Ask the Author: Alexander Chee
Answered Questions (4)
Alexander Chee
I don't know that more age would have improved his views. He had many opportunities to realize this. He was determined to remain as he was. If there's a tragedy, it is that he created so much pain and cruelty in his lifetime, and that he had every opportunity to make it right and took none of them.
Alexander Chee
When, at an event, a stranger thanks you, with great feeling, for writing the novel you wrote, and you can tell it means more to them than they can say, and this, in turn, means more to me than I can say.
Alexander Chee
Inspirations for fiction usually come to me out of what I think are interesting problems to have, perhaps even impossible ones. But I find I have to be inspired to do the other things more. For example, as I write this, I need to exercise, make coffee, make breakfast, all of that. Left to my own devices I would just write all the time. I'm always pushing the limit of that, of how long I can work. I know I need to do the other things, though, and so I try to schedule it all.
Alexander Chee
For me, writer's block means I've somehow rejected my own ideas as improbable, or unacceptable, or otherwise unthinkable. And so to deal with it I have to deal with why that is. Like many people, I have the belief that keeping myself silent in certain situations will make me invisible or will somehow protect me. When I want to silence myself, I fear myself. So I move toward the block that way: what do I fear will happen if I write this? Is that an honest fear or a dishonest one? The problem with having an imagination is that you can scare yourself out of your whole life if you're not careful. You can imagine a story or imagine yourself as a failure--both are stories, only one can be published. The other is you, blocking the door to your own life.
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