Michelle Rial

How did you become a writer?

I consider myself more of a visual communicator. I studied journalism with concentrations in graphic design and advertising. I wanted to be an art director or a "creative" but I couldn't afford this thing called Portfolio School, so I took classes at night in copywriting, editorial design, and typography. I left advertising because I couldn't transition to the creative side, and freelanced at magazines in Manhattan while teaching English at night in Flushing. I took photographs of restaurants, color-corrected fashion week photos, and created photo illustrations until I got a job as a web producer at a media company. I asked for design work on the side, then asked if I could design flowcharts and graphics for bloggers, and then started pitching my own ideas that I'd design and write. I did this until I got the attention of an editor who hired me as writer/illustrator.

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

Influences and writer/illustrator heroes include Cheryl Strayed, Wendy MacNaughton, Julia Cameron, Marian Bantjes, Debbie Millman, Christoph Niemann, Stefan Sagmeister, Adam J. Kurtz, Nathan Pyle, Randall Munroe, Mona Chalabi, Carissa Potter, Lydia Davis, Anne Lamott, Sarah Ruhl, Samantha Irby, Steven Wildish, Jessica Hagy, Jessica Hische, Jessica Saia, Kelli Anderson, Maira Kalman, Gary Shteyngart, Junot Diaz, Edward Tufte, Nicole Lavelle, Kate Bingman-Burt, Bruno Munari, Michael Bierut, Hallie Bateman, Mari Andrew, Olivia de Recat, Jason Adam Katzenstein, Roz Chast, modern art museums, stacks of The New Yorker and old issues of New York Magazine—there are so many more and I'm having anxiety over all the ones I'm not including. It's hard for me to differentiate influences and things I love.

When and where do you write?

I write/draw best early in the morning or late at night, but I do my best and most productive thinking if I know I have somewhere to be in two hours.

What are you working on now?

I just finished a few rooms-worth of conceptual illustrations for an exhibit that's yet to be announced (in partnership with NASA).

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

I go through cycles of being really sick of myself creatively and then being really productive and inspired. I also deal with chronic repetitive strain injuries that can flare up badly enough to become a significant physical block. It's particularly bad right now.

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

Some of the best advice I've read is in Things Are What You Make of Them by Adam J. Kurtz.

What’s your advice to new writers?

-Health insurance

-If you feel pain, take a break

Michelle Rial was born in California to Venezuelans who really loved The Beatles' song "Michelle." You may have seen her illustrations, writing, or charts on The New Yorker, BuzzFeed, Fast Company, USA Today, Refinery29, Vox, and elsewhere on the internet. She's the author and illustrator of Am I Overthinking This?: Over-answering life's questions in 101 charts published last month by Chronicle Books.