Author Showcase: Meet Wade Thiel, Author, MOMENTS.
What influences your writing process?
What I’m reading has a big impact. I tend to read a few books at a time, both poetry and fiction, instead of reading one all the way through and then moving on to another. Every book brings up new thoughts and things to research or learn more about. Lately, I’ve been reading Ada Limon, Terrance Hayes, Billy Collins, Judson Crews, Donald Platt, and my former professor Kevin McKelvey.
Sitting down and writing is influenced by my day-to-day. I love writing poetry because you can get a lot done when short on time. Young kids demand a lot of your time, and I try to take advantage of the moments when I’m not working my day job or hanging out with my son.
You wrote in the dedication of the book that it is for your son, what kind of a world would you love to see him grow up in?
One that’s compassionate and curious. I don’t want him to shut off his curiosity as he grows up. Too many people get to a point where they simply stop trying to learn about people and the world around them.
Which other avenues do you employ to get your art out to many people asides writing and is getting your art out into the world a major dream for you?
I’ve become increasingly averse to most social media sites, but I do utilize Facebook, X, and LinkedIn to connect with people outside my immediate network of writers and editors. I publish with literary journals and magazines when I can, and will share those publications on my social channels.
I’m a full-time professional writer. I’ve worked in advertising, marketing, journalism, and the technical writing world.
That’s come with some unique opportunities to showcase writing in ways that poetry or fiction wouldn’t let me. I’ve covered environmental and hunting topics for Outdoor Life Magazine, reviewed cars for various automotive publications, and written content for countless clients from several industries. While much of this work wouldn’t qualify as typical art, there is a lot of skill involved and I enjoy it.
Most poets claim or say that they have been writing for a long time, how long have you been writing and which punctuation sign do you find yourself guilty of using a little too much?
Writing creatively is something I didn’t lean into until college. I’m not one of those people who grew up writing and reading all the time.
I thought I was going to major in anthropology, but after my first semester of college, I switched to English and ended up with a degree in creative writing. Once I find something I like, I don’t let it go. It’s been about 14 years of deliberate focus on writing and reading.
In terms of punctuation, I love playing with a lack of it. Sometimes I do it when I shouldn’t. For this collection, because it deals with my son who doesn’t know grammar rules, it made sense to me to go without punctuation and without uppercase letters. I wanted to find my way without guide rails, so to speak.
What personal beliefs of yours do you find always influencing your writing?
That we can become better and smarter. It doesn’t matter what you are doing or who you are, you can become better over time and improve at anything.
How do you approach editing your own poetry?
I write a full first draft in one sitting usually. A couple of days later, I go back through the poem looking at ways to make the language more concise. I try to remove filler words and cut unneeded words or lines. Then I let a few more days go by and go through the poem again, focusing on word choice. Then a few days later I read the poem aloud and focus on how it sounds. Usually, at that point, it’s pretty close to where I want it.
What determines when a poem is done is simply how I feel about it. Sometimes you can tell you’re not going to get it any further. At that point, it’s done, or you need to pass it to a friend so they can give you their thoughts.
Is there a poem of yours in this chapbook that holds a particularly special meaning for you?
“Eating a Sucker” is probably my favorite. It was one of those poems that came out mostly fully formed. I also like the idea of teaching my son how to deal with his emotions, which is what the poem is about.
Is there any poem that was particularly challenging for you to write in this chapbook, why?
“Where Grandma” is short but I struggled to write it. I originally wrote it much longer, but I realized what I wanted to say shouldn’t take long. It’s about mortality and the knowledge that you will eventually lose someone you love, who brings so much to your life. I originally tried to provide answers to the question posed in the poem, but I realized there are no answers, at least no good ones, and that’s kind of the point. That took some time to accept.
Wade Thiel is a writer who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. He received a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Indianapolis and spent half a decade working as an automotive journalist and marketing copywriter in Chicago before heading back to the Hoosier state. His journalism has appeared in Outdoor Life Magazine, Money, RV Magazine, Web Bike World, Good Car Bad Car, and other publications. His fiction and poetry have appeared in Etchings, Tipton Poetry Review, Polk Street Review, Little Blue Marble, The Good Men Project, and elsewhere.
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