Reading time: About 2 minutes
Raw storytelling is what you get with the first draft, according to writer Bill Koch. Engaging storytelling requires revision…
Bill Koch is a retired psychologist and clinical professor emeritus at UBC. He graduated from SFU’s Writers Studio in 2021. His fiction examines mental health, legal conflict, and family relationships. His first novel, Hired Gun: Uncovering Buried Secrets (2025), is a psychological thriller set in a university teaching hospital. His second novel, Shrinks: Tales of Transition, is a series of linked short stories featuring psychologists and their patients, due out in late 2026.
I was excited to talk to Bill about how he approaches writing.
Q. Roughly how much time do you spend writing every day?
Four to five hours split between writing and revising.
Q. What’s a simple activity or habit that makes you a better writer?
I read about writing. My personal bible is Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wicked Good Prose, and I don’t hesitate to write down my thoughts for a story or to describe a character.
Q. What interferes with your writing?
Probably fatigue. In my previous career in psychology, I always took on more than I could handle comfortably, and so I sometimes stare into the laptop screen and realize that I’m just too tired to think, much less type.
Q, How do you persuade yourself to sit down to write on days when you really, really DON’T feel like doing it?
There is seldom a day like that, unless I have a stretch of really intense writing.
Q. Is there a particular motto or saying that you’ve found helpful for writing?
Not really but I set short-term (I will work on X) and long-term goals (I have partially written, outlined, or have vague concepts for about four more novels to finish before age 80). Yeah, I know it’s ironic to imagine a 74-year-old with a long term.
Q. Which stage of the writing process do you enjoy the most: researching, writing or editing/rewriting and why?
I enjoy researching because I am an informavore. I enjoy raw writing as spontaneous storytelling. I enjoy revising because I am always learning how to better turn a phrase, form an interesting verb, etc.
Q. What’s one of the best books you’ve read (either fiction or non) in the last five years?
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, Buckeye by Patrick Ryan and The Whispers by Ashley Audrain.
Q. What book are you reading right now?
Lost Lambs by Madeline Cash.
Q. What do you think is the biggest misperception that new writers have about the act of writing?
That their first draft is good enough. Raw storytelling is what you get with the first draft; engaging storytelling requires revision.
