Autumn Pop-Up Issue – Prompted Stories

Following the launch of each of our issues, we cajole one or more of the contributors into a mini interview with the Trash Cat.
Here they will reveal some writing wisdom and tell you what trash critter they identify with most. Important stuff like that.

Today, we have Laura Nagle. You can read and listen to her contemporary ghost tale HERE – inspired by the prompts: During a Building Remodel, a Ghost, an Unwanted Gift.

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Q: What piece of writing advice/ crafting rule would you trash?

A: I’ve tried following several variations on the advice that a writer must write every day, and all of them backfired. Instead of becoming more productive, I’d get angry with myself for not showing up to my desk on time, or I’d stay up too late trying to hit an arbitrary word count. Now my daily goal is to do something that helps me be a writer. It’s great when that takes the form of drafting new words or revising or researching, but some days the best option is to let my mind wander for a while or to prioritize sleep, because I don’t like the writing I produce when I’m stressed out and tired.

Q: Which writers and magazines do you go to to find treasure to read?

A: I love authors who work in multiple genres, especially those who are equally adept at writing contemporary and historical settings or who blend realism with speculative elements: Alice Hoffman, Kazuo Ishiguro, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Vauhini Vara… In particular, if Chang-rae Lee writes it, I will read it. When it comes to short-form treasures, I love being introduced to new writers through online lit mags, and I’m a long-time subscriber to a few print magazines here in the United States, like The Southern Review, The Kenyon Review, and AGNI.

Q: What trash animal do you most identify with?

A: Like an indoor cat, I value peace and quiet, cozy blankets, and access to cheese. 

Q: When your writing mojo is trashed, how do you recharge?

A: Because I both write and translate, I’m always juggling multiple projects, and shifting my attention among them helps keep me from throwing in the towel on any of them. When I change gears between writing and translation, or between drafting and revising, I get some healthy distance from whatever was making me feel stuck.

Q: If you could offer three tips to writing short treasures, what would they be?

A:
1. Play with time and pacing. See if you can tell someone’s life story in 100 words or make a split second last for 1000.

2. Read aloud to yourself and to anyone who will listen, both while revising and once a piece is finished. At open mics or group readings, there’s something truly satisfying about sharing a complete story that is short enough to fit within the time limit.

3. In at least one draft, make a choice that feels out of character for you as a writer. If you love writing dialogue, try doing without; if you think dialogue is your weakness, write a draft that is 100% dialogue. Try out a point of view you typically avoid. What’s the worst that can happen? 
When you’re writing flash, you’re not making a long-term commitment to a particular story, so it’s an ideal space for experimentation.

Q: What is one thing, if spotted in a crowded charity shop/thrift store, you would just have to buy

A: I have accumulated more pairs of earrings than I consider reasonable, and I try to resist adding to the collection. But I recently came upon an adorable mismatched pair – a cat and a ball of yarn – and what was I supposed to do, walk away without them?

Laura Nagle’s short fiction has recently appeared in North American Review, The Common, and Stanchion. She is the translator of Prosper Mérimée’s 1827 hoax, Songs for the Gusle, and of Confidences, a novel by the Bolivian poet Adela Zamudio forthcoming from Bucknell University Press. She lives in Indiana and shares her home with two cats of the non-trash variety.