CSUEB alumnus blazes online literary career
David Matteri '12 (courtesy of David Materri)
- March 27, 2013 5:00am
“There’s no magic spell that can write for you; the magic is in the writing.” - David Matteri
Cal State East Bay alumnus David Matteri, BA, English (’12), sold his first short story before even graduating so it’s no surprise that he currently serves as the managing editor of eAdventure, an online magazine on EFictionMag that aims to deliver short stories of action and adventure in the spirit of writers such as Tom Clancy and Louis L’Amour.
Matteri said his experience working as a staff member on CSUEB’s Arroyo Literary Review helped to prepare him for his current role. “I learned how to spot examples of strong writing,” he said. This skill has proven useful at eFiction where they encourage contributors to submit their rejected work to an online workshop where community fans can read it and offer constructive criticism. “We have had some stories come through our website that were initially rejected by our editors,” said Matteri, “but then sharpened by our workshop and published!”
He recognized the importance of the editing process while working as a writing tutor for the Student Center for Academic Achievement (SCAA) at CSUEB. “The most common problem I saw in students was a lack of confidence in their writing skills,” he said. “Many students felt that their essay “wasn’t good enough” or they would apologize for their messy writing.” Matteri advises to just write the essay knowing that most of what has been written will be deleted or changed in the editing process. “Rough drafts exist because nobody gets it right the first time. Also… keep your writing simple and free of fluff.”
Matteri credits Associate Professor of English and arroyo Advisor Susan Gubernat for helping to get his feet wet in the editorial business and English Professor Stephen Gutierrez for refining his writing. “In fact, a short story of mine that was critiqued by Stephen and my peers in [Stephen’s] writing workshop last spring will appear in the September issue of parABnormal Digest later this year,” said Matteri.
May is national short story month and eFiction plans to launch a Kickstarter project to generate funds. Matteri added, “…so if you love to read great fiction then please visit our website and donate!”
Keep updated on David Matteri’s work by following him on Twitter and Facebook. “Writing brings me great pleasure and I plan to keep on writing until they find me slumped over my keyboard!”