“Why do people make the choices they do?”
As a child I had an active imagination and loved reading, doing art, and being outdoors.
Patti Flather, one of the mentors at this year’s Young Authors Conference, is probably best known these days as a playwright, with such works as Sixty Below, and her recent audio play, Pieces of Paradise. You can hear this at piecesofparadiseplay.com.
Before that, she was a reporter. She says, “My professional journalism career took me from the Vancouver Sun to Asia, then to Whitehorse for a reporting job at the Whitehorse Star. I have worked in print journalism, television, and radio.”
How did she get started?
“As a child I had an active imagination and loved reading, doing art, and being outdoors. I had a wonderful grade four drama teacher. I enjoyed creative writing in school, although I was not prolific. I am naturally curious, always wondering why people make the choices they do and what might influence these choices.”
She grew up in North Vancouver, “a third-generation Canadian creator of English, Scottish and Irish descent, who grew up on the stolen and unceded territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam Nations.
“I have been a writer here in the Yukon for more than three decades, living with gratitude as an uninvited guest on the territory of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. This place has been essential to making me the writer I am.”
She goes into detail when describing her work.
“My creative writing includes plays, fiction and screenwriting. In my short fiction collection Such A Lovely Afternoon, my characters — most of them women and girls — are often in situations where they have significant decisions to make.
“My work is deeply based on strong development of characters and setting, particularly my fiction. For me, setting is another character essential to bring readers and audiences into an evocative, fully realized world.
“It’s important to me to try to illuminate moments of personal agency, humour, hope and love, while not turning away from harder truths in my quest to find emotional truths that resonate with our collective humanity.
“Getting to know my characters is one of the greatest delights in my writing process. They appear barely formed as I begin. I invite them into the writing journey and make space to explore who they’ll become.
“I delve into their passions, desires, fears, and weaknesses, both epic and mundane. Whether they’re able to pursue and fulfil their dreams is always a central question. They need desires and flaws; otherwise, they won’t be human.”
She writes in a number of different ways.
“My dream routine is to write every morning, after breakfast and a cup of coffee, but before checking emails or anything else. Then I go for a walk, return and write some more. That’s often not possible, with other work and family commitments.
“I carve out chunks of time where I can delve into a piece, let it percolate, have enough mental space for insights to bubble up, and then get on a roll. These days, that’s weekends, plus the occasional writing intensive where I book more time off. I’m grateful that I have had some of these longer periods on major writing projects in the past.
“My approach really depends on the project. I have written detailed outlines, and sometimes they have helped, especially on larger projects, but I don’t always do so.
“I am a list-making person, so I generally write notes about what I hope to work on in a particular draft, what questions I have, characters not fully developed, plot questions and more. This helps me to focus.
She has some experience at being a mentor and teacher.
“I have taught drama and creative writing at Yukon University (formerly Yukon College) and in other classrooms including with the Yukon Writers Festivals/Young Authors Conference.
“During my years as Artistic Director of Gwaandak Theatre, I facilitated playwriting circles over several years, supported playwrights writing new plays, and toured plays for school shows and discussions. One unique project was developing Vuntut Gwitchin Stories with young people, Elders and other community members in Old Crow, in a partnership of Gwaandak Theatre and Vuntut Gwitchin Government. You can find it at vuntutstories.ca.”
She has lots of advice for beginning writers.
“Your voice matters. Believe in it. Cherish and nourish it. Let it thrive.
“People have faced challenging times before, but now it’s different. Young people live amidst climate emergencies and rising authoritarianism on top of extreme social inequities, skyrocketing housing costs, hateful backlashes against identifiable groups, and more. These are not easy times to be young.
“We need the perspectives of young writers and artists more than ever. Be brave. Show your writing to trusted others. Consider their feedback carefully but not blindly. Take risks. Go beyond your comfort zone. Speak what is deepest in your heart. Transform into art what is happening at this point in the world, how we got here, where we are now, where we dream to be, through your unique lens.
“Be compassionate and responsible. Words are powerful. They can lift us up and they can hurt.
“Remember who you are and where you come from — no one else is just like you. Write stories that sing with wonder and joy, spark recognition, foster dialogue and reflection. Make us laugh and cry. Help us to find and share our humanity.
“But take care of yourself. Writing can be solitary and scary and dangerous. It’s not the only path or the right path for all of us. There are other ways you can speak your truth in the world.”
