily California and Oregon. All these things and more we share in common. For a few years in the mid-1970's, Carver lived in the town where I have lived for 30+ years. Now and then I drive by his old house, stop out front, and imagine him writing and drinking at the kitchen table, where so many of his best stories and poems were born. My narrative poem, "Call Me Virgil," in my book, Some Divine Commotion, found its impetus in such musings.
