A Word From the Literary Pathologist

A Word From the Literary Pathologist

Hello Friends,

While building this site, I figured it would be nice to take the time to introduce myself. My name is William Foulke, and I’m pursuing a career in writing fiction. I say fiction because, while overly general, I’ve found throughout the years that I prefer not to specialize only in one genre. I heard somewhere that reading widely across genres is to read like a rock star—engaging in multiple experiences which enrich our views of the world around us. I think that’s as good as anyone can sum it up in a few short words.

How I attempt to weave that into my writing life is by branching out with what I write. When I was growing up and first let on to my mother that I wanted to start writing, she told me that I should write about what I know so I began writing stories like the adventure novels she got me hooked on when I was in grade school. As I got older that began including horror and suspense as she passed along her love of that genre to me. Still the biggest issue with that—besides some of them having “already been done”—was that each story had too little presence of its character study and thematic resonance.

Having admired the way classic novelists threaded deeply rooted characterization and subtext to create overpowering resonance, I wanted to experiment with that literary style of fiction and use it to enrich a text already involving plots that excited me. A wise professor once told me that writing doesn’t have to be art or money—meaning that anything genre related can be great art if it’s written well enough. It was this philosophy that I wanted to practice.

In order to accomplish that goal I decided to go for my Master’s degree in Creative Writing. I applied to a long list of schools until I was accepted into the writing program which I felt could provide me with the greatest challenge as I learned the ways of literary fiction. Now my career is the result of these efforts, and because of that you’ll find some of my writings are literary, some of my writings are speculative, and others are literary horror—a blend of some genre fiction elements I adore and the depth I aim for in the story worlds I forge.

I hope you’ll enjoy my work and join me on the journey of my writing life.

Photo by Drew Beamer via Unsplash.com