Interviews with Writers of ILLUMINATION
An Interview with Lawson Wallace
A writer and editor for Illumination Integrated Publications
Dear Readers and Writers,
Purpose of this Story
In 2020, our chief editor Dr Mehmet Yildiz started a series of interviews with writers. This initiative created a collaborative atmosphere on Medium. Readers provided inspiring feedback that they enjoyed reading and learning about their favourite writers.
Since Dr Yildiz has additional duties in his busy life, as the editorial team of Illumination, we decide to continue this initiative to delight our writers and readers.
If you are interested to be interviewed, you may contact Dr Yildiz on Slack or via this weblink to add you to our list. Please point out your message as “interview request”.
About Lawson Wallace
In this story, we share an interview that we conducted with Lawson Wallace. He joined our publications as a writer and became an editor. Lawson meaningfully engages with writers and readers.
Lawson has a unique writing voice. His stories are simple and clear. He keeps his sentences short using common words and phrases to maintain clarity, brevity, and impact in his articles.
Lawson’s stories attract readers who have similar life challenges to him. A common theme in his stories includes homelessness. As he experienced such a debilitating challenge for a while, his stories portray discernible empathy and compassion for people who struggle from this type of setback in life.
Here is the transcript of the short interview with Lawson Wallace.
Please tell us a little about your background, Lawson.
I’m the oldest son of an Air Force Enlisted man. We traveled all over the country. The two places I would love to return to are Anchorage Alaska and Tokyo Japan.
When I came back to the states, after graduating from high school, I struggled to find my place in the world. I was diagnosed with Dyslexia at a young age.
I never could keep a job, I couldn’t learn fast enough.
I had other problems as well. After struggling to stay employed I ended up in the security guard business in Florida. I was a security guard for twenty years.
Why do you write on Medium?
I have always wanted to be a writer.
I heard about Medium, and I joined like everyone else, with dreams of making money, but I soon discovered something more valuable.
I’m learning how to be a better writer.
What are your values as a writer?
I value clarity. I want to get my point across without confusing the reader.
I most of all, want the reader to feel something. If I haven’t caused the reader to smile, laugh or scream in rage, I feel like I failed as a writer.
I believe that if I learn to write good content, the money will follow. I just want to do quality work.
How do you connect to your readers?
I connect to readers by being real, raw, and direct.
I write what I think, the way it’s thought.
Readers respond because I’m real. People relate to that.
Why did you volunteer to become an editor for Illumination Integrated Publications?
As a writer, I enjoyed services provided by these publications. Illumination helped me gain new readers and introduced me to new writers.
So, I decided to giveback to the community by reviewing stories of fellow writers and support their growth.
I enjoy editing and publishing stories daily as I meet new writers and learn from their styles while helping them.
What are the top three books affecting your life?
I was raised in the church, and recently I have been reading my Bible more often. I’m not the holy-roller type at all, but I’m seeing positive changes from reading His Word.
I read “ As a Man Thinketh” by James Allan a few years ago. The book blew me away. I struggle to change my thought patterns but I’m getting better every day, and it has made a difference.
“ Atomic Habits” by James Clear, applying what I learned in that book has improved my productivity. I write more because I apply what I learned in that book.
Could you please introduce your top five articles on Medium?
Yes, I have written many stories. From my collection, here are the links to my favourite stories on Medium.
This story still cracks me up, living in a trailer park was a trip.
A deeply personal story that I would not have written when I began on Medium, but sharing personal things have gotten easier.
My wife and I are Dyslexic, it makes for some funny moments.
My wife and I met on FaceBook. I have written extensively about our relationship.
My dad and I had a rocky relationship, and I have written about it. A funny story, that wasn’t funny at the time.
How can writers and readers contact you?
In addition to my profile on Medium, writers can also contact me on Illumination Slack Workspace.
I have a Twitter and LinkedIn account. So writers and readers might leave a private message.
Thank you, Lawson. We appreciate your support to writers and readers.
End of the Interview.
You may check editor profile of Lawson at the attached story.
We also introduced Lawson Wallace on YouTube. Illumination YouTube Coordinator prepared and narrated the attached video.
If you don’t have access to YouTube, you might check the transcript in the attached story by ILLUMINATION.
If you enjoyed this story, you might also check other interviews that Dr Mehmet Yildiz conducted previously. You might learn about these writers and explore their interesting stories.
Many thanks to Dr Mehmet Yildiz for conducting these interviews and inspiring us to continue this initiative. We appreciate his support and leadership.
You might also check out profiles of our writers.
You might bookmark this this curated collection compiled by ILLUMINATION-Curated.
Helpful Resources for Writers and Readers
Publication Resources
All publication related stories can be accessed via this collection.
Onboarding Pack for New Writers
Writer Biographies
Profiles of our writers from their pen.
Curated Writer Bios
Learn about contributing writers of ILLUMINATION written by their pen
medium.com
Featured Stories by Editors
Please enjoy stories featured by our editors.
Invitation to Illumination Fiction Club
Publications of Our Writers on Medium
Invitation to Potential Writers
To join our vibrant publications, please send a request via this link. We will help you gain visibility and succeed as a writer on Medium. Please point out the publication name with your Medium account ID in the request. If you are new to Medium, you can join via this link. Readers can read thousands of stories and writers can monetize self-published content.
