Member Spotlight: Peter J. Stavros

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? I’m not the most outgoing person (to say the least!), so I’ve found that writing provides a way for my voice to be heard when I might be too shy to speak up. And I believe that writing can do the same for others who might be reluctant to speak up for whatever reasons, and it’s a means for voices to be heard across distances and divides, and to be shared over time. Writing allows for communication and an exchange of ideas, which is a very important thing in this world.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? I don’t fight it. I just put down my pen or close my laptop and do something, anything, else. Usually, a long run or tidying up around the house helps. I’ve found that when my mind is occupied with something else, no matter how mundane, it will eventually return to writing–and oftentimes with a different perspective or a renewed enthusiasm.

What is your favorite time to write? The first thing in the morning. I get up early, around six or so, and write when the house is still, and the neighborhood is quiet, before the hustle and bustle of everyone readying for their day. And also before I’m bombarded by any outside influences–emails, text messages, phone calls, etc. And if I’m lucky, I’ll awake with something interesting to write about that has slipped into my mind overnight.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Write what you know. I greatly admire writers who conduct extensive research for their work and who might delve into new and unexplored areas with their writing. But I found long ago, in one of my writing classes when I was struggling to write an epic piece that took place in ancient Greece, that that isn’t me—and that was when my professor gave me that sage advice. I don’t want writing to be a chore. I left the corporate world, which was full of chores, to pursue my passion for writing. So I write what comes natural, what I’ve been thinking about, and sometimes what bothers me to help me process it (like when I wrote about the geese that wouldn’t leave my parking spot—not one budge!).

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? I’m excited that today, as opposed to when I first started writing way back in college, there are so many more ways for writers to share their writing–traditional press and self-publishing and online lit mags and journals and blogs and podcasts, etc. If I write a piece that I want to get out immediately, I’ll put it up on my blog. If I’m working on something longer or more involved, like a novel, and I need to take a mental break, I’ll write some flash fiction and submit it to one of the many lit mags that specialize in that. If I’m feeling particularly inspired (and I want to impress my social media-savvy nieces and nephews!), I might compose a creative tweet or an Instagram post.

Peter J. Stavros’s The Thing About My Uncle is out today with BHC Press.