 |
- Author interview - |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interview with Matt Witten, author of Breakfast at Madeline's (Signet, 1999) - the first book in a series introducing screenwriter Jacob Burns - Grand Delusion (Signet, 2000) and Strange Bedfellows (Signet, November 2000). Books four and five in the series are in the works. Matt Witten is also a screenwriter for the well-known television show Law & Order. Read our review of Breakfast at Madeline's. Feature by PJ Nunn. PJ NUNN - Matt, Breakfast at Madeline’s introduces screenwriter Jacob Burns and an unlikely but entertaining mystery escapade. You’ve been quoted as saying you’ve lived Jacob’s life. Tell us about it. MATT WITTEN - Jacob Burns is a lot like me, except richer, funnier, and better looking. We both live in Saratoga Springs, New York - actually I live in L.A. now, but I lived in Saratoga for ten years. We both were struggling writers for many years before making it big; we both have beautiful wives who teach English at a community college; and we both have two young sons. What have you got planned next for Jacob? Book 3 - Strange Bedfellows comes out in November 2000. In this book, Jacob's old college buddy runs for United States Congress. But the race is cut short when his opponent is shot dead, and Jacob's buddy is arrested for the crime. Jacob knows his friend is innocent and he sets out to prove it, even if it means going up against some of the most powerful politicians in the state of New York. In Book 4 - Class Act I'm going to kill off an elementary school principal. In Book 5 - Jacob will go to Hollywood to work on a TV show, and someone as yet undetermined will get killed. Next summer, Signet will be publishing a collection of mystery short stories, including a Jacob Burns mystery entitled Serve and Volley where a game of volleyball turns deadly. Your campy, irreverent tone is fresh and appealing in the mystery genre, but seems far removed from what we see on Law and Order. How different is it to write for television dramas? For me, switching back and forth between teleplays and novels is an ideal work situation. I love the challenge of TV, figuring out how to develop character and move the plot forward with tremendous economy of language. With Law & Order, when you figure in commercials, we only have 45 minutes to tell stories that are often extremely complex. There's no time to mess around. That sort of sharpness and intensity is exciting. I also like sitting in a room and shooting ideas back and forth with other TV writers. And I admit to being thrilled that tens of millions of people are listening to my words. Writing novels, on the other hand, gives me more time to develop my characters. I can give them greater depth than television characters usually have. I can also write about what they're thinking and feeling, unlike television, where by and large I can only write what the character is actually saying or doing. In that way, fiction writing gives me a lot more freedom. Perhaps my favorite thing about writing a novel is that it's all mine, where I get to pick the stories and characters, and nobody is going to change that. Also, I get to indulge my sense of humor. Collaboration is rewarding, but it's also nice to write a joke and know that it's not going to get cut. Where else might readers have viewed your work? In addition to the Jacob Burns mysteries and Law & Order, I also write for parenting magazines such as Parents, Sesame Street Parents, and Family Life. My stage play Sacred Journey will open in New York City in October 2000 at the Blue Heron Theatre. In the past, I've also written for Homicide: Life on the Streets, and my plays have been produced around the world. For information about upcoming events, please visit my website at http://www.mattwitten.com. I’m sure writing for television seems more glamorous than it is. What’s involved and how might a new writer break into that field? Here's advice on how to break into TV writing. Pick your favorite TV show. Watch it obsessively. Then write a sample script for that show. Give the sample script to TV agents. Use any personal contact you can think of to hook up with these guys. Make cold calls, enter contests - hustle. And meanwhile, write another sample script for a different show, in case your first script doesn't impress people. Once you have an agent, he or she will submit your script to a bunch of different shows. Hopefully, you will then be hired to write a freelance episode. And with a little luck, after that you will be hired on staff somewhere. How has your writing changed since you first started? It's gotten better. Sharper. Crisper. Has your writing won any awards? Breakfast at Madeline's, the first Jacob Burns mystery, received a Malice Domestic Grant. My plays have won the Clauder Competition, an American Theatre Critics Association award, and several other awards. Who are you when you’re not writing? What kind of work do you do? What are your hobbies? I'm married with two boys, ages nine and seven. We play a lot of sports together - baseball, handball, tennis, and ping pong. Lately we've been getting into scrabble. I also play a lot of chess. We recently moved from Saratoga Springs to Los Angeles, which was quite an adjustment. But we're getting used to it. In the summers, we hang out in the Adirondacks. Who or what has most influenced your writing? I think Dr. Seuss was a major influence for all of us late twentieth-century, early twenty-first century American writers. The way he freed up the English language with his marvelous inventiveness was wonderful. Elmore Leonard was an influence, too. His crisp, sharp dialogue is inspiring. P.G. Wodehouse is another who's had an impact on my writing. The care that he took with every single clause is amazing. I also appreciate the irreverence and humor of Walt Kelly, who wrote Pogo. In the traditional mystery field, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, and the hard boiled authors from the 30's are all influences. One modern mystery writer who particularly inspires me is Bill Crider. I love his low key humor. As a writer, where do you see yourself in 10 years? I'd like to keep on writing Jacob Burns mysteries, and at some point try my hand at a thriller or two. What do you enjoy most about writing? I just flat out enjoy writing. I like sitting at my desk putting stuff together. What do you find most difficult? Getting stuff rejected. Best advice for new writers? Keep writing. For more about Matt Witten, visit his website at http://www.mattwitten.com. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||