Interview: Chana Porter

I want everyone to read Chana Porter’s debut novel, The Seep. (If you haven’t done so, do it now; I’ll wait.)

The Seep is one of the strangest books I’ve ever read; it’s also one of the most beautiful, and one that I have not stopped thinking about. It’s a lush, deeply moving, weird science-fiction novel that tackles themes of love and loss, community and alienation, grief and acceptance. And when I say it’s beautiful, I’m not just talking about the story itself—I’m also talking about Chana’s poetic prose, which practically sparkles on every page. Hands down, it’s my favorite book published last year. It’s awesome.

And Chana, herself, is just as awesome: not only is she an incredible fiction writer, but she’s also an accomplished playwright and teacher, as well as the co-founder of The Octavia Project—a free, Brooklyn-based STEM and fiction-writing program for teenage girls and non-binary youth.

She is currently working on her next novel, and graciously took time away from her writing to answer the following questions:

What is your personal writing process like?

I'm someone who writes across several genres, so my approach varies depending on the project. So, if I'm writing a speculative fiction novel that requires deep world-building, I like to start by writing down all my world-building ideas on little notecards—culture, climate, plant and animal life, religion, ritual, architecture, art and media, major historical turning points, etc. When I have 70ish notecards, I know enough about the world to start writing. 

For the actual writing, I always begin with paper and pen (this is true for my plays, and short stories, too.) Try to start with an open mind, beginner's mind. What is this character trying to tell me? What does she have to say? Then I try to amass a bulk of text in a notebook before typing up my notebook pages. This part of the process can take weeks or months. As I type, I notice huge gaps that need to be explored. Sometimes a character will reference something and this will need to be a scene, or a chapter, or switch to another character's point of view. The notebook pages are like the skeleton of the manuscript. Then I begin to build the flesh on top. 

For me, writing is as much rewriting. I rewrite a novel for a couple of years. I'm finishing my second novel now, and I’ve started taking notes on a third. My second novel is much longer than The Seep, with shifting points of view. I began it in 2016. I used to show my work to people (friends, my agent, etc) right when I thought it was finished. Now I stick it back in the drawer and wait another 2-3 months. Then I look at it again, rewrite it again, then send it out. While a project is in the drawer, I work on other things—plays, short stories, etc. This way, I'm always writing but never pushing something out before it's ready. 

I have an awesome agent, Sarah Bolling from The Gernert Company who is also a great editor. She and a few trusted friends, including a small writing group, give me notes. 

How big a part does reading play in your writing life?

I'm a reader, and have been since I was a young child. I'm also a person who stutters, which I'm very comfortable with now, but as a child and a teenager, I found a lot of refuge in reading and writing, as verbal communication was sometimes fraught for me. I'm always reading 1-3 different books at a time—some people read way more than me, but that's about as much as I can manage. I also go through phases. Sometimes I'll be in a voracious novel reading mode, reading a few novels in a month. When I'm deeply working on my own novel, like in a big revision process, I tend to read nonfiction or poetry or articles. It's very hard for me to enjoy fiction when I'm doing deep revisions—I'm too critical of every choice, I pick everyone apart. It's no fun. When I find a writer I really like with a big body of work, I try to read all of their works, like James Baldwin or Toni Morrison. I'm currently doing this with Sarah Schulman and Magda Szabó. It's fun to see how a writer circles back to motifs, or develops ideas across books and through time. I suggest this to anyone who wants to be a writer—find a great writer and read all of their work. Oh, and read classic literature and as much writing from other countries as you can! There are stunning books just coming to the US now in translation, some 50 years old. There is so much fine writing out there. 

How do you cultivate your ideas?

Because I work so much with my subconscious mind, saying Yes to whatever comes, I've had to use a lot of trial and error in order to sift through my ideas. When you turn the faucet of creativity on and really allow things to flow, lots of ideas come. This means I do not suffer from writer's block. If anything, my challenge is around the opposite. What is a necessary idea? What is the project for this moment? Sometimes a very fine idea comes to me, like for a romantic comedy or a period drama, and I have to sit with it and say, Hey, if the world was ending in a year, is this what I would choose to write? Sometimes, it's not. Then I let it go back into the great void of good ideas, and hopefully, it will float down to someone else who wants to nurture it. There is a finite amount of time. I don't need to commit to every idea that comes my way. 

As I said, I write many different things—plays, opera and musical libretto, novels. I'm currently experimenting with TV and film arcs. I'm writing an opera with a great composer. So sometimes an idea comes and I don't know if she's a short story, a play idea, a future novel, or something just to write down on a notecard and save for a rainy day. 

I used to work with a dry erase board and sticky notes, but that got too cumbersome. Now I use an old-fashioned phone Rolodex. I store all my ideas in there on notecards—little ones, big ones. On each card, I suggest a genre (short story? film idea? musical? etc.) but I commit to the question mark. Deciding what something is before it has the chance to grow and develop can cut your project off at the knees. Some of these ideas will never get made. Some of them will fold into each other, become something else. And some of them are my future big works. I just have to work to stay open and keep listening. 

How do you get "unstuck" creatively?

I have the confidence now to put something in a drawer and walk away. This has been one of my big lessons over the last 5 or so years. I didn't feel like I was a "real" writer when I was younger if I didn't bang my head against a desk. The stereotype of the writer surrounded by crumpled up pieces of paper. I don't do that anymore. I take a walk, take a break. I give myself space to think about it. Meditation is a big part of my life and I think a very good practice to develop for anyone. It helps me be more comfortable with uncertainty and vulnerability. That's what writer's block is- it's fear, fear it's not good enough, fear your ideas are trash, fear of being exposed, etc. Focus less on the outcome and more on the process. The process is joyous, and wonky, and above all, a self-reflection. The creative process is about relating to your own mind. It's a discovery process. That's so beautiful! 

For example, sometimes I teach writing, mostly to college students. They often love my free writing exercises, but get frustrated or even frightened when we apply those same principles to their work-in-progress. They feel like all their careful planning is floating away because their characters are now running around the room in different directions than what they had planned out. But you cannot be married to your outline, or your first idea, or what you imagine the story to be. You have to be brave to allow your work to speak back to you. That's where the good stuff lives, in the unknown. 

What's your "go-to" piece of writing advice?

First draft: Write quickly in a notebook. Leave the computer until later—typing up your handwritten pages is an amazing rewriting space! Generative writing and editing/revision are different processes. Say Yes to the unexpected, and then get meticulous and critical in subsequent phases. I believe most great writing comes from rewriting, but don't rush through the discovery process. There's gold there. 

I also don't believe in intense storyboarding or outlining. The closest I'll come to an outline is to write a treatment for a novel—a few pages where I describe the major events, the major character arcs. But in my experience, if I do this too completely, it takes the joy out of writing, turning it into a fill in the blank exercise. Your characters need space to prowl around and surprise you. 

What story or book or poem inspired you to become a writer?

No one piece in particular. My father read my brother and me poetry and children's books at bedtime and those stories are more vividly with me now than any 90s sitcom I watched (of which there were many.) It's so simple and yet so powerful, crafting stories from words. The space for the reader to imagine, like a collaborator, instead of a passive watcher. I have always been captivated by that activation. 

Where can people find you and your work online?

The Seep, my debut novel, came out in paperback December 9th, 2020! I highly suggest ordering it from BookShop, which connects you to your local bookstore. Our bookstores need us right now—shop small! 

www.chanaporter.com is my website. I'm also on Instagram (mostly food, books, and pictures of my dog) and Twitter.