Q&A with Daniel Wallace, author of ‘Big Fish’

Daniel Wallace, director of the UNC creative writing department, writes and illustrates short stories, novels and children’s books.
He is best known for his novel “Big Fish,” which was adapted into the Tim Burton film of the same name.

The J. Ross MacDonald Distinguished Professor in UNC’s English and comparative literature department, Wallace will speak today in the Pleasants Family Room of Wilson Library at 12:30 p.m.

He will read from and discuss his most recent short story — which he has not yet completed — as part of the “Works in Progress” series.

The event will provide an opportunity for the public to hear about Wallace’s process and for Wallace to receive feedback on his work.
Daily Tar Heel staff writer Grace Tatter chatted with Wallace about the event and his writing process.

DAILY TAR HEEL: What are you reading from, and what’s the best part about participating in a “Works in Progress” event?

DANIEL WALLACE: I’m reading “Everyone is Some Kind of Animal.”

It’s the first time I’ve let it out of its cage. I’m still playing around with it and reading it at a place like this; I want to see how it’s doing. That’s something you can’t always tell in the quiet of your studio. It would be incredible if a student of mine stood up and said, “Let me tell you what you can do to make this better.”

Sometimes as an artist, knowing other people are hearing your work makes you listen to it in a different way. You’re more aware of the effect on the reader.

There may be parts that seem funny while you’re in your studio that don’t seem funny once you’re reading it out loud.

DTH: You’ve written novels, children’s books and short stories. How is your process different for each?

DW: The drawing comes from a different place than the writing. I don’t have much of a critical function in place when I’m drawing.

Writing is harder. I set the bar higher — I work on it a lot more. I draw in pen; everything that goes down there is the first and last time it will ever be done.

My writing changes constantly. It is always in pencil.

DTH: How does teaching on a college campus impact what you write?

DW: It’s really helpful to be a teacher and a writer. In class, I’m teaching fundamentals. And sometimes I tend to forget the fundamentals of writing and what makes a piece really strong, and I work out problems I’m having in my own work. It’s easy to forget the basic concepts. Teaching students allows me to have a constant refresher course on what makes good fiction.

DTH: Do you go through phases of just focusing on short stories or novels, or do you write them intermittently?

DW: Well, there’s always some sort of story going on. They don’t take quite as long. They can be over a day or over a week.

A novel doesn’t come around every day. The way that they start is not through planning. I’ll come to the computer one morning, and I won’t stop typing. And I’ll realize 10 to 20 pages is not enough to tell this story, and I’ll write it until it’s over.

DTH: What stage in your life influenced your latest work the most?

DW: I don’t think I can look at a particular time in my life that this story would be taken from.

The character that I’m writing about is fictional; I get to lump a bunch of different parts of myself. There are things he says and does that are definitely me, but if we were both in the same room together, you wouldn’t confuse us as being similar.

It’s usually a composite of a writer’s entire life, going through different cabinets and finding different experiences. This guy is this accumulation of different “me’s”.

Contact the Arts Editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.