Daily Lobo: Why creative writing?
Molly Sroges: Because I love to write. It is my ultimate passion. I can't really dream of living without writing short stories - mostly short stories. I write poetry, too, but I prefer fiction.
DL: What do you normally write about in your short stories?
MS: Usually, they're fantasy short stories, so kind of typical fantasy stuff with people who have magical powers and have to save the world, but I'm really into people who have magical powers but don't have to save the world.. I'm interested in writing about people who are just ordinary people like us but live in a magical world, I guess.
DL: What are your goals? Do you plan on writing a novel?
MS: Right now, I don't have much material to write a novel. So it's more likely that I make a book of short stories.
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DL: How is that different, do you think, than writing a novel?
MS: Well, a novel is much longer, so you need much more material to keep the audience interested. You need a series of adventures that all build up to a major climax. Usually, when I come up with an idea, I just have one or two short adventures building to a climax.
DL: Why are you wearing a tie?
MS: Because I really like this tie, and I used to be in the Gallup High School Jazz Band where we wore orange ties, and I have a character in a story that I'm working on - it's actually a series of stories that are supposed to get longer as they go on - but he wears an orange tie. As I write stories, I tend to kind of take on the character I'm writing about.
DL: How does that help you write?
MS: It helps me get into the character's mind, sort of, so then I can better understand where the person is coming from and better write that person and make him or her more interesting.
DL: Have you gotten into character like that in the past?
MS: For one thing, I used to have long hair, and I cut it when I started working on a story last semester because the character had short hair. I've worn, like, darker or lighter clothes, and I've noticed that it does kind of help me. It changes my mood; sometimes I'm writing a character who's really kind of bubbly and I wear pigtails and bright colors, and I really start acting bubbly and kind of like her character. And when I have a character who is more moody and darker, then I dress darker and I start to feel darker, as well.
~Pat Lohmann
