An Interview with Writer Emma Straub
Emma Straub, author of a few books of fiction and a contributing writer to the Paris Review, among other publications, talks about writing with Matty Byloos.
Matty Byloos conducted this interview over a few rounds of email, with writer Emma Straub, who lives and writes in New York. This interview is published in advance of her forthcoming book, Other People We Married.
I don’t remember exactly how, what or when, but several months ago I do recall reading a guest post online at the Big Other blog, written by someone named Emma Straub.
The content or message had something to do with “ritual” and focused on this writer’s process with specific regard to lying down while working. “It started as a necessity—when I moved in with my husband, then my boyfriend, we lived in a studio apartment. There was only room for one real desk, and due to several factors (the size of my husband’s computer, the fact that he makes actual money as a graphic designer, etc.), I downsized to a sewing table that I never once used. For a few days, I tried to write at the kitchen table. No dice….”
I was taken with the words and how carefully they were laid out, and contacted Emma immediately, wanting to know more about her as a writer. And I was not disappointed, to say the least; though several months elapsed between that initial contact and this interview, we both agreed it would be best to “sit down” for an interview over email when her newest book was just about to be released.
Below is the conversation that evolved from that little “sit down” with author Emma Straub.
Matty Byloos: Talk to me about your writing process. Where do stories come from? Are you a write-every-day type of writer? How much of your work comes out of the first draft versus a lot of editing? Any specific behind-the-scenes stories for work that will be in your forthcoming book?
Emma Straub: Stories come from all kinds of place: the obituary section, a conversation that I’m eavesdropping on, straight out of the clear blue sky. When I’m really working on something, I try to write every day, but I have several other jobs, so that doesn’t always happen. I try to write as many days a week as possible, and five days a week is my goal.. Some of the stories in the collection came together after only a draft or two, some took much longer.
Byloos: What advice, single piece or more than that, would you give to a young writer at the pre-MFA stage? If that presents a rub, then drop the MFA element and please just address the young writer in general.
Straub: For me, getting an MFA was a really helpful, fabulous experience, but I know it’s not for everyone. I think one should just write as much as humanly possible. The more words on the page, the better. One must write a lot of drivel before one writes something good, or at least I did. Also, and this is key: if you are going to go to graduate school, go somewhere free. This is a no-brainer.
Byloos: What writer, alive or dead, do you wish you could have had (or could have) as a mentor? Why? Think of this as a — the writer can be your email friend, or a meet-for-tea once a week friend.
Straub: When I was in graduate school, Lorrie Moore was my advisor, and I couldn’t ask for anyone better. Of course, I’d also love to have tea and email dates with Jennifer Egan, Jhumpa Lahiri, Tom Perrotta, and a host of others.
Byloos: Talk to me about 3 or 4 of the most impressive books you read in the past year? How and why did they affect you? If you need to expand the limit beyond the single year, please do so.
Straub: This year, my top tops were Paul Murray’s Skippy Dies, Marcy Dermansky’s Bad Marie, Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. All wild and wonderful.
Byloos: Will you tour for the upcoming book? If so, what kind of a list will you make in terms of “remember to do this” or “rules for touring writers while on the road”? I’m guessing you have toured in the past — maybe there’s a mini-list of things you know to avoid that may be helpful to other writers breaking out on the road this summer and fall.
Straub: I am! My book tour is in the works. There are 12 stories in my book, and they take place in 12 different locations, so I’m trying to get to each one for a reading. I have toured in the past, with the band The Magnetic Fields, but this will be my first book tour. I have kept tour blogs in the past:
Airplanes Donuts Distortion, We Are Having a Hootenanny
So I plan to do that, too. Keep an eye on Other People We Married online!
Byloos: I read in your TNB self interview that you write unique love letters on tiny pink stationary to those kind people who have bought your book(s) in the past. Where did that idea come from? Are you pleased that you started it in the first place? Have you created friendships with any of these people on the receiving end, or is the exercise one of gratitude and meant to start and stop with the pink paper itself?
Straub: I’ve always enjoyed writing letters, love letters in particular, so it really was just my natural response. I was so appreciative that people were buying my book that I felt I needed to do something in return. I have indeed forged friendships with some of the people I wrote love letters to, who were little more than strangers at the time. A love letter is a powerful thing.
Byloos: The work I’ve read of yours so far seems to draw from relationships and their complications. For many writers, this puts us in the role of therapist at times within the text, mining each character’s psychology for something that they may be driven to do or say next. Is this something you agree with, or do you approach stories about relationships from another vantage point? If you buy the notion of the therapeutic, then how do you play that role when pushing through paragraphs of the story?
Straub: Yes, I think I would like readers to analyze what’s happening within the text, and to assume that things are happening beneath the surface. While I certainly don’t go into a story as a therapist, I do think of the psychology of the characters, whether or not they themselves might be aware of it.
Byloos: As a painter, I get asked — How do you know when a painting is finished? — and it’s a merciless question. Very difficult to answer. If you can, take a shot at answering that question as a writer: How do you know when one of your stories is finished?
Straub: Ack! Never! Oh, that’s a hard one. I don’t think things are ever truly finished. Publication? Canonization? Oh, ask me when I’m older.
How’s that?
Byloos and Smalldoggies: That was perfect, thank you Emma and best of luck with the new book!
Emma Straub is from New York City. Her debut story collection Other People We Married, is forthcoming from FiveChapters Books.
Her fiction and non-fiction have been published by The Paris Review Daily, Barrelhouse, The Saint Ann’s Review, Cousin Corinne’s Reminder, and many other journals.
She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband.
From her site: There are twelve stories in Other People We Married, and each story takes place in a different location. Every month for the next year, Emma will read a story in its location, or as close as she can get. Her blog will follow her travels, her snacks, her impulse-buys, and more. For bonus points, send her a photo of OPWM in an exotic locale, and she will post it there, and send you a postcard in return.
Need more current information? Follow Emma on Twitter! Be her friend on Facebook!
Learn more about Emma Straub at her official website here; purchase a copy of her first book Fly Over State here.
(Author Photos courtesy Flatmancrooked, Algonquin Books and Allison Michael Lorenstein in that order.)