Christopher Schaberg

How did you become a writer?

I suppose I became a writer by just trying a lot of different forms—essays, short stories, poems, book reviews, collaborative experiments, a Master’s thesis, academic articles, and eventually a dissertation—as I went through graduate school. And then when I got my tenure track job as a professor at Loyola University New Orleans, I realized that writing (and having real deadlines!) was a way to fuel my teaching and also a way to have something outside of the job proper, something else to be able to focus on. In other words, writing was always part of this academic pursuit, for me, but I have always used it to try new forms and reach different audiences. (And I’ve only scratched the surface, really.)

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

My writing influences are kind of whomever I’m reading or talking to or working with at the moment. I’ve had wonderful mentors along the way, and I’m always reading new stuff that gets me inspired. For instance, I credit a lot of my writing early on to my professor at Montana State Susan Kollin, who just gave me a book one day and told me to review it, and helped me get it placed in a small journal called Western American Literature. I liked the feel of writing something then seeing it published. Working with Tim Morton at UC Davis gave me a really clear sense of how to stagger and move through discrete (if related) projects swiftly and efficiently. I just finished reading Elisabeth Tova Bailey’s The Sound of a Snail Eating and loved it; it gave me lots of ideas for a new book I’m starting to write about fly-fishing. 

When and where do you write?

I snatch and grab odd minutes and occasional hours in which to write! Whenever I can, whenever I am motivated and can carve out the space and time. I have no dedicated place where I write—right now I’m writing this at the kitchen table surrounded by my kids’ detritus and crumbs from the day. I’ve learned to just write wherever and whenever (and however) I can. Often I wake up in the night and start to construct sentences in my head…and sometimes I can remember them in the morning, and get them down into a document on the computer. Other times it’s just a sudden idea that sparks and I need to get quickly into a note on my phone or scrawled onto piece of paper. I write on Google Docs sometimes, so I can move between different computers (my home, my office) and keep working on the same text. Same with Notes on my phone. I’ll write with whatever tool I have handy. 

What are you working on now?

Three books: A textbook on how to write short essays, that I’m writing with my co-editor Ian Bogost; a collection of keywords for the future of air travel, which I’m co-editing with Erica Durante; and a short book on fly-fishing that I’m writing for Duke’s new series Practices (short books on life-shaping activities). I’ll probably write some short essays in the midst of working on all these things, too. I tend to write a bunch of essays and then eventually realize that they have formed the broad contours of a book. Then I propose and flesh out the book. 

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Not really. I mean, I’ve gone through spells where I’ve been depressed and frustrated that no good or solid ideas are taking shape. Maybe that’s writer’s block. But it doesn’t usually last long, because I tend to keep reading, keep talking to friends and colleagues and editors, and before long something gets jostled free. I’m always putting things out into the world regularly, pitching essays and book ideas, getting plenty of rejections but some acceptances along the way, too. It’s work, a hustle. Writing is usually hard, always a pain-inducing experience of extraction, from murky brain to white paper. Every once and a while, it comes on fast and feels thrilling. 

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

My creative writing professor and great friend at Montana State University, Greg Keeler, explained a really effective writing technique to me this way: he pantomimes fingers drumming on a keyboard and makes a ppppppffffftpfptpfptpfffftftpfpftftpfffpffttttffttfp-fpfppffpppfpttpppppft sound with his mouth. In other words, just put words down on the page. There’s plenty of time for editing and cutting and revising, later. But just getting them down on the page is the way to get started, no matter how sloppy. Again, not that this is always easy!!! But it takes off some of the pressure. When in doubt or when flustered, just pppppfffptpfptpfffftftpfpftftpfffpfftt.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Four pieces of advice: 1) Understand who your intended audience is. Or in other words, pay attention to what audiences exist, and what formats and styles those audiences expect. Then you can know how to write for these audiences, and when you can push the envelope and be creative. But it helps to think of audience, first. 2) Deadlines are your friend. Use deadlines to motivate you to just sit down and produce a draft. 3) Learn to accept edits; don’t throw a fit over a cut sentence or replaced word. Trust your editor. Your writing will be better for it, even if you don’t understand how in the moment. 4) And always thank your editor. 

Christopher Schaberg is Dorothy Harrell Brown Distinguished Professor of English at Loyola University New Orleans, the author of six books and co-editor of two essay collections. His most recent book is Grounded: Perpetual Flight . . . and Then the Pandemic. He is also the founding co-editor of Object Lessons, a book series about the hidden life of ordinary things, published by Bloomsbury.