{"id":3861,"date":"2019-12-20T13:11:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T13:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/87bedford.com\/?p=3861"},"modified":"2020-10-09T23:29:08","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T23:29:08","slug":"interview-with-kevin-plybon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/87bedford.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/20\/interview-with-kevin-plybon\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Kevin Plybon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Kevin Plybon<\/a> discusses “Prove To Me That We’re Meant To Be<\/a>,” writing the story as a series of proofs, and being a technical writer as well as a fiction writer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Kevin Plybon<\/a> is a technical writer and author based in New York City. He taught high school math for three years, and still misses proofs to this day. He’s currently shopping his first novel, a steampunk fantasy about an immigrant engineer trying to save the city that hates her. You can find him at kevinplybon.com<\/a> and on Twitter (@kevilknc). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was the inspiration for \u201cProve to Me That We\u2019re Meant to Be<\/a>\u201d? How did the story develop\/change from conception to completion?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wrote the first draft about four years ago. It started as\nan exercise, thinking about what it would be like to \u201cprove\u201d something in real\nlife, and what kind of story would make sense in that form. The first draft was\na lot more like a proof that people might remember from Geometry class: this\nevent leads to that event, and so on. There were some bits that were way more\nmathy and, in hindsight, not very interesting. When I came back to it with\nfresh eyes, I realized it didn\u2019t need to be so rigid, and that having a\ncomplete narrative was much more important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the first time I read a story structured as a series of proofs, and I really enjoyed the experience of engaging with it with both sides of my brain. Was it difficult crafting a narrative in this form?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes! It was a lot like writing fantasy, in that I had to\nthink about how to explain elements of the story the reader. I also wanted to\nvary the types of proofs, so there would be a sense of surprise. Since the form\nwas such a critical piece, I started drafting each segment by choosing a proof\ntype, then thinking about what events might fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s it like being a technical writer as well as a fiction writer? Do you find it necessary to consciously keep the two kinds of writing separate or are there advantages in applying the craft developed from one form to the other?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most prized qualities of good technical writing\nis clarity. Striving for clarity has had a huge and positive impact on my\nfiction writing. On the other hand, user guides aren\u2019t designed to be read\nstraight through like novels, and implication and misdirection (which kill\ntechnical documents) add great depth in fiction. So, I think it\u2019s a matter of\nchoosing the technique that works best for the audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you like most about technical writing and what do you find most challenging?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best thing about technical writing is learning new\nthings every day from experts in their field. That never gets old. The most\nchallenging part is finding the right questions to ask. And not being afraid to\nadmit you don\u2019t know what the expert across the table is talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the most valuable piece of advice you\u2019ve received as a writer and what advice would you give new writers?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t put anything on the page, there won\u2019t be\nanything on the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are you currently reading? What book has been most influential on your life or on you as a writer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m reading A Civil Campaign <\/em>by Lois McMaster Bujold.\nA friend told me the book has an extremely tense dinner party in it, so I\u2019m\nlooking forward to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Craft-wise, the most influential book has been On Writing<\/em> by Stephen King. Everyone says that, but with good reason. Story-wise, I think it has to be Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire<\/em>. It taught me what stories can be. I still remember the first time I read about Voldemort coming out of that cauldron.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kevin Plybon discusses “Prove To Me That We’re Meant To Be,” writing the story as a series of proofs, and being a technical writer as well as a fiction writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/87bedford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/87bedford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/87bedford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/87bedford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/87bedford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3861"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/87bedford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5228,"href":"https:\/\/87bedford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3861\/revisions\/5228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/87bedford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/87bedford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/87bedford.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}