We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Charles L. Chatmon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Charles L. below.
Charles L., appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
My creativity stays alive by continuing to think of new projects to work on. I carry a notepad or something to write down my ideas which then becomes the literary project I’m working on. It’s best to write down your ideas as soon as you can or else they will disappear. That’s why for me, a pen and paper are always in my hand or backpack to jot down those ideas when I think of them.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m an author of several books which gives me pride and joy in publishing them. I finished two books of poetry, an anthology with poems and short stories, my first novel called RELAY and soon I will complete another anthology, this time based on science fiction, and I’m currently working on my second novel, a story of a vengeful crime lord pursuing a police detective and his family. I have more plans after the ones I mentioned, but they’re further down the pipeline I don’t want to share them all yet (smile). I invite readers to visit my website if they want to find out more about the upcoming titles and projects planned.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Research is very important when you’re creating a background for your story or non-fiction work. Readers want to know what you’re talking about, so I spend quite a bit of my days online looking up past documents and pictures of the city, reading old newspaper articles to catch a sense of the mindset of people of a certain era, etc. Besides research, I feel a knowledge of the writing craft is important for an author. Reading helps the author learn the writing styles of the classic writers, and how they can be used in their own works. It also helps to find inspiration from a lot of different sources too. For example, I spend time watching old televsion shows to see how they are paced, body language of the actors and how well they play their roles. This is something I can use for my own projects if I’m writing a story. Out of everything mentioned, the most important is research. Without it, you as an author can’t effectively tell your story or share your non-fiction discoveries effectively with the reading audience.
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
To be honest, I faced three huge challenges in my life and have successfully, I feel, surpassed them. Four years ago, I suffered two strokes, one after the other which put me in the hospital for several days. It was a struggle, but eventually I gained most of my mental faculties and have improved healthwise. The third and most serious, was the pandemic. Just as I thought I returned back to a normal life, everyone’s lives were disrupted by this virus. I used the quarantine to my advantage, using the time staying home to work on and complete three books. Learning to be patient and take your time helped so much. I wasn’t anxious to get back to work, since I needed that time to recover. When I sat behind my desk and write, I felt like myself again. That is what I needed. The only advice I can give to anyone who is going through a challenge is to just be patient. Whatever you are going through at the moment won’t last long and the payoff is so rewarding at the end. All you have to do is wait for the right time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://charleslchatmon.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charleslchatmon
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleslchatmon
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/charleslchatmon
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chatwrites
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@clchatmon