This month's guest editor, Rachel Khong, is celebrating the release of her paperback version of Goodbye, Vitamin, one of the best books of 2017. Now she's sitting down with She Writes to share her thoughts on writing routines, women in publishing and advice for aspiring authors.
Describe your writing routine.
My writing routine has looked very different at different times in my life, usually depending on the circumstances at the time. When I was an editor at Lucky Peach magazine, I wrote whenever I could—usually mornings before work, or weekends, or on “vacations.” These days, I have more flexibility. When I have my mornings I get a cup of coffee at my favorite local cafe, one that doesn’t have internet, and start with writing longhand in a notebook. I recently read The Artist’s Way for the first time, so I’m trying “morning pages”—writing three pages longhand, before moving on to writing on my laptop. They’re meant to be unselfconscious pages that just get your creativity flowing. Those notebook pages are garbage that I’ll never show anyone, but it’s helped me, at least, so far, not to feel so self conscious about what I’m writing. For accountability, I email whatever I’ve written to two writer friends, Reese and Colin; they email me what they’ve written for the day too, even if it’s just a few sentences.
When was the moment you started to feel like a writer?
I have wanted to be a writer for as long as I’ve been a reader, but remember all too well that feeling of being afraid to call myself a writer. As a kid, I wrote secret short stories; I wrote sequels to my favorite books and movies; I wrote in my diary. But that was all in secret. I remember wondering, at what point could I “officially” be called a writer? Was it after I published my first short story? Or after my first novel? When I got to high school I joined the literary magazines and newspaper, and wound up publishing—in those magazines and stories—stories and poems that I wrote and finally wasn’t afraid to share. I was still shy about calling myself a writer, but I knew, then, that if I wrote, I was a writer.
What is the number one piece of advice you'd give to aspiring authors?
Read more than you write. This is always the advice I give to writers, and it seems so straightforward, because it is. It’s not an easy or quick answer, or a surefire way to publication; it’s not at all glamorous. But to me it’s a relief. It’s wonderful news, because most likely you got into writing because you read. Reading shapes your thinking, improves your writing. In order to improve your own writing, all you have to do is this thing you already love to do.
Who inspires you?
One of my heroes is Grace Paley, a prose writer of some of my favorite short stories — chatty and always narrated by women — and a relentless antiwar, antiracism activist. What I admire: her uniqueness & singularity. She argued for intersectionality before it was a mainstream thing. One of my favorite quotes of hers: “When you write, you illuminate what’s hidden, and that’s a political act.” She told stories about subjects that “literary” writers often didn’t deem worth writing about — housewives and mothers — so smartly, clearly, succinctly.
Why is it important for women to tell their stories?
Books are supposed to open up our worlds, not only show us one kind of world. It would be boring to read about only one kind of experience, and irresponsible to only highlight a narrow range of voices. So it’s not only important that women and writers of color tell their stories, it’s important we read them. It’s important that we recognize those who are writing well—to publish diverse books and teach them in our schools and recognize their authors with awards. We can shape this industry as readers by buying diverse books, and supporting diverse authors.
