Who are you?
Anya Gillinson, Attorney, Author
What do you write?
Poetry in Russian
Just completed my first non-fiction memoir, Dreaming in Russian (in English).
The obvious answer is yes, otherwise why do it? It carries me into the world I left behind the world I miss, it makes me recall thing I thought I had forgotten; it forces me to think.
There are aspects of it I resent, and that’s discipline. Most writing, especially when it has to do with non-fiction, has little to do with inspiration. It’s just about routine, it’s tedious, slow going. With workouts the most difficult thing is to start, but with writing, very often it is hard all the way through. You must keep your focus. And if you are lucky to feel inspired, you better hope you can cease that inspiration.
Where do you write?
I write at home, my only tool is my laptop. I get distracted very easily, so I do need absolute peace and quiet. I never work of an outline. Once I generally know what I am going to write about, I write. Probably not the best approach, but this is how I get all my ideas out on paper.
When do you write?
Mornings, early afternoons…. Something negative happens to both my inspiration and my work ethic in the evening hours.
As I said earlier, I usually begin in the morning and try and work for at least three-four hours straight … afterwards I take a break, and then work some more but not with the same intensity.
With the book I had just finished I did have deadlines for each chapter I would write , especially at the beginning. It was my first experience with writing a prose, a memoir. I needed to structure it, to create order, to create a certain flow.
Why do you write?
It is not an easy question to answer, actually. I write because it justifies my inner drama; because what the writing process does, it creates a certain order.
It allows me to think better and be more provocative with myself, with my thinking. It forces questions to which on most occasions I have no immediate answers, and sometimes no answers at all.
It also gives me significance.
How do you overcome writer's block?
Just work through it. I mean, of course, sometimes I do send everything to hell, and simply refuse to do anything, and just resolve not to approach my writings, but then in a day, two or three, my obsessive nature either gets the best or the worst of me and I start again. Little by little, small steps. It’s work. Sometimes, or even most of the time, there is very little room for inspiration in writing, no point just waiting for it; it may come and visit you suddenly while you are plunging through some tedious, boring passage.
There are times when I don’t overcome it. Then I just angry and wait.
Bonus: What do you enjoy doing when not writing?
Probably having the freedom and flexibility to do everything else other than writing. I am a moody person, and I don’t have set hobbies and things like that, but I do have certain set routines that have nothing to do with writing. These routines keep my moodiness in check. On the other hand I love the freedom to do whatever I want to do at any given moment and to have nothing interfere with it, from eating ice-cream to watching the news.
My thanks to Anya Gillinson for today's interview.