We were lucky to catch up with Chris Wigglesworth recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Chris 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?
From a childhood where both of my parents, for a time, worked for themselves as part of their wholly owned businesses, I could see their exertion as well as ultimately their reward for a strong work ethic. I also could see the process and tribulations well before seeing the final result. With my mother as a landscape designer, the results were stunning patios, hedges, and carefully placed local fauna, but every stage before that point wasn’t nearly as spectacular. As it turns out, to transform a backyard or lawn, you have to rip up what’s there to begin with. And from there it isn’t so pretty before you’re finished. Most of the time when my mother would bring me to her job sites it wasn’t just to show me the final product. It was a work in process and she needed help pulling down a heavy arborvitae or a dozen chrysanthemums or the like from a truck. It was tough work, but gratifying. There was a kind of beautiful aspect I realized to the dirt stained hands and the worn down kneeling pads. That’s what I saw more from the work, more than the pristine gardens that came afterwards. I learned to love the process. You can love the result to, but that’s a separate matter.
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?
As a reader, I’ve always enjoyed when a good thriller brought me into its world–to be able to visualize the room, the lighting, and the characters with each turn of the page, As a creator I’ve loved bringing this mix to life in similar ways. I began Rainwater Publishing in 2021 as a medium for all my creative work and with it I’ve produced a number of literary stories and brought them to life in text and audio form. Only recently though have I been able to bring my stories to visual for, as well. On my youtube channel at www.youtube.com/@RainwaterPublishing I put out The Painter’s Wife over scenic background footage with closed captions. The story is broken out into four part series. I’m still astounded by the Tom Fairfoot’s performance narrating. In the future, I intend to bring more of my stories to this format and will continue to do what I can to make it even better. In addition, this past October, on Friday the 13th no less, I published my first book, Vindictive, which features thirteen pieces of short fiction. All stories are set in historical New England and inspired by the region’s infamous legends. The book is available for purchase at my store at www.ccwigglesworth.com/books. I’m extremely excited to continue my journey and write, produce, and create for the future!
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?
I think one of the best qualities I’ve tried to exercise is thinking outside the box. I’m not afraid to stray from the beaten path and sometimes that means something I do fails, but that’s ok. It’s better to try and fail, than to never try at all–or so the saying goes. The world is changing at a rate faster than it ever has before, and while somethings stay the same, there’s always going to be a push to make improvements and push things forward.
I’ve also learned that while it’s sometimes very easy to cut corners and compromise when it comes to yourself, saying things like “I can finish this tomorrow” or “next month I’ll focus on my goals” is the most debilitating mindset to accomplishing what you want done. I never seemed to do it when it was for others, so why should I compromise with myself?
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
It’s hard not to say both. I think in this day and age, you’ll put yourself in handcuffs if you don’t have at least a base understanding in a number of areas surrounding what you want to do. At the same time, so many industries are maturing to the point where the competition in any field is fierce and if you don’t double down on your strengths you can’t make any headway. I am first and foremost an author and I have been working tirelessly to improve my craft. However, with my recent focuses on promoting my work with photography and video, I’ve needed to learn the basics in these areas. And as I want to continue improving the quality of my content, I’ve had to continue researching. I’ve even learned a base knowledge of how the change in aperture size changes different aspects of a photo or how to denoise video in low-lighting–something I definitely hadn’t anticipated when I first started my writing journey!
Contact Info:
- Website: ccwigglesworth.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c.c.wigglesworth/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rainwaterpublishing
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@RainwaterPublishing
