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Matt Gowen
Writer, Hallmark Greeting Cards
Think...panic...write...revise...take a walk...eat lunch...stew...revise again...dwell on insecurities...revise yet again...turn it in...cross your fingers.
Inspiration, perspiration and a dose of luck are all part of how Hallmark Writer Matt Gowen finishes a greeting card. Usually.
"Sometimes one will just pop out of nowhere and I have to write it down."
Then there are those other times, Matt says, "when you're staring at the paper and need to finish five more pieces and tiny beads of sweat start to form on your forehead. Then you stop, breathe and try again."
All of this is in search of what Matt and other Hallmark writers call "the universal specific."
"That's really the trick—taking what happens in your life and the lives of others and shaping it into something familiar to everyone that nevertheless sounds like it was tailored just for you. Whether the card is funny or silly or touching or uplifting, that's the goal."
Matt finds inspiration in a variety of sources. "Song lyrics, magazine and newspaper articles, conversations or e-mails with family and friends, television, movies, art, theater. Basically, everywhere."
Matt says he "absolutely" draws on his own relationships in his writing. "I'm married, so that helps with husband and wife cards and in writing about any issues surrounding long-term relationships—and how you fall in love, how you stay in love, what makes you happy, what bugs you. I have two sisters and one brother, so sibling birthday card concepts are a little easier for me to dream up—like flipping over the Monopoly board when one of us was losing or how we've become such good friends as adults.
"Right now I have several friends who are experiencing drastic life changes such as moving far away or having children. By going through those things with them, I come up with a line like 'I sense a minivan in your future.'"
Still, once the inspiration is done, Matt faces the solitary job of writing and waiting. "I guess you just write it down and hope the editors will like it. After that it's anyone's guess whether it will make it through the planning, production and testing process. You do what you can and leave it up to fate."
Prior to coming to Hallmark three years ago, Matt was a newspaper reporter and covered "everything under the sun," from the NCAA basketball tournament to religion and films. He holds a journalism degree from the University of Kansas and proudly displays the Jayhawk flag in his booth at work.
Matt appeared on the following show(s):
N1L Podcast, Season Two
2.01: Manufacturing Love and Sex