Jan 7
Rolli on Writing
My Q&A with The Pro Files
Author’s note: The Pro Files, a new publication featuring writer profiles and articles and essays about writing and the writer’s life, picked me as the subject of their first article. The following questions and answers are the unedited result of an emailed interview with its editor, Ben Human.
Do you want to go by Rolli only or is there a full name?
Just Rolli.
Tell us about your writer/artist-self. What art and specifically creative writing do you do?
With varying success, I do it all: fiction, nonfiction and poetry for adults and children, plus cartoons, illustrations, and some song writing/music production, too. I contribute to magazines like The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Playboy, Reader’s Digest, Harvard Business Review, The Saturday Evening Post and dozens of others. It keeps one busy.
How did the writing bug get you at first?
I vaguely remember writing bad poetry as a teenager. Then I grew up a little and started writing bad short stories. I’ve evolved or devolved from there, depending on who you ask.
Is it all you do or is there a day job?
Creative work has been my full-time profession, alas, for the past dozen years.
Are any of the writing gigs profitable or more promising than others?
Writing alone is undependable, so I rely enormously on cartoon and illustration work for magazines and newspapers, plus private commissions, and merchandise sales. I’ve had a few steady magazine gigs over the years, though with the state of publishing at present those are now as rare as African forest elephants (African forest elephants are greatly endangered).
What personal (e.g. emotional, family), professional (e.g. perfectionism, dyslexia) and other challenges (e.g. financial, traditional publishing gatekeepers) have you experienced?
Scoring a book deal wasn’t too difficult when I first started out, though that’s no longer the case. I’ll say no more, as my neck looks better unbroken. Worth noting: I have over a dozen unpublished book manuscripts — and no contracts. I write mostly for periodicals and websites these days, waiting impatiently for the wind to change direction.
Have you failed? What have you learnt? What triumphs, big and small?
Failure is my daily bread. If I can succeed now and then, I’m happy. I don’t brood too much when I fail or dwell much on success. There are enough defeated and self-satisfied writers on this planet that I don’t need to add to their numbers.
How do you live in the world? What is being social, loving, losing, succeeding and all the other important stuff to you?
Not much is important to me, really — except good books and coffee. A few true friends are helpful, too. Creating all day would be monotonous.
Any advice to younger-you starting out in life, art, love and work?
If humanly possible, sign with a mid-sized or big publisher, especially for a debut title. Little presses are hip … but nothing happens. And once you’ve lost your marketability as a debut author, it’s close to impossible to interest an agent or major publisher in your work ever again. Without the latter’s influence, even the most brilliant books have no chance of survival in the Amazon wilderness.
Also — don’t give your work away for free. Non-paying magazines would do writers an enormous favor it they all spontaneously combusted.
Give us an insight into your process?
I pour coffee down my throat and see what happens — for an hour or two. I’ll find something practical to do for a while, then brew some more and do some more. I always, always destroy three-fourths of everything I write or draw. I’m not easily pleased.
Would you agree to answer any questions in the comments?
I never read the comments. It’s the key to my longevity.
Rolli’s latest book is Plumstuff. He enjoys it very much when people buy him a coffee.
Editor’s note: Check out Rolli’s amazing short stories and poetry on his page. This is one of my favourites.
