Elijah Kinch Spector

How did you become a writer?

I come from a long line of writers, so it always felt like a foregone conclusion. This may or may not have been a good thing. Would I have felt the constant urge to write if I hadn't been raised in that environment? Would I still have my deep, compulsive, need for approval and recognition from others? Who knows! But I was a sensitive only child, surrounded by artists and weirdos while I pined for adulthood, so here I am.

More concretely, I majored in Creative Writing, and then spent the next decade trying to break in. I wrote many attempted novels of many types. I made a spreadsheet with an unhinged amount of information on the 40 or so agents I wanted to query. I lay on the floor staring into space and moaning that I'd never get published. One doesn’t have to be published to be a writer, but that's what I fixated on and, in my case, that fixation forced me to improve.

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

Always a tough question, because of course the answer is, you know, everything.

That said, in college I took a course on writing in the first person from novelist Ed Park that still affects my writing every day, even as most of my education fades from memory. One of the books we read in that class was Charles Portis’ True Grit, which opened my eyes to how even the smallest choices in wording and incident can greatly inform a character.

Additionally, a major influence on me from out of left field is Lawrence Durrell’s Alexandria Quartet. In the Quartet’s later books, Durrell’s own… odious views come into clearer focus, but his lush prose, heavy with the history of the setting, remains marvelous—if also orientalist. I write fantasy, but a lot of the tone and texture of my worldbuilding came from Durrell.

When and where do you write?

I don't take well to routine, unfortunately, so I'm never good at having a particular time or place where I write. I have a beautiful little desk my spouse made for me, but it ends up being where I do most other work. I love to bring a notebook and pen to cafes, parks, and bars, or to scribble out a few pages on a lunch break from my day job; but I also love the feeling of banging away on an old typewriter for hours at a time, when I can manage it.

What are you working on now?

I'm currently in the beautiful little grace period between finishing the first draft of my second novel and getting edits back. So, right this second, I'm working on nothing, and it's glorious. But very soon I'll be deep in revisions on my first try at a sequel.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Absolutely, although I wonder if "writer's block" is one term applied to a thousand different things. For me, getting stuck on what should happen next plot-wise is totally different from not knowing what will make a new character interesting, and both problems have different remedies. But changing my location and/or writing tools almost always helps.

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

Don't listen to anyone who says you need to write for at least X hours a day—or even to write every day—in order to be a writer.

What’s your advice to new writers?

If your epigraph isn’t in public domain, you might have to pay for the rights to use it! I learned this the hard way, but it was worth the money.

Elijah Kinch Spector is a writer, dandy, and rootless cosmopolitan from the Bay Area who now lives in Brooklyn. His debut novel, Kalyna the Soothsayer, is available from Erewhon Books.

Ethan Joella

How did you become a writer?

I used to pass poems out to my teachers in second grade; I wrote a script for the TV show Growing Pains in middle school. In college, I wrote two novels in longhand after taking a fiction writing class. I did two graduate programs in creative writing, and in the midst of teaching and being a dad, I still tried to write whenever I could, relishing any small literary journal acceptance along the way. In 2019, after querying almost every agent in the country, I was so lucky to be taken on by Madeleine Milburn in London who has handled some of the biggest book deals in the world. She sold A Little Hope to Scribner, who was my absolute dream publisher, and from that point, I really felt like a writer.

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

Hundreds of writers have shaped me. Jesmyn Ward, Ernest Hemingway, Amy Hempel, John Cheever, Elizabeth Strout, Jamaica Kincaid, Jess Walter. The poets Naomi Shihab Nye, Ross Gay, and Marie Howe. But I think most of all, I remember reading Anne Tyler’s novels during my twenties and thinking, Oh, she’s doing exactly what the craft books talk about: using strong verbs, compelling characters, plot breadcrumbs. So I think she had one of the biggest effects on me. I learned so much from my MFA program and the Rehoboth Beach Writers’ Guild, too.

When and where do you write?

I don’t have a set time, but I feel best when I write in the morning. If not, I try to get something in after lunch. I have a writing desk in our basement, but I rarely use it. I like to sit on the couch and do most of my work there because I enjoy being in the center of the house’s action. If I’m having a hard time revising or editing, I’ll sit at the dining room table, which I think signals something in my brain that this is serious.

What are you working on now?

I’m revising my next novel and planning out some ideas for one after that. I also try to keep working on short stories as I think they are important to understanding structure and overall craft. I often have a couple projects cooking at once and more ideas than I have writing time. No matter where I am or what I’m doing, I can’t turn off that writer brain that’s taking in everything for possible later use. It’s like a big program using up all the memory on your hard drive, always running in the background!

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Not exactly. I think I’ve suffered from a lack of discipline or a lack of writing something I’m proud of, but if I force myself to sit down, I can usually cough up something. I just can’t guarantee it will be good.

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

Write toward that moment when your characters surprise you. That’s what you want, and that’s when the characters are so real that readers will want to follow them—the whole Robert Frost no surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader thing. I think it’s always about the characters. Never be locked into a plot point or an ending. It has to be what’s organic to the characters.

What’s your advice to new writers?

Call yourself a writer. Find the right community who will both encourage and challenge you. Be okay with criticism. If you care about your writing, prioritize it and don’t treat it as a secret hobby or an afterthought. I think my writing life changed for the better when I started placing writing more prominently among my daily priorities.

