Interview: Jessica McHugh
Jessica McHugh is another writer whose work I found via the Twitter #WritingCommunity. A horror author I follow had tweeted about A Complex Accident of Life, Jessica’s newly released book of blackout poetry inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Since Frankenstein is one of my favorite novels, and I was curious about what, exactly, blackout poetry was, I checked it out—and I was blown away.
For the uninitiated (as I was before coming across Jessica’s work), blackout poetry is a form of poetry where the poet takes a piece of writing (in this case, Frankenstein) and then blacks out portions of the text to create a new piece of poetry from the words that are left. But Jessica takes it a step further—she creates these incredibly colorful pages of scribbles and designs with her blackouts AND a new poem from the words she leaves uncolored. It’s absolutely beautiful the way her art and her poetry come together to create something wholly unique and new.
Besides her blackout poetry, Jessica also writes short stories, novels, and plays; her plays have been produced internationally, and she’s had twenty-four (!) books published in the last twelve years. Jessica is currently hard at work editing not one but TWO novels she completed during NaNoWriMo 2020, and has graciously taken time away from her projects to answer the following questions:
What is your personal writing process like?
It's changed a lot over the years, and of course, the processes vary when it comes to novels, short stories, and poetry, but for the most part, I follow the Hemingway philosophy of “Write drunk, edit sober,” which means I write first drafts with wild abandon, usually by hand, and edit honestly and unmercifully based on what's best for the story and its flow. Because I also write flash fiction, I focus on word economy during editing so my stories are as strong and tight as they can be...because as you can see in my answer to this question, I ramble on quite a bit.
How big a part does reading play in your writing life?
I try to read a little fiction or poetry every day so the words bouncing around my brain aren’t mine alone. That’s why I’m so into anthologies these days. It’s easier for me to consume short stories when I’m working on big projects, and anthologies allow me to experience all sorts of voices and glean a bunch of different inspirado.
How do you cultivate your ideas?
Brainstorming a new story is my favorite part of being a writer. When I get a seed of an idea, I bust out a notebook and pen and go absolutely nuts on it. There's really no rhyme or reason to it—it's basically just word vomit—but within the mess, there are hidden gems that I then search out, magnify, and use to build a story. I discuss ideas with my husband a lot, too. He’s really great at seeing the things I might’ve missed while looking at the big picture.
How do you get "unstuck" creatively?
Two ways: I either work on a different project (and that includes editing or typing up handwritten material on the “stuck” project), or I change my physical location. The latter could be moving to a different room or venturing out to a bar to write, or something as simple as taking a shower...where I personally have a waterproof notepad called Aquanotes. Both methods help reset my brain and allow me to refocus.
What's your "go-to" piece of writing advice?
I guess I already gave that away, huh? Hemingway’s “Write drunk, edit sober” is a wonderful bit of advice if you don’t take it literally. Although, I suppose you could! I’m also a big fan of Louis L’Amour’s quote, “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” I used to write it on the board at the beginning of each trimester when I taught creative writing workshops for teens. You’d be surprised how quickly productivity can come when you gag your inner critic and just start writing.
What story or book or poem inspired you to become a writer?
I think my biggest inspirational pieces were The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, which made me fall in love with wordplay, Roald Dahl’s twisted short stories, especially his collection Skin, which planted in me a desire to make people shiver and squirm with my words, and Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, which made me want to write lyrically and make people’s minds dance while they read.
Where can people find you and your work online?
I’m on Instagram and Twitter, where I post excerpts and pics, and my website has all kinds of fun links and blackout poetry for sale. I also have a Patreon page with a tier that gets you one of my blackout poems snail-mailed every month! I have an Amazon page with tons of my work as well, but I highly encourage folks to visit the awesome small presses that have published me instead, like Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing, Raw Dog Screaming Press, Evolved Publishing, Unnerving Press, Apokrupha Publishing, and Forbidden Futures Magazine, to name a few.
