Danya Kukafka

How did you become a writer?

Reading. I spent most of my childhood with my nose stuck in a book, and began writing in elementary school. I think I’ve always wanted to engage with books in a deeper way. 

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

I’ve been consistently in awe of writers who play with genre in interesting ways—particularly crime fiction. In this sense, my influences have largely been writers like Megan Abbott, Celeste Ng, and Tana French. Lately I’ve been digging into stories that push beyond crime as well, into more speculative or structurally experimental realms, like Emily St. John Mandel, Akwaeke Emezi, Han Kang, and Carmen Maria Machado. I just read a novel that completely broke me open—Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin. I can already tell that book will be a touchstone for me for many years to come. 

When and where do you write?

I write at my desk at home— I try to take an hour of writing for myself every weekday morning. I have a full-time job as a literary agent, but thankfully my schedule is usually flexible, so I’ll triage my inbox quickly before turning everything off and diving into my own novel-in-progress. Sometimes I’ll work in the early evenings with a glass of wine. A few months ago, I spent a weekend alone in a treehouse, completely absorbed in the book, and those 48 hours were the most creatively productive I’ve had in many years. 

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a new novel! I can’t say much about it yet, but at this moment the concept is very outside the realm of my previous work, which I find so exciting.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

For me, writer’s block tends to mean that I need to unlock some aspect of a story, or change a part of the concept. I never throw out novel ideas—I just change them until they work, and writer’s block often comes for me as I’m making those changes. But if I sit with the page long enough, something will always come out. 

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

The process is the point. I found this quote from Jia Tolentino, years ago, which I return to often: “The only thing you can guarantee yourself pleasure and challenge from is inside your own writing process. Do whatever you need to do in your life and your writing to open that space for yourself. If you can work in such a way that the process will be pleasurable, even if nothing comes of it—the work is an end in and of itself—then you’ll be okay.” 

What’s your advice to new writers?

Just keep going. I know it sounds so simple, but it’s really not: write anyway when you don’t feel like it, and when you’re unsure of yourself. Write anyway when it feels like you have nothing to say. The most important thing is that you carve out that time—if you do it often enough, the words will always, always follow.