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So much of what we need to learn as writers, however, can only be learned by putting yourself out there and making mistakes. I tell rising writers to be relentless and to have a good sense of where to send your work. I write and revise closer to 95% of the time now because I don't have to submit as often. I used to write about 80% of the time and spend the rest of the time revising and trying to get my work out into the world. Everything I write gets published eventually.” How do you split your time between composing, revising, and submitting? What advice would you give to other writers who would like to achieve such success? In a recent interview you mentioned, “Duotrope tells me that 19.67% of my submissions are accepted.
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SR: Your fiction and nonfiction are widely published. I love how by reading other writers I get to feel like I'm part of something bigger than myself. RG: I'm constantly learning from other writers by reading how they use language and take risks and tell absorbing stories. SR: How have other writers influenced your process? What is some specific advice another writer has given to you that has changed the way you look at writing? I love the power of imagination and how I can step away from the real world and write new worlds as I would like them to be. RG: I've loved writing stories as long as I can remember. SR: What made you want to become a writer? The inspiration behind this story was the history of the Massacre River and so I began with that event and imagined what it would be like to flee the Dominican Republic and how that might shape the course of a family's life. RG: "In the Manner of Water or Light" is entirely fictional. What is your relationship to the characters in the story? What was the inspiration behind them? SR: I loved the dynamic between grandmother, mother, and daughter in “In the Manner of Water or Light,” and their return to the river where family ties, culture, memory, and truth collide. RG: My favorite story in Ayiti is probably "In the Manner of Water or Light." My favorite to write was "You Never Knew How the Waters Ran So Cruel So Deep," because I was playing with form and narrative and really enjoyed giving into the experiment. SR: What is your favorite story in Ayiti? Which was your favorite to write? I used this process for Mireille in An Untamed State and I guess I was so immersed in her that there was a novel there, demanding to be written. I day dream as that character and try to inhabit them as much as possible until I feel like I know that character well enough to write their story. RG: When I'm developing a character I try to immerse myself in that character's mindset. SR: Your upcoming novel An Untamed State is based on your short story “Things I Know About Fairy Tales.” In an interview with Kimbilio, you state that the main character “just wouldn’t get out of my head so I wrote her story until it was done being written.” Could you describe the process you typically use for developing characters? How did this example differ? What the reader brings to the book is something I can't control or negotiate. RG: I wrote the pieces in Ayiti in the ways I felt they needed to be written, and to reveal, I hope, a more nuanced perspective on Haiti. How do you negotiate revealing a different truth to your readers than what they might be accustomed to? SR: Ayiti depicts a perspective of Haiti and Haitian culture that is very different from American expectations. Roxane Gay: I don't necessarily want my readers to be uncomfortable to the point of distress but I do want to challenge readers and make them feel and think in ways that aren't gratuitous or harmful to the reader. To what extent do you want your readers to share in this discomfort? Superstition Review: In an interview with Paperdarts, you mention that you like to “go there” in your writing, and that you try to make yourself uncomfortable. Her responses in this interview demonstrate this same voice and directness.” In this interview, she discusses immersing herself in her characters, her experience as a writer and editor, and the influence of her students. She truly has a singular voice and a knack for presenting new perspectives to her audiences. Of the process, she said, “I thoroughly enjoyed reading Roxane Gay’s work in preparation for this interview. This interview was conducted via email by Interview Editor Lauren Fosgett. "Be Relentless," An Interview with Roxane Gay