A) I like the way this piece manages to make something of what most people,  and me in many of my moods,  would consider almost nothing -- what is more boring than a soil map?  I'm not sure I had 'original goals' in the sense the question implies.  I do have the sense that this essay may be a bit too easy about the current and future condition of the farm country it describes,  and I hope in some future work to return to the issues and territory that are discussed here.

Q)  How did your essay develop,  both in your initial thinking about it and in the revision process?  What happened in writing it that you didn't expect would happen?

A) The key to the whole essay was discovering the legend 'Scattering Point Creek' written on the map.  As I played around with that idea and reality,  the other elements of the essay seemed almost to organize themselves around it,  like iron filings in a magnetic field.

Q)  If you write in other genres  (poetry,  fiction,  playwriting,  literary criticism, etc.),
how does your experience writing in creative nonfiction depend upon or depart from your other kinds of writing?

A)  For me,  creative nonfiction differs from poetry in the space it provides to develop ideas and themes gradually,  to spin out stories,  to be a little more relaxed about what there's room and time for within the container of the piece.  I think my experience as a poet in taking good care of words,  in paying close attention to sound,  rhythm,  cadence,  and imagery,  is invaluable in writing creative nonfiction.  Writing literary criticism helped me develop the crucial ability to really concentrate on an object under scrutiny,  whether a literary text or a map,  a waterway or a memory,  to tease out and explore the subtle contents of such objects.

Q)  Give some of your reflections about creative nonfiction as an emerging genre in American literature.  Where do you see it going in the next several years,  or even
farther down the line?

A)  I think that interest in creative nonfiction will continue,  although certain signs of backlash are beginning to show up -- especially about the sub-genre of memoir.  It may well be that,  like confessionalism in poetry,  the more autobiographical and subjective strands of creative nonfiction will face considerable skepticism.  I share some of that skepticism,  but I doubt that it will,  or should,  keep people from writing what they most need to write.

Q)  What are the specific literary techniques you attempt to use as a creative nonfiction writer?  For example, do you attempt to write scenes?  Do you employ dialogue?  Do you employ specific detail?  How,  and why?

A) Yes,  all of those.  What I may be more concerned about,  though,  is a kind of balance or rhythm among elements,  so that the essay doesn't get bogged down in too many research details,  too much observation,  too many stagy scenes,  etc.  For me the goal of the essay is to somehow push through/into/past those particulars and details into some deeper/wider/fuller revelation,  some knowledge that includes the particulars but isn't confined to them.  Technique is a means to that end,  but it's the drive to make some kind of sense of the world that finally matters most.

Q)  What advice might you offer to young people interested in writing?

A) Read,  all that you can.  Pay attention to everything.  Be patient,  if possible.  Recognize that while you may be able to make a living at the craft of writing,  you are unlikely to make a lot of money on the most artful,  urgent,  personal work you have in you.  Try to find an honest way to make a living that leaves you some time, energy,  and ambition to do your absolute best work.