One Woman's Writing Retreat: Interview

Interview

 Eric Shapiro

by Alison Lake

AL:Your book addresses very real-life situations, many of which you can relate to through your own experience with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. What was the process which led you to form your own experiences into a collection of fiction for all the world to read?

ES: After I was diagnosed with OCD, I went out and bought some nonfiction books that explain neurotic illnesses. Some of the books were more helpful than others, but my overall feeling was that too much of the story was missing. When you're dealing with the torment of a diagnosis, you want more than just dry, clinical textbooks that list your symptoms in a cold, detached matter. I read these things and thought, "Yeah, that's true, I have that symptom and that other symptom, but where's the detail?" It was like reading rumors about the illness instead of reading about the illness. So, "Picnic" tries to be an alternative. It's the dramatic, hopefully well-rounded supplement to all the other info that's out there.

AL:What have been some high and low points of your writing career thus far?

ES: There were plenty of lows while I tried to find a publisher. Getting one rejection after another definitely alters your mental landscape. You feel like you're getting beaten up. Since "Picnic" came out, though, there have been lots of highs. Getting encouraging reviews, doing interviews like this one; all of that is fun. Getting e-mail from people who've enjoyed the book. You feel like you're tapped into something.

AL:How did you go about presenting this book to publishers? Did you use an agent?

ES: For anyone trying to sell his or her first book, I recommend sticking with small, independent presses, most of which don't care about agents. The middleman isn't a necessity at that stage of the game. You should just worry about getting your work out there. I basically searched--online and in those big publisher directories you find at bookstores--for publishers that put out short story collections, and I queried them to the extreme. I'm still getting rejections even now while the book's in print.

AL:What did you learn about the publishing industry while working on this book?

ES: I hate to quote somebody like Henry Kissinger, but he said something very perceptive about the publishing industry when he was defending himself against claims made in the movie "Nixon." I don't recall the exact quote, but he said that movies are a difficult force to defend yourself against, because they have such wide visibility that they can seem like the final word on any topic. He then said that books, on the other hand, are easier to fight against, because all you have to do is go out and write another book countering whatever was said about you. That statement is definitely simplified, but the point is that publishing, even though it's very competitive in its own right, can be an accessible, down-to-earth universe.

The industry is built to process voices of all sizes, from all backgrounds. That accessibility was surprising to me, because most artistic industries can't uphold their mythic aspects and remain approachable, but publishing seems to do so.

AL:After writing Short of a Picnic, what can you say you enjoy about screenwriting versus fictional prose?

ES: Screenwriting can make a prose writer lazy, because it's all shorthand, and the descriptive passages don't have to be beautifully composed, they just have to be functional and efficient. So, screenwriting generally moves faster, because your artistry goes mostly into dialogue, character, and narrative. Fictional prose has to be holistically well-nurtured. Every word is vital to the final product, unlike in a screenplay, which is only a skeleton of the final product. So, I'd say that fiction writing is more draining, because there's more outright attention to detail, and that screenplay writing is more fun. But screenplay writing is ultimately less rewarding, I think, unless you're directing the movie.

AL:What are your personal reading interests?

ES: It varies. I play weird games with myself where if I find an author that I enjoy, I become hesitant to follow his or her work because I want to save it for later. I'm always neurotically trying to stock up on great writers, rather than devouring them on the spot. That turns me into a big-time sampler. I love Denis Johnson, Chuck Palahniuk, Bret Easton Ellis, JG Ballard, and, in ways too ridiculous to describe, Raymond Carver. I'm especially saving up Carver because he wrote so few books. I've only read three of them. Have to pace myself.

AL:Please describe your usual writing routine. What is the evolution of each project, and how do you accomplish the writing day by day?

ES: I find writing to be very depleting, so it would be impossible for me to write all the time. I'm move more in cycles. I dive wholeheartedly into a project for a couple of months, then I take six months off, then dive again.

I sincerely can't understand authors who put out one or two books a year. Not that I hold it against them; I just couldn't spend so much time locked up inside my own head, thinking of dialogue and detail and semicolons. It's noisy. You get worn out.

AL:What function does writing serve in your life?

ES: Writing has a terrific way of organizing the chaos of your inner world. Even though I complain that the act of writing can be noisy and exhausting, the result is well worth it. While you're writing, you're in there with all the chaos, but once it's outside of you, on the page, and you've sharpened and revised everything, it's a good feeling. The medium helps me to bind and preserve any number of thoughts and emotions.

AL:What advice would you offer to aspiring screenplay writers? And to writers of short stories?

ES: I hate to line up behind a cliché, but it's all about persistence. I know so many talented people, especially here in L.A., who have endless gifts but are terrified of failure and rejection. Unless you're very lucky, you can't get around the rejection part. Just walk into the flames; there's no other way. That applies not only to selling your work, but also to developing your skills. Put your work out there, get criticized, take blows; keep the whole machine in motion.

AL:What project are you working on right now?

ES: A kind-of sequel to "Picnic." It's a short story collection about people on drugs.

AL:At your young age, where do you see your writing career moving in the future? What are some dreams and goals you have for future projects?

ES: It's all about building a body of work. Whether that body of work stays beneath the prose umbrella or branches out to screenwriting remains to be seen; I'd be happy either way. It's a business of communication. I just want to make noise.

 Relevant Links:

Book Review, SHORT OF A PICNIC, by Jillian Leslie.
An Interview with Jillian Leslie at Everyday Warriors with questions concerning the mental health issues described in the book.
It's Only Temporary book review by Lisa Hannon.
It's Only Temporary official site.

Mom, Writer

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