We were lucky to catch up with Roger Naylor recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Roger with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I think one of of my strengths as a writer is my work ethic and I learned that from my father. My dad grew up on a poor farm in Kentucky, one of 13 children to an alcoholic father. As one of the oldest boys he had to work the farm and help raise the younger kids. He had to drop out of school after the eighth grade. When he got out of the service, he traveled to Cincinnati with $20 of borrowed money. But he had a willingness to work. He worked factory jobs, and supplemented that with part-time jobs stocking shelves and doing security at night and on weekends. He provided a good home not just for my sister and I but helped his siblings and my mom’s siblings. He made sure everyone had good clothes, good food, and school supplies. He helped lift family and friends out of poverty, making life a little easier for so many people around him.
As a teenager, I started mowing yards in the neighborhood. After one of my first jobs, my dad pointed out that I hadn’t done any trimming and that the work looked a little sloppy. I said they hadn’t asked for trimming and I had already been paid. He explained what it meant to take pride in your work, to always give a little more than what was expected. I went back and trimmed and edged the yard, and they became a regular customer. Soon, I was mowing almost every lawn in the neighborhood.
I remembered that lesson and carried it with me into my writing career. I’ve always been freelance, which means I work with lots of editors. Before you have a reputation you have to prove yourself. I’ve strived to deliver exactly what each editor requested, plus a little more. That means good clean copy, an interesting angle, a thoughtful sidebar, all throughly researched, before the deadline. I knew if I was reliable and easy to work with, they would want to work with me again. That was essential to my writing career when I first started out.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’ve been a writer for most of my adult life and covered many topics for magazines, newspapers, television, and radio. Yet for the past 20 years, I’ve focused exclusively on writing about my beloved state of Arizona. I have always been an Arizona enthusiast, exploring every corner of the state from the tall cactus desert to the rugged mountains to the colorful canyons. The endless diversity, remarkable scenery, and rich history of Arizona can’t be matched. Now I get paid to hike and camp and eat tacos and visit museums and drive down bouncy dirt roads and go up in hot air balloons and kayak rivers and attend festivals and sample pie and explore ghost towns and write about it all. It is a dream job.
For many years I wrote for Arizona Highways. Since 2007, I’ve been the freelance travel writer for the Arizona Republic. I write for the official Arizona Visitor Guide, and for dozens of other publications. I’m the author of several books, almost all about Arizona. So I’m considered something of an authority on the state and make numerous television and radio appearances to discuss topics like winter hikes, spring wildflowers, best burgers, great road trips, fall colors, and plenty more. In 2018 I was inducted into the Arizona Tourism Hall of Fame. I send out a monthly newsletter that goes out to thousands. I have more than 30,000 followers on my Facebook page, which is dedicated solely to Arizona travel.
So Arizona is very much my brand. I am an ambassador for the state encouraging residents to discover more of the wonders in our backyard. And to help visitors to travel and recreate responsibly.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Passion, diligence and respect are three qualities I try to bring to bear on my writing. When I’m passionate about my topic that’s going to come through to the reader. I want the enthusiasm and joy that I’m experiencing in the moment to leap off the page. Telling someone that a place is beautiful doesn’t mean anything. I have to show them, I have to engage their senses and help them experience the moment with me. That’s the connection I want. When they’re done reading the story, it should make them feel like jumping in their car and driving to meet me. If I can help them feel even a fraction of my passion, then I’ve succeeded.
Diligence is applied to the craft of writing. It’s about never being completely satisfied. Writing a good sentence is a start. But I want to write a better sentence, and then maybe I can even enhance that one. I always strive to improve my craft. Of course, it’s always a balancing act when you’re a freelance writer. Deadlines are the great equalizer. You work to make the article or story or book the best you possibly can but you still have to finish and get it in on time. Personally, I don’t believe in writer’s block. We all get stuck; we all have to work through it. I think the quest for perfection is what freezes many writers in their tracks. So it’s important to strike a balance where you’re pouring everything into that particular piece to make it as good as you possibly can but then you have to be ready to cut it loose and get started with the next one. That’s what saves us. There’s always another story or book coming up so we get another crack at putting magic into our words.
Respect flows in all directions. I want to treat my subject matter with respect whether it’s a natural setting, historic site, private business, or whatever. I want my depiction to be fair and accurate. Often that goes beyond initial impressions and requires understanding and research. It’s my job to do whatever it takes to create the proper narrative. I also want to respect my reader. That comes about by me telling a worthy story, using language that pulls them along and holds their interest. It’s important to explain what needs to be explained but never to the point of being condescending. At the same time, I want to intrigue them. I want to captivate them so that maybe they feel compelled to learn even more.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
Time is always the biggest challenge I face. For the past few years, I’ve been turning down assignments because I just don’t have the time. But now I’m also running out of time. I’ve passed retirement age without slowing down but I’m starting to contemplate the years that I have left. I have another couple of books scheduled for release so I’m committed to continue working for at least two more years. After that, I’m not sure.
The thing is, I absolutely love my job. Writing is a vast and essential part of me. It’s my identity. I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to, which I don’t. But I am starting to ponder the notion of making a slight shift. I started dabbling in fiction again for the first time in decades. During the pandemic I wrote a book of funny Arizona-based short stories called “Crazy For the Heat: Arizona Tales of Ghosts, Gumshoes, and Bigfoot.” And I really enjoyed that kind of writing again. Now I’m working on a novel set in Arizona. And I think I would like to do more, to challenge myself and to see what I can create. So I think within the next two or three years, I will shift away from travel writing to focus on fiction. Without all the deadlines of travel articles, it would free up some time to dedicate to this newish pursuit.
Basically, I want to retire from writing and hiking so I can spend more time writing and hiking.
Over the summer, following complications from surgery, I spent a couple of days pretty certain that I was going to die. But never once did I feel cheated because I have lived a remarkable and fulfilling life. All I hoped for was more time to keep doing exactly what I’ve been doing all along. Now that I have that, I’m doing my best to make the most of it. Just like I did before my near-death experience. I try to make each day matter. But it was also a reminder that there are no guarantees. Don’t get complacent. So I’ll continue to do the travel writing I love until I start doing the fiction writing I love.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rogernaylor.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/RogerNaylorinAZ
Image Credits
All photos by Roger Naylor
