Member Spotlight – Gerhard Schneibel

We’re pleased to spotlight Gerhard Schneibel and his writing life. Thank you for helping us spread the word on how the KWG supports our writing community for writers at all stages of their writing journey. 

  1. How long have you been a member of the KWG?
    Approximately 5 years.

  2. What is your day job?
    I work in communications at the University of Tennessee.

  3. How do you participate in the KWG?
    I’m the treasurer and recently re-joined the Advanced Fiction Workshop.

  4. What kind of writing do you do? 
    Short stories and novels.

  5. What is your current project?
    I’m working on a revision of my novel, The Prosperous Five.

  6. What is your writing goal?
    To publish more short stories in literary magazines and, eventually, publish my novel.

  7. Awards, prizes, or writer feel-good moments?
    Some of my short stories have been published and recognized with awards, and that is always an exciting thing to have happen.

  8. Who inspired you to write?
    My mother was a literature professor, and so she encouraged reading and writing.

  9. What KWG programs or workshops stand out for you?
    I’ve really enjoyed the recent virtual events because they draw talented people from a broad geographic area. It’s nice that we can expand our reach beyond Knoxville virtually.

  10. How has a KWG writing group helped you?
    I have re-joined the Advanced Fiction Workshop, which helped me tremendously. I gained a better sense of my strengths and weaknesses, and uncovered a few fundamental mistakes that I no longer make (hopefully!). I believe it made me a much stronger writer.

  11. Do you have any writing rituals, favorite snacks or times/places to write?
    I enjoy writing in coffee shops. Life is busy now, though, and so I write whenever/wherever. I write by hand (paper or iPad) because the physical act of doing so helps me to slow down and think. Typing on a keyboard works well for the non-fiction I write at work, because I’m connecting existing information points, but to write fiction I need to slow down and write by hand.

  12. What helps when you get stuck? 
    Taking a walk and/or having a coffee. If all else fails, a drink.

  13. What’s the best thing you’ve read lately? 
    Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
    Fifth Chinese Daughter by Jade Snow Wong
    The Man who Took Trains by Ulrich A. Boschwitz
    Love and Summer by William Trevor

  14. What is your secret talent? 
    I’m actually not bad at computer programming.

Bio
Gerhard Schneibel writes short stories and novels and lives in Knoxville with his family. He started writing fiction in the writing program at Goucher College (Maryland) and continues to practice his craft through the Knoxville Writers’ Guild workshops. In addition to fiction, he studied journalism and business and currently works in communications for higher education.