Member Spotlight: Cole Rockarts

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? For me, this is my debut book – so it’s been a many years long process of figuring out how to articulate and understand my message in a succinct way. Fired Up About Unions is a non-fiction book, and it’s aimed at youth, so figuring out how to communicate in an accessible way, breaking down these big concepts. I’m honoured to now be among writers who work in the non-fiction space.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? Read something inspiring, understand where my fear and ego is getting in the way of just sitting down, and remembering the power of brilliant editors as the biggest area of support.

What is your favorite time to write? I did almost all of my writing for this book in the mornings – whether before work, or on the weekends. In fact, I’m writing my response to this very questionnaire in the morning. But before the world gets too noisy, and life interferes, my practice has been a cup of coffee and my laptop.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Sometimes we have to get out of our own way. Whether it’s the moments of self doubt, ultimately believing that we have something to say, that the work will be valuable, and then writing to make it so.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? I think that the readers – the people that choose to pick up a book and learn, or enter a world that is entirely from someone’s creative energy, in the case of fiction work, is that there are people still striving to make this a craft. I’m thrilled to be part of the AG, and despite the challenges we face in this digital age and time of great uncertainty, I’m excited to join the community of writers who are expanding what it means to identify as an author.

Cole Rockarts’s Fired Up About Unions is out now with Between the Lines.