Stephanie Wrobel

How did you become a writer?

I'm baffled by it myself. Around five or six, I began typing up stories and drawing illustrations for them. I can't really remember what drew me to storytelling—reading and writing have just always been my favorite ways to spend my free time. By the time I entered adulthood, author hardly seemed like a practical career choice, so I went into advertising. Writing TV/radio spots, billboard copy, etc. was the closest steady job I could get to creative writing. During a period of unemployment, I felt like I had nothing to lose and decided to apply to MFA programs. I attended Emerson College and wrote my debut novel, Darling Rose Gold, as my master’s thesis. 

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

Writers: Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, Tana French, George Saunders, Emily St. John Mandel, Patricia Highsmith, Fredrik Backman, Cheryl Strayed, Megan Abbott, Elizabeth Gilbert, Dan Chaon, Gillian Flynn, Nora Ephron, Noah Baumbach... the list goes on and on.

Books: We Have Always Lived in the Castle, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Rebecca, Station Eleven, Tenth of December, Normal People, and more.

Teachers: My thesis advisor and mentor, Mako Yoshikawa, plus professors Rick Reiken and Steve Yarbrough.

When and where do you write?

I prefer to write in the morning, usually starting around nine and going until I've finished the decided-upon task(s) for the day. I can revise for a lot longer than I can write new material. With new stuff I tend to peter out after five or so hours. As for where, I like to write at home—quiet surroundings, minimal distractions.

What are you working on now?

I’m revising my second novel. It’s about sisters and cults and faith and pain and magic and fear.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Yes, mostly when I was in my twenties and had no idea what I wanted to write. Nowadays I only feel blocked when I'm struggling to decide which direction a character or the plot should go. Writing by hand in a journal usually helps loosen the block.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

Write coldly. When you compose a disturbing or emotional scene, consider writing it in a concise and detached way. That matter-of-factness in the face of horror makes the impact much more powerful.

What’s your advice to new writers?

I have three pieces of advice for debut writers:

1. Set a measurable goal. It can be words/hours/scenes per day/week/month, but come up with something so you can watch yourself make progress. The idea of writing 90,000 words is daunting but less so if you break it down into bite-sized pieces. If you write 1,000 words a day, you’d have a first draft in 3 months. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you do it—work as your schedule allows. The important thing is to chip away and keep to your schedule. I also find it really rewarding to keep a spreadsheet of chapter word counts so I can watch the total word count climb.

2. Get qualified constructive feedback. You read a lot about the importance of practice—getting and keeping your butt in the chair—which is true! But in order to get better at anything, you also need someone to tell you where you’ve gone wrong. A family member or friend isn’t going to cut it unless they’re an author or work in the publishing industry. This doesn’t mean you have to commit to a two-year course or pay an editor tons of money, but there are plenty of starter courses where you can dip your toe in the water and receive feedback from a qualified professional.

3. Treat the business side of writing as part of the job—because it is. Start writing first drafts of your query letter months before you’re ready to send out your manuscript. Same goes for the synopsis. Research agents and take the time to compile a list of twenty or thirty that fit your book really well. Do all of this alongside writing your novel—or, if you can only take on one project at a time, don’t rush this part of the process. You will learn a ton along the way, and the final result will be more polished.

Stephanie Wrobel grew up in Chicago but has been living in the UK for four years with her husband and her dog, Moose Barkwinkle. She has an MFA from Emerson College and has had short fiction published in Bellevue Literary Review. Before turning to fiction, she worked as a creative copywriter at various advertising agencies. Darling Rose Gold is her debut novel.