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The writing life
Author Matt Love discusses his creative process
By MATT LOVE
S
Since 2002, I’ve given over
1,000 presentations about my books
and various other Oregon literary/
historical topics. Traveling all over
the state (and recently into coastal
Washington), I’ve gigged at bars,
barns, bookstores, galleries, coffee
shops, theaters, radio stations, tele-
vision studios, utility closets, fairs,
fi elds, parties, prisons, libraries,
parks and historical museums and
met thousands of fantastic people
who have responded enthusiasti-
cally to my personal, somewhat ec-
centric approach to telling Oregon/
Pacifi c Northwest stories.
During this time, I’ve also taught
close to 50 writing workshops on a
variety of topics and met hundreds
of aspiring writers of all ages.
At the conclusion of these events
and workshops, I am invariably
asked some or all of the following
questions:
1. Where do you get your writ-
ing ideas?
2. Who or what is your muse?
3. What’s your writing process?
4. How do you cope with literary
rejection?
5. What’s your best piece of
advice for aspiring writers?
6. What’s the secret to your
success?
7. What type of writing work-
shop or group do you recommend?
8. Do you think you would have
become a writer without the beach?
9. What’s your next writing
project?
Generally, I believe no formu-
la exists for becoming a writer,
although the bookstores and internet
are crammed with how-to guides
that preach otherwise. I am also
highly dubious of any writer/oracle
who teaches workshops as if that
teacher has the answer — THE AN-
SWER — carved in a stone tablet
and handed down from … some-
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Author and Coast Weekend contributor Matt Love is constantly inspired to write by Oregon’s beaches.
where. I’ve sat through some of
these workshops, and they seemed
utterly preposterous to me.
Nevertheless, many audience
members want answers to divine
something useful from my expe-
riences, so here’s generally what I
say:
1. Beach at dawn. (Best place to
think. No distractions. No idiots. I
never use the phone or listen to mu-
sic there. Watching the waves break
is all I need to get the creative mind
going. Having a dog helps, too.)
2. Beach. (I go on average three
to fi ve times a week, every day in
the summer.)
3. Beach. (I visit the beach and
write the openings of pieces in my
head. Walking helps me perfect
them. When I return home, I sit
down at the computer and type
away. I never stare at a screen
without knowing what I’m going to
write fi rst.)
4. Beach. (I would have quit
writing along time ago if I didn’t
have the ocean to annihilate my
angst and ego after receiving rejec-
tion after rejection from mainstream
publications and publishers. The old
sound of the ocean helps me start
anew every time I hear it.)
5. Beach. (As in: Go to it all the
time and think about what you want
to write instead of wasting time
inhaling popular culture.)
6. Beach. (Making the time
to write translates to going to the
beach all the time, which is my
preparation to write. Weather
doesn’t matter. Is that a secret? No:
It’s out there for anyone to try.)
7. Beach (It’s totally free — in
Oregon at least — and you won’t
ever have to endure the one narcis-
sistic lunatic who typically ruins a
writing workshop or group.)
8. No. The desert and mountains
don’t inspire me the same way. Ob-
viously, this isn’t the case for every
writer; different landscapes or city-
scapes appeal to different personali-
ties. I just know it would have never
happened for me without the beach,
Oregon’s publicly owned beaches,
preserved in the manner they have
been for all those years, until I came
along to discover them in my early
30s, when I moved to the Oregon
Coast some 19 years ago.
9. Oregon’s beaches. July 7,
2017 marks the 50th anniversary
of the state’s famous 1967 Beach
Bill, which protected the dry sands
area of the beaches from privatiza-
tion and commercial exploitation.
I hope to collaborate with many
other writers, artists and entre-
preneurs in creating a publication
and multiple public spectacles that
celebrate this important piece of
legislation. Naturally, I got this
idea at the beach.
Matt Love is author/editor of
14 books, including his debut
novel about Oregon’s beaches,
“The Great Birthright.” They are
available at coastal bookstores,
through www.nestuccaspitpress.
com and local libraries.