2008 Woodie Awards
Hispanic author reflects on life, writing
Traveler Staff
Issue date: 9/28/07 Section: News
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Benitez treats her characters as though they were real people, she said. She has to name them before setting out to write the plot, she said.
"It's like naming a baby," Benitez said about researching through phone directories from El Salvador for inspiration, adding that she also researches the origins of the name.
Another method she uses is interviewing her characters through her computer with all the lights off, Benitez said.
To the surprise of one student who asked a question, Benitez said she did not write as a young adult.
"I never wrote a thing till I was 39," Benitez said. "Nada, Rien de rien. Nothing. I was absolutely enamored, in love, with story. It never occurred to me that I'd be a storyteller."
Benitez wanted to be a doctor before writing. She includes a medical situation in every one of her stories "so I can be a doctor," she said.
Rachel Patrick, a graduate student in Spanish, was present at the Thursday morning presentation. Patrick, who also writes, found it encouraging that someone like Benitez could start a successful writing career later on in life and could do it with a unique style, she said.
"It was interesting to hear her speak about her techniques for developing characters and story," Patrick said. "She's inspirational. It shows you can go about doing things your own way."
Benitez lives in Minnesota with her husband, but during the winter she has gone to Manzanillo, Mexico, a beach city. Even during those trips, Benitez has gathered inspiration to write her stories, she said. Benitez then takes that inspiration and does not write until she is at her "sacred place where I write," she said.
"I have to be removed from a place in order to write about it," Benitez said. "I have to trust I can go to a place, live there and just allow the place to stamp itself upon me - the people, the conversations."
"It's like naming a baby," Benitez said about researching through phone directories from El Salvador for inspiration, adding that she also researches the origins of the name.
Another method she uses is interviewing her characters through her computer with all the lights off, Benitez said.
To the surprise of one student who asked a question, Benitez said she did not write as a young adult.
"I never wrote a thing till I was 39," Benitez said. "Nada, Rien de rien. Nothing. I was absolutely enamored, in love, with story. It never occurred to me that I'd be a storyteller."
Benitez wanted to be a doctor before writing. She includes a medical situation in every one of her stories "so I can be a doctor," she said.
Rachel Patrick, a graduate student in Spanish, was present at the Thursday morning presentation. Patrick, who also writes, found it encouraging that someone like Benitez could start a successful writing career later on in life and could do it with a unique style, she said.
"It was interesting to hear her speak about her techniques for developing characters and story," Patrick said. "She's inspirational. It shows you can go about doing things your own way."
Benitez lives in Minnesota with her husband, but during the winter she has gone to Manzanillo, Mexico, a beach city. Even during those trips, Benitez has gathered inspiration to write her stories, she said. Benitez then takes that inspiration and does not write until she is at her "sacred place where I write," she said.
"I have to be removed from a place in order to write about it," Benitez said. "I have to trust I can go to a place, live there and just allow the place to stamp itself upon me - the people, the conversations."
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