Ethan Joella teaches English and psychology at the University of Delaware. His work has appeared in River Teeth, The Cimarron Review, The MacGuffin, Delaware Beach Life, and Third Wednesday. He is the author of A Little Hope, which was a Read with Jenna Bonus Selection and A Quiet Life, which comes out in November. He lives in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with his wife and two daughters.

Laura Warrell

How did you become a writer?

I started writing stories as soon as I learned to write letters and sentences. From early on, there was an innate desire in me to write, as well as an instinct for storytelling, and though it took me years to master the latter, I always knew I was a writer. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a movie star and went to a special high school to study acting; I even went to college as a first-year theater student. But I soon realized I didn’t love acting as much as I love writing. Writing was part of my nature – a huge, and probably the most significant part – and I couldn’t stop doing it, even decades later when I still wasn’t making a career out of it.

In the beginning, I simply wrote. My second year of college, I changed majors to writing and journalism, and later enrolled in an MFA program. So, yes, I studied, not only in academic settings, but also by reading the greats and trying to decipher how they did what they did with language, plot, character, what have you. Though I’ve hit the thrilling moment when my first book is in the world, I don’t think this means my studies are over. I’m still studying novels and reading craft essays to improve my skills.

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

I grew up in Ohio and while the state will always have a place in my heart, I felt kind of bored there, as if I believed there was a more exciting world to be explored. So, once I got to high school and started reading more literary novels, I gravitated toward authors who were living adventurous lives, especially as expats: Henry Miller, James Baldwin. I learned about and came to admire Josephine Baker, both as a performer and personality, but as an activist. I also discovered Toni Morrison, my favorite writer, and was transformed by her brilliance with language and abstraction. While I never attempted to “be” those writers or entertainers, I do feel them with me in a way because there’s always a search for freedom and the desire to self-actualize in my stories, and an attention to language in the prose itself.

Funny enough, the only teachers who believed in me growing up were my English teachers. I was one of those kids who fell through the cracks; I was even put into a remedial program in middle and high school. The issue was that I wasn’t challenged and I had a creative mind that went unstimulated. My English teachers got it though; they saw I could write creatively and analyze literature, so they always encouraged me. I’m grateful to them.

When and where do you write? 

I’m an adjunct professor, which means my schedule changes every semester. Moreover, depending on the week, I may have hundreds of papers to grade, so this means I have to manage my time despite the fact that my schedule constantly shifts. Each week, I make myself a schedule blocking out at least two hours every day to write, and fitting the rest of my daily tasks around it, including the activities I don’t want to miss but aren’t “required,” like yoga. For the most part, I stick to it. I also try to get the writing in first; this helps me psychologically because it confirms my commitment to the work and I’m also more apt to get it done.

I’d like to be exciting and write in cafés or other sexy spots, but no. I just sit at my kitchen table. Firstly, I get very distracted by other people; I wonder who they are and listen in on their conversations. I can’t help it – people interest me. Secondly, I’m often pressed for time so it’s easy to just sit down and do it at home. I’ve recently moved apartments and thought I’d set up a little writing nook in the new place but I’m still writing at the kitchen table.

What are you working on now? 

I’m working on my next novel, which is about a love triangle. I’m afraid to say more about it because I’m at that delicate moment when I realize I’m trying to construct a plot and perhaps even convey an idea that might be tough to pull off. If I can’t do it, I wouldn’t want people to have expectations. I’m loving it though and putting in the work. I hope I can achieve what I’m envisioning.

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block? 

I’ve never really been blocked though there have been times when I just couldn’t fit the writing in, and I’ll admit, I’ve highly resented those moments. I try to sit down and do as much as I can, even if it’s for twenty minutes, even if it’s just doing research on character or some aspect of the world I’m building.

I do have a tip for writer’s block. Whenever I feel momentarily stuck, I go to my bookshelf and grab a book, sometimes a book of poetry, and page through looking for lines that stir something in me. Often, I’ll find a line that starts my engine running so I can sit back down and keep going.

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

Just write. But to me, this doesn’t simply mean, “write the next thing” or “keep going.” What this means to me is keep working on craft. Read others’ books, read poetry, listen to music, learn about the art of fiction itself, watch movies and television shows to understand different approaches to storytelling. This also means listening when people are giving you feedback, and in fact, reaching out to people for feedback. Devote yourself to improving your craft, which will not only help you get published, but will also help make the process of writing easier and more enjoyable.

What’s your advice to new writers?

My advice is similar to the advice I’ve been given in the question above. What I also might add is to understand that publishing is a business as well as a place to appreciate art and ideas. So, if the market doesn’t embrace your work or aspects of your work immediately, this isn’t necessarily an indication of its quality. Keep working at it. Don’t give up.

Laura Warrell is a graduate of the Creative Writing Program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has attended residencies at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference and the Tin House Writer's Workshop, and she has taught Creative Writing and Literature through the Emerging Voices program at PEN America Los Angeles, at Writing Workshops Los Angeles, and at academic institutions in Los Angeles and Boston. She currently writes and teaches in Los Angeles. Her writing has been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Huffington Post, The Rumpus, The Writer, and Post Road Magazine. Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm is her first novel.