Allegra Hyde

How did you become a writer?

I didn’t grow up with my heart fixed on publishing books, but I gradually came to realize that my life would feel empty without writing. I’ve always loved language. Realizing I wanted to be a writer was like discovering you are in love with the person who’s been your best friend all along.

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

I was lucky enough to study with Jim Shepard, Andrea Barrett, and Karen Russell during my time as an undergraduate at Williams College. They all had a tremendous impact on how I approach my own work. They taught me about the role research can play in fiction, as well as the essential process of revision. Also that it was okay to be playful in my writing.

When and where do you write?

I prefer to write in the morning, before the demands of the day become distracting. I also prefer to write where it’s quiet. And if I get to be really picky: at a desk with a view of a garden. Ultimately, though, I’ll write whenever and wherever I can.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a novel that expands upon one of the stories in my collection, Of This New World. It’s about a group of militant environmentalists striving and struggling to create an ideal community in the age of climate change. I’m drawn to narratives of utopian longing—that’s the theme of my first book—and I’m hoping this novel continues to explore the human impulse for a better world.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

In general, I have the opposite problem: too many ideas and not enough time to pursue them all.

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

Be honest. In fiction this means pursuing an emotional truth—stripping back clichés and deeply considering what the human experience really entails. Sometimes that truth is ugly or scary or just hard to behold, but as writers it’s our job to face it.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Write in a way that you find fulfilling. Write in a way that you find frightening. Read what you find stimulating. Read what you find unfamiliar. Enjoy the process of learning and growing as a writer. The rest will follow.

Allegra Hyde is the author of Of This New World (University of Iowa Press, 2016), which won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award. Her stories and essays have appeared, or are forthcoming, in The Missouri Review, New England Review, Gettysburg Review, The Threepenny Review, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, as well as support from the Virginia G. Piper Center, the Jentel Artist Residency Program, The Island School, and the U.S. Fulbright Commission.

Fiona Davis

How did you become a writer?

For the past fifteen years, I’ve been working as a journalist, and I turned to fiction after hearing a great story idea: that after the Barbizon Hotel for Women was turned into luxury condos in 2005, a dozen or so of the longtime residents were moved into rent-controlled apartments on the same floor. I couldn’t shake the idea that this might make an intriguing setup for a novel.

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

I’m a big fan of Geraldine Brooks, Shirley Jackson, Jo Baker, Jane Austen, Kathleen Tessaro, Liane Moriarity, Mary-Louise Parker, and Kristin Hannah, as well as playwrights like Tom Stoppard, Shakespeare, Edward Albee, and Tennessee Williams.

When and where do you write?

I tend to write new scenes in the mornings, but I enjoy editing any time. There’s nothing like the satisfaction of turning a so-so sentence into something that pops. I work in the study of my apartment, and I have a glimpse of the Hudson River from my desk. Watching the tides go in and out is very calming.

What are you working on now?

I’m writing another work of historical fiction that’s similar in structure to The Dollhouse, in that it takes place in an iconic New York City building in two time periods and reveals a secret at the end. But it’s very different from the previous work in tone and subject matter.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

As a journalist, you don’t get paid if you don’t turn in the article on deadline, so that takes the whole concept of writer’s block right out of the equation. The idea of hitting a word count every day isn’t at all precious to me, it’s just work. That’s not to say I don’t procrastinate – I’m very easily distracted by Facebook, emails, laundry – you name it.

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

The actress Uta Hagen wrote something that applies to both acting and writing: “The making of art consists of the selection of appropriate life realities to create a new canvas, to make a new living, breathing statement.” For me, that means the emotion behind the words has to be real and grounded.

What's your advice to new writers?

Don’t worry too much about the industry side of writing until you have a strong manuscript in hand. Better to spend time taking classes and workshops and going to conferences to work on craft than wondering which agent would best represent your future novel.

Fiona Davis is an author and journalist based in New York City, where she worked as an actress for ten years before graduating from the Columbia School of Journalism. Her work of historical fiction, The Dollhouse, was published by Dutton (2016). She can be found online at fionadavis.net.

Colin Broderick

How did you become a writer?

Some days I'm not really sure if I am a writer.  Some days I am a carpenter, other days, just dad.  I've been writing on an off my whole life. I tried to write my first novel when I was nine or ten. I still have the notebook somewhere. I think I got to about page three.  I'm getting better at finishing my stories now.

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

When I was a kid it was Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton. As I got a little older it was Bukowski for a while, then the obligatory Hemingway and Fitzgerald phase. Then as I aged I drifted into John Irving (earlier Irving). Over the past twenty years it's been mostly Philip Roth, and of course The Snow Leopard by Matthiessen which I re-read again and again. I love clarity when I read. I want to know where I am in a book. I love a good story. Give me a good story with some depth to it, clear concise no-nonsense writing and I'm all over it.

When and where do you write?

I write at home with my laptop in my lap. I like a quiet room if at all possible; soft light, a nice window, a view of some trees, leaves falling, to remind me of the impermanence of it all.

What are you working on now?

I am frantically polishing my first feature movie, "Emerald City." I wrote it, directed and acted in it. We've just been accepted into The London Irish Film Festival and it's been shortlisted for Best Feature. I also just signed the contracts on my new book, "The Writing Irish of New York." Fordham University Press will publish that one in 2017. I also have another couple of screenplays currently in development: "The Catalpa" and "The Rising."

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

There was a period of about eight years when I went back drinking in my thirties where I didn't write at all but I've been pretty active ever since I got sober again. I have two kids; I can't afford writers block.

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

"Writers write." I can't remember who said it...maybe it's just what my inner voice yells at me daily. My mentor Billy Collins also used to say, "All writing is rewriting." That's true also. Everything is a work in progress until they pry it from your cold dead hands.

What’s your advice to new writers?

My advice is just write: write, write, write...but just as important: know when to let go. You must let go in order to move forward. Again and again I see young writers I admire getting stuck on one book. They try to get it published and nobody wants it and they go back and tweak it again and again for years without getting into something new. My advice is, "LET IT GO!" Stick it in a drawer, move on. Trust me, you will get better just by virtue of experience, and if you turn out to be Ernest Hemingway twenty years down the line, they'll ask you what you have stored away in that drawer of yours.

Colin Broderick was born and raised in Northern Ireland. He has published two memoirs "Orangutan" Random House 2009, and "That's That," Random House 2013. He lives in upstate New York with his wife, two kids, and a dog named Beckett. His new book, The Writing Irish of New York, will be published in 2017 by Fordham University Press.