Kim Liao

How did you become a writer?

I think that I've wanted to be a writer ever since I could finish a chapter book myself. When I was a kid, my mom and I would read a chapter of a classic kid's book each night at bedtime. When I got to be a good enough reader, I would just finish the book the next morning to find out what happened next. When Anne of Green Gables says that she's a writer (maybe it's in Anne of Avonlea), I was like, YEAH, ME TOO, ONE DAY. I was probably eight or nine when I became aware that this was my lifelong dream.

In terms of the actual series of events, I wrote on my own without showing anyone anything until college, when I took Ryan Harty's short fiction class in the spring of my freshman year. It was magical. I was totally sold on being a writer for about six months; then in my sophomore year, I took a very harsh workshop class that completely discouraged me from being a writer, so I decided to be an academic or a trade publishing house editor. I went to Emerson College for their Master's Program in Publishing, but after taking Doug Whynott's Creative Nonfiction class, I declared my wholehearted commitment to being a nonfiction/prose writer and never turned back. I wound up getting an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing at Emerson, and then toiling away trying to get published for the next decade or so. And that about brings us up to date.

The funny thing is that I think writers are always questioning whether they are "real" writers. My first publication in a literary journal was in 2008, but I didn't really feel like a "real" writer until my essay on collecting 100 rejections in Lit Hub went viral in 2016, because then people were actually reading my writing in a more widespread way. (I actually joked with a friend that I should retire that summer, because it was only going to be downhill after that one surprise bit of success.)

When I published a personal piece in The New York Times in February 2020 (mere weeks before lockdown in NYC), I remember asking a writing friend if now I could call myself a real writer. "Have I emerged from emerging?" I asked him. He nodded, rolled his eyes at the ridiculousness of my question and my enduring insecurity, and said, "Definitely." But I think some of us feel like one has to have a book out to be a real writer, so I suppose that is the next goal.

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

Some of my most wonderful writing teachers ever include Doug Whynott, Megan Marshall, Richard Hoffman, Michele Filgate, and Ryan Harty. The books that have inspired me most include those written by Tracy Kidder, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Lethem, Betty Smith, T Kira Madden, Ann Patchett, Alison Bechdel, Rebecca Makkai, Charles Yu, Samuel Beckett, Maxine Hong Kingston, and Ottessa Moshfegh. I'm a craft book junkie, so I read Anne Lamott and Natalie Goldberg until the paperback spines of their books fell apart. I call Natalie Goldberg my teacher, because I believe in the truths of Writing Down the Bones so fiercely, but I have never taken a class with her. 

When and where do you write?

I write best in the mornings, first thing, right after waking up, before I have really settled into the day and into reality. With that being said, life has demands, so I still try to get pages in on mornings if I can. I try for weekends when the semester is in full force and I'm teaching (I don't write very well at the same time as teaching, but then I do deep dives during breaks). I've had glorious days of writing residencies when I get to write all day, but I usually don't write at night anymore. (When I was in my 20s, I wrote at night a lot.) 

Prior to COVID-19, I was a huge cafe writer and loved the white noise and caffeinated highs of coffee shops. Now, I have a shared home office/studio and I actually really love writing there. It's almost a room of my own, and when I'm at my cozy desk, I feel like my best writer self.

What are you working on now?

Good question. I thought that I finished revisions of a nonfiction family memoir about the Taiwanese Independence Movement over the summer, but I just got some constructive agent feedback that is making me think I need to restructure the book and re-frame it as more of a historical adventure drama. So I am about to dive into those structural and framing revisions now. 

I am also working on some shorter pitches for articles, essays, and book reviews, trying to keep my spirits up. When I work on a long thing for awhile, I need a little instant gratification in the form of shorter stuff. I go back and forth. I have a new idea for a long thing that's percolating, but can't discuss it yet. Here's something I've learned the hard way: don't talk about your work until you're ready!

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

I used to not really be a writer's block person, since I usually had a big project I was working on, as well as short little projects (essays or articles or book reviews) that I would spin off periodically. But I actually had terrible writer's block during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during 2020. I think that there are a lot of us who felt like, how can we possibly create art during this horrific time. Also, I found that whenever I did write something, it was about how COVID-19 changed... x, y, and z... it was very boring. 

But at the beginning of 2021, I finally came out of it and started revising my Taiwan book with great abandon. Last summer was the most productive I've been in years, as a writer. Then this fall, less so. You've got to forgive yourself when you're not writing! It will come back. You just need to feel it and get back in the groove.

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

From Natalie Goldberg: Writing will always be waiting for you when you return to it. Cut through everything to your first thoughts, and don't judge yourself. You can look back at it later.

From Anne Lamott: Shitty first drafts pave the way to wonderful published pieces. Also, publication isn't everything you think it is. Find a way to be enough without the external gratification of others.

From my old friend Chip: Always submit to the New Yorker, New York Times, Paris Review. Whatever you see as your top place, always try it. You never know. Don't sell yourself short.

What’s your advice to new writers?

It takes time to get to know yourself and your own voice. Be fearless! Work hard! Play. Don't take it too seriously. Remember why you love writing and write to that place. Those who become great writers spend decades writing. Enjoy the journey. 

Kim Liao's writing has appeared in The New York Times, Catapult, Lit Hub, The Rumpus, Salon, The Millions, River Teeth, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Fringe, and others. Her essay in Lit Hub about collecting rejections went viral--starting the #100rejections challenge--and led to her being dubbed a "Rejection Expert," a title she wears with a healthy dose of irony. A Writing Lecturer at John Jay College, she is currently revising a historical drama about the Taiwanese Independence Movement.