The Writer’s Life
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How do you start a
story? With a character? A plot idea? What is the seed?
I do often start with a character in mind, or really a sketch of a character—the fleshing out comes later on. But almost as often it can be a visual, an object, a phrase overheard that gets my mind going toward that special something that snags my imagination and makes me want to explore.
This collection
features stories about women at every age from 12 to 91. Did you set out at any
point to purposely include such representation?
I did not set out
to write about women of all ages. In fact, I didn’t set out to write
specifically about women at all. But as is often the case when I write
with a view to a collection, the theme emerges, and I find myself writing toward
it almost as if guided by the writing gods! I think what’s on my mind
either consciously or unconsciously (usually the latter) finds itself onto the
page and often surprises me, which is the magic of it and what all writers live
for, the surprise.
Your stories have been described by Erin McGraw as places in which “characters’ destinations are unexpected, remarkable, and beautifully memorable.” When you begin writing a character’s conflict, do you already know it will be resolved? Also, you never end on a punch line or "wrap it up." How do you determine when the story has ended?
When I begin
writing I have no idea what’s going to happen even a few paragraphs later, and
I tend to take my time at the beginning of a story to let the plot
emerge. The resolution of a story is never planned though sometimes I
think maybe it might be resolved in one way only to find it resolves in another
way. As to my endings, it’s true that I don’t wrap them up in a bow, I
prefer to let my stories end quietly and leave a little something for the
reader’s imagination. It never fails that my stories end sooner than I
anticipate. I think I have much farther to go, and then boom, I see it, and
know I’ve come to the end. So to answer the question, I determine how a
story ends by not determining how it ends.
Why do you write
short stories as opposed to novels?
The great story writer and novelist Lorrie Moore is quoted as saying, “A short story is a love affair, a novel is a marriage.” I think that describes the difference between the two perfectly. I love reading stories and always wanted to write them. Writing a novel is a long project. To me, a story is a fascinating puzzle: each piece must fit perfectly into the whole, there is no waste, and I like that. And though I’ve been happily married for more decades than I’d like to admit, in my writing I prefer the affair, it’s more exciting.
Your stories often explore what a character presents as a façade versus what lies beneath. Why is does this interest you?
Growing up I was
interested in the many faces adults could present, being sweet to one random
person and nasty to the next. Now, as an adult, when someone says to
me, “oh isn’t so and so terrific” about someone who I don’t think is
so great, I think, or even say, terrific to you. And probably
that person has been terrific for whatever reason, but they
are not terrific all the time to everyone; nobody is. I’m intrigued by the
many facets of human nature, the dark and the light.
Some authors have
rituals that help them get into writing, others listen to music, or even clean
the house before they can begin to write. What is your process? Do you
write every day?
I don’t write every
day; when I am in a story, I take my time and might let days pass while I
digest what I’ve written. And then there is the excruciating gap between
stories when I don’t know what to do with myself! My process is simple.
I sit down and write. I have, luckily, the ability to immediately
focus. So, I may write for four hours, or I might sit down for fifteen
minutes before I go out to dinner and bang out some sentences. I’m ready to
write whenever the mood strikes!
Writing is often described by authors as painful and difficult. Is that your experience?
I’ve never understood why some authors feel that way. I feel grateful that I’m able to write and have the time to do it. What else would I rather do? What else might I be doing? I can think of about a million things I would really rather not do. I’m doing what I’m best at and what I love the most. How perfect is that?
