EXTRA CREDIT INTERVIEW WITH FACUNDO RAGANATO:
Facundo Raganato joins LitPick today for an Extra Credit interview! Facundo is both an author and a musician. Facundo is the author of The Author or The Characters’ Short Living Story.
Do you have a solid outline before writing, or do you usually get ideas as you go along?
In regards of writing stories, I usually get ideas with a natural outline of the development. However, as I start writing them, the characters or the details that frame the story influence to change the original composition, but not always; it varies depending on what kind of story I am writing.
Has someone you knew ever appeared as a character in a book (consciously or subconsciously)?
When I was in high school I wrote a story for my friends; they were in it as characters, and they loved it. I think that was the only time I included characters of people I knew consciously. Subconsciously, I used to write about a special someone, I’m not gonna mention who she is; but she was the one to inspire me to write The Author in the first place, or how the story was originally named: The Characters’ Short Living Story.
What do you do when you get writer's block?
I tend to reread from the beginning and be open to receive the inspiration in how the flowing of the words lead me. However, if it is a big, heavy block, I usually let it sleep and let it off my mind for some time. I am accustomed to contemplate and linger on the block until I resolve it, but it is different every time; sometimes I go to read authors, stories or poems that assimilate the theme or the general aspects of my writing.
If you could live in a book's world, which would you choose?
What a marvelous question! I think The Giver. It is one of my favorite books; it always led me to think what kind of world it would become after the end of the book. I’d adore to be there and help build the world forgotten.
What is your favorite book-to-movie adaptation?
This is hard to answer; there are many. I think Clockwork Orange would be one of my top choices. The book has its own unique literature, which is spectacular, very original, and Stanley Kubrick’s Film is beyond genius, a masterpiece.
If you could have lunch with one other author (dead or alive!), who would it be?
I think it would be William Shakespeare, and I would ask him how he writes, or how he thinks when he writes. Although, I would love to have lunch with William Wordsworth as well, and ask him about the French Revolution and his ideals.
Wild Card Question: We would like to know more about you. What do you enjoy doing when you aren’t writing?
I love to play piano, guitar, and sing sometimes when I’m by myself. I like to take walks around my neighborhood at night and meditate by the bay. I like to research about philosophy, spirituality and world literature when I’m feeling curious. I like watching good movies and great series. Above all, what I adore most of all is using my time efficiently to do productive things, especially when it is related to art.
Thank you for joining us today, Facundo! We have enjoyed getting to know you better.
SIX MINUTES WITH FACUNDO RAGANATO:
Today Facundo Raganato joins LitPick for Six Minutes with an Author! With roots in Argentina and Venezuela, Facundo is both an author and a musician. His recently published debut novel, The Characters' Short Living Story, was a decade in the making.
How did you get started writing?
The long answer would be a love-at-first-sight experience which involves a stranger-than-fiction romantic story . . . and then the unconditional love of writing. The short answer would be that I naturally began to be inclined to express myself through written words, and create endless worlds through stories & poems. With time, I began to see the power of words and discover ideas through the voices of literature; their words are still sharing thoughts and feelings through time and space: "You can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea." - Medgar Evers
Who influenced you?
The Masters of Literature are my strongest influences. Poe, Wordsworth, Blake, Keats, Whitman, Pope, Borges, Baudelaire, Dickinson, Shelley, Shakespeare, among other favorites, they speak truthfully from their literary voices; hence, they have influenced me to go into the depth of the actual written word: “What are you reading? What are you writing?” every written word is an ode to the infinite magic of Literature. Also, Philosophic thoughts have always been asked, but yet, never answered. I have more influences than I could ever count . . .
Do you have a favorite book/subject/character/setting?
From ‘The Characters’ Short Living Story’? I would say the setting in chapter 13 would be my favorite one. It was the key setting I wanted to create ever since I started writing that story.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to be an author?
If you have writing material that you really want to publish in front of the eyes of the world, do not give up when searching for the right publisher. If you seek, you shall find. Don’t you ever give up. A writer will always be a writer as long as he/she writes. Now, an ‘Author’ is someone that has ‘authority’ over the creation. Be aware of every single word you write, for they have more power than you know. Be wise.
“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” - Norman Vincent Peale
Where is your favorite place to write?
I rather place myself at places where inspiration or ideas come at me. For example, if I have the urge to write about trees, it is most likely that I prepare myself to have a timeless set of time around trees in order to capture their essence with words, write, revise, keep writing, revise again, etc. However, I often write at night; it is very rare for me to be inspired or be writing during daytime. There’s something very magical at the twilight of the sun when it sets, the slow approaching of the night, the moon, it really clicks that switch for me to be ready to write about anything. Deepening sleeplessly into the marvelous ocean of literature during nighttime is pure euphoria. There’s no place like a ‘state of mind.’
What else would you like to tell us?
Artists . . . don’t you EVER give up, and do not feel discouraged by the modern world we live, and if you do, give me a call . . . or, better yet, write a poem, compose a song, create a painting about it. Art is not something we are valuing as much as we should. I mean besides the great creations we can do, and I mean besides the talents amazing artists can have. I mean the experience, the process, the ideas, the creativity, the abandoning of oneself while dancing, the vision of the color we imagine in our minds before painting, what texture we feel before creating the sculpture, the contemplating or just the feeling of flowing when writing, the unmasked masks of acting, the universal language of music, and how many mixed wonders are explored in the magic of film, etc. There’s an incredible insight in the mind when it comes to creating Art, consciously and subconsciously; just reading about Jung and Campbell reflect how much we don’t know about ourselves, how much we can discover about our divine potentials and our impressive creations, how it can stretch our perceptions beyond the things we think, how it can expand our minds with the miraculous magic of pure imagination, how it can balance the pride of what we create in our lives, but it can also keep us humble enough to know that there will always be something greater than us, and lastly, how it can really connect us. There’s a very deep mirror of spiritual development in Art, individual and collective, but it is very hard to explain all this through words, so let me just say this: it guides us to find the Truth. So ask yourself from the source of your intention: what is your creation?
“’Beauty is truth, truth beauty,’ – That is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”- John Keats.
Facundo, thank you for spending six minutes with us. This has been a very interesting interview. Hopefully you won’t get too many phone calls from discouraged artists!