We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Douglas Herle. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Douglas below.
Douglas, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I’ve always had a desire to tell and craft stories and build interesting characters. I’d usually be working in spurts on different pieces that generally went nowhere. While working full-time, I earned a degree in Communications and Professional Writing from Grant MacEwan University. It gave me the opportunity to improve my craft by writing a number of short stories and essays.
I could have sped up my learning, first by going to University much sooner in life, than staring at 30, and second, by not being such a procrastinator. The biggest obstacles for me as a creative person was that I’m also a “realist”. I knew that earning a living as a creative writer would be difficult, so I had to keep steady employment in the construction and mining industries. I had the majority of a first draft of my novel completed when I got laid off during Covid.
Aside from a desire to write stories and create characters, writing a novel takes a lot of work and time, and it’s more collaborative than I imagined. Learning to take feedback from Beta readers and working with experienced writers was something I never thought of, but I’m glad there are people out there who are willing to support.
Douglas, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’ve always had a love of story and a desire to tell them, but I wasn’t always a reader. A love of reading started mostly in my early twenties, and when I came across the detective genre, especially the hardboiled stories of Hammett and Chandler, I knew the type of stories I wanted to write.
Still I had to conquer the problem of procrastination, which, for me, is a fear of getting no return for my work. Getting into writing is like stepping into an ocean to learn swimming. A lot of the time, you will fight against a strong tide that’ll throw you back on the beach. For some writers, like myself, the task of writing is daunting and kept me dipping my toe and stepping back when I felt the tide trying to suck me out into the water and drown me. It wasn’t a fear of writing something that isn’t good, it’s writing something that is and still not finding an audience that kept my tows wet but the rest of me safe on the beach.
After finally diving in and finishing No Solace in Death, I still expect a large wave of rejection to come by and throw me back on the beach. Positive feedback from readers has kept me treading water, but the thing I believe will help me succeed is my wife’s encouragement.
Can you share your view on NTFs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
NTFs is one of the strange human endeavors that makes no sense, like the tulip craze in 17th century Holland. Yet, something about it makes perfect sense, and while I’ve stayed away from that investment, I can stand back and appreciate that within that craziness there is something completely human about it.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
Art can be a passion, but we all have to make a living, and if I can do that by telling stories, then that would be the idealized life. Talent and a desire for storytelling can take you only so far as an artist. The bottom line is if you want to make writing your life, you have to realize the bottom line matters and it has to be a driving goal for any artist.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dougherleauthor.com/
- Twitter: @HerleDoug
- Other: Sorry, I’m not a great fan of social media, but others are to follow, eventually.
Image Credits
Novel Cover Art provided by Flintlock Covers.