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ramon-collinsRamon Collins is a retired newspaper cartoonist, of some repute, who lives on the NE edge of the Mojave Desert. Due to a medical woe, he started studying — and trying to write — fiction in 1997, concentrating on Micro and Flash fiction
since 2003. Collins has had several stories published and even more online. He is Micro editor of an Irish literary quarterly, The Linnet’s Wings.

Favorite advice you have ever gotten as a writer?

One writer advised me to go into real estate or consider being a movie star — anything but literature! Of course, I didn’t pay heed and went on studying and trying to write believable fiction. For me, the key word in fiction is “believable”.

Do you have a mentor? Have you mentored?

I’ve been in 14 online fiction classes and four writers’ workshops, so I’ve had many patient mentors (plus a few cuckoo birds). My professional background is in newspaper art and I worked with outstanding writers and editors for 30 years. When you work around pro writers and listen to their banter, you learn a lot by osmosis.

I mentored a successful Micro fiction class on a writers’ site three years ago and learned a lot.

How do you stay creative? What are your tricks to get “unstuck”? and/or unblocked?

After years and years, creativity becomes a way of life. Kind of like riding a bike, you just remember how to do it. Especially if there’s a check on Friday.

If I hit the flat part of the wheel, I start reading.

Roberta Allen (FAST FICTION) has routine for “stuck” writers: Take a 5-minute kitchen timer, start writing anything that comes to mind. When the bell dings!, reread the words carefully; something will happen (it works).

Cartoonists get “stuck”, too. As with Allen, Charles Schulz (PEANUTS) said when block occurred he used to start doodling; something always happened. I’ve never been guilty of having a Humble Opinion, but making what could have happened, happen is what fiction writing is all about.

What have you noticed in flash fiction online as it blooms and moves forward?

I honestly believe Micro & Flash stories are online fiction’s future. It’s the way people read. The phenomenon has something to do with the TV-20-second attention span and the decline of reading comprehension.

On-screen words are static and reading requires concentration; young people are attracted to movement and sound. It might be a good idea for writers to start studying short-script screenwriting.

And the online writer is fighting attractive diversions: specialty sites, Facebook, YouTube, computer games, sports trivia, porn, etc.

What was the early literary e-zine world like, Ramon… specifically in flash fiction? What has changed for writers what with new online magazines sprouting up everywhere? What was your experience in the lit. e-zine culture like when there were barely a handful of literary e-zines?

The early e-zine world  was very high school — no, junior high school. Everyone had a first-time chance at being an “editor” or “publisher” and they invited their writing clique to the dance. There was even talk of an E-zine Black List.

In the 70s a prominent history professor told me, “No matter how sophisticated we THINK we are, we’re still very tribal.” The 80s proved his point; there’s nothing more tribal than the online experience. The professor went on; “The tribal mindset tends to exclude and the tribe gets more inbred and weaker.” This was certainly apparent in the early e-zines.

‘Zines today are reaching out for new voices and structure — with new blood, some tribes grow stronger. But they are only ego-fodder; an online fiction writer isn’t going to make a living. However, the Micro stories I read get better and better.

What are you working on now? What is important to you in your writing at present?

As a hobby-writer, I’m engaged in yet another online fiction class (#15). Run-on and backward sentences seem to be (what I call) Online Vogue. The most important thing for me is to learn to transfer my imagination to the reader’s imagination by using correct words. Not an easy task.
I continue to be fascinated with Micro fiction (<500 words) because the craft is first cousin to cartoons. It’s about concise writing. A gag line is usually one sentence and there’s not much room in a cartoon balloon.

Presently, I’m starting on a Last Will and I’m stuck — First Person sounds corny; I may switch to Third Omniscient.

The Fictionaut Five is our ongoing series of interviews with Fictionaut authors. Every Wednesday — and over the holidays, every Saturday — Meg Pokrass asks a writer five (or more) questions. Meg is the editor-at-large for BLIP Magazine, and her stories and poems have been published widely. Her first full collection of flash fiction, “Damn Sure Right” will be out in February from Press 53. She blogs at http://megpokrass.com.


  1. susan tepper

    Ray Collins is a terrific writer and all around great guy. I just loved hearing what he has to say about writing, life, evolution and the whole damn process! Fascinating interview, provocative questions and answers, thanks so much to Ray and Meg!

  2. Marcus Speh

    great interview & insights, ramon, thank you. if working out the POV for your will permits, perhaps you can take a look at the Indie Lit Community Survey 2011 at http://bit.ly/IndieLitSurvey conceived by > kill author and served cold at my site … cheers!

  3. Christian Bell

    Nice interview. The Roberta Allen book he mentions is essential, I think.

  4. Jim Valvis

    Good stuff, Meg and Ray. Enjoyed.

  5. Doug Bond

    terrific interview! Straight up wisdom, wry and generous. Among the many gems in this concise but full exchange, “making what could have happened, happen is what fiction writing is all about.” Speaking of micros/flash, “the craft is first cousin to cartoons.” And insightful, even cautionary stuff re: tribalism.
    1st person, 3rd omniscient?..whichever, Ramon Collins’ words enrich no matter the POV.

  6. meg pokrass

    I love the way he describes the early days with the flash fiction e-zines. and the potential of “blacklisting” because it was such a small world – that stuff resonated, i have seen fossilized remnants up close.

  7. Jane Hammons

    I love the comment on the relationship between cartoons and flash fiction. I’m going to pass it along to my comic book writing son–as I’ve been trying to get him to write fiction that is not in script form. (because I think he’d be good at it, not because I have a problem with comic scripts) The historical picture here is great as well. All of it. Great interview!

  8. LindaS-W

    Great interview. Love the perspective — the early days, the parallel of writing and cartooning. The sound bites of art. Inspiring stuff Ramon — thanks for sharing! Peace…

  9. mary guterson

    ray’s been telling truths for as long as i can remember. Great guy. Very generous and open. Also awfully good looking.

  10. James Lloyd Davis

    Ramon is a rare bird, an upbeat guy with a sense of humor in a game dominated by manic-depressives, bi-polar bears and other assorted over-caffeinated insomniacs … yes, I’m talking about writers.

    Great interview.

  11. Bill West

    Great interview. How could it fail!

    Thanks

  12. Robert Vaughan

    Ramon is a prince among men, and his insights are rare, as is his writing. Thanks for a great interview, especially loved the parts about flash fiction publishing in the earlier years, as you did Meg. Thanks for this.

  13. Jules Archer

    Yay for this interview. Classic, priceless, enjoyable. Kudos.

  14. Lou

    Ramon is indeed a special one-of-a-kind. Great job, Meg, and thank you for doing this. I also love the cartoon-fiction connection, and the quote bubble is a fantastic way to think of economy of language. And so glad Ramon did not disappoint by ending in a great funny.

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