Author (And Teacher) Seth Harwood Talks Craft

Here's an interview of author (and teacher) Seth Harwood which I chanced upon over at Publetariat--People Who Publish. Here're the interesting questions he was asked:

What's the most common problem or weakness you find in the work of your students?

Many writers struggle with crafting realistic dialogue. Do you have any tips for dealing with this problem?

In educational programs on writing there's typically an emphasis on literary fiction. Yet your first novel, Jack Wakes Up, is in the crime/noir genre. Coming out of your MFA program, how did you make that transition?

Mainstream publication of short story collections has been on the decline for years but there seems to be a resurgence of the form in ebooks, and in fact you'll be coming out with Kindle editions of your short story collections on December 27. Are the skills needed to write an effective short story different than those required to write an effective full-length novel? Can working in one form improve one's work in the other form?

Thousands of writers have recently completed draft novels as part of National Novel Writing Month, and many of them are now thinking about next steps, such as workshopping and revision. Do you have any advice on how to approach this stage of the writing process?

In your upcoming Stanford class, The Essential Art: Making Movies in Your Reader's Mind, the focus is primarily on craft but you will also be devoting some time to the current publishing environment and author platform. This is unusual for most creative writing classes and programs. Do you feel these topics should be included in any university-level creative writing program? Why or why not?

Click here to read his answers.