Years ago, after I graduated from UC Santa Cruz, I couldn’t write because my editor voice seemed to be in overdrive. I would start a sentence and somehow end up with a page filled with words that were neatly crossed out.
I decided I needed to approach writing with more playfulness. I completed exercises by Keri Smith, Natalie Goldberg, Lynda Barry and Miranda July. I relied heavily on Lynda Barry’s What It Is and completed several Learning to Love You More exercises.
Not too long ago, I wondered if my writing phase was coming to a close. I call writing a phase—albeit a long one—because I’m open to the fact that one day I may not write. One day I may just stop being a writer. Everything changes, after all.
Of course just because I’m open to the idea doesn’t mean I welcome it. When I thought I might be done with writing, I embarked on a very long interview project. When I transcribed and edited an interview, I felt close to language and its rhythms. My project was a way of holding on.
Speaking of interviews, KCRW interviews L.A.-based Michelle Meyering, who was listed as one of The LA Times “Faces to Watch” in 2013. Speaking of The LA Times, read what Michelle Tea and Andi Mudd have to say about Mermaid in Chelsea Creek.
At some point, I realized my relationship with writing wasn’t over and continued to conduct interviews anyway. Interviewing people is an opportunity for me to shut up and listen, and I still have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to interviews. I’m just learning as I go.
In many ways, I consider Jory John to be my interview mentor. I’ve never told him this because I fear he will say, Z-town, I am not your mentor. Jory has a lot more experience than I do with conducting interviews. He takes them seriously, even when he interviews people who are funny. I’m sure you read all his interviews on The Rumpus. He’s also brilliant, which is a good thing for a mentor to be.
Because of Jory’s recommendations, I’ve read The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers and All I Did Was Ask. When I was in San Francisco last week, I saw him and added The Art of the Interview to my list and asked him a few questions about his interview process.
We went to Viracocha on Valencia Street and the store felt like it could be a cabin in the woods, especially the lending library. The man who worked in the lending library, sat there, reading comfortably in what looked like a reading nook. I imagined we were not in a store in the city but in a cabin in the woods. This man was reading in his cabin and when we left, he would open the door and go on a hike where the air smelled like pine.
We talked with the man about books. We discussed Dave Eggers, Joan Didion and F. Scott Fitzgerald. I recommended they read The Crack-Up but had trouble telling them about the book because they were very articulate, providing beautiful summaries of Didion and Eggers, as if summarizing stories you love were the easiest thing in the world.
When I talk, it can be hard to follow along. Years ago, when I saw Cat Power in this interview, I felt as though I were watching someone who talked in a similar way as I did. I just told them The Crack-Up was a collection of personal essays. I paused and they seemed to be waiting for more. So you should read it, I said.
When The Rumpus published mini-interviews, I really enjoyed them. The mini-interview seems a playful, new and challenging way to approach the form. I also am interested in flash fiction, so mini-interviews seem to fit right into that interest. Every so often on Saturdays, I’ll publish mini-interviews, conducted by various writers. This Saturday, Sara Finnerty interviewed her grandmother.
