Matter of Craft with Nada Alic
In this installment of Master of Craft, I had the pleasure of chatting with Nada Alic, author of the story collection, Bad Thoughts, via email about writing routines, her favorite pieces of craft advice, and carving a path as a debut author.
What first sparked the idea for Bad Thoughts?
I’d been writing short stories for years and putting them out as zines with my best friend who is a painter and visual artist. Somehow a copy got into the hands of my now-agent who reached out to me in 2016 and encouraged me to pursue writing more seriously. Years passed before I really went for it, but I always knew I wanted to write a story collection. There’s always extra weight with the first book because you’re not just aspiring to write a book, you’re aspiring to be a writer. Your creative project becomes a portal to a new identity, it’s a lot to hold inside yourself. I didn’t know what it would be or look like, I just focused on writing as many stories as I could and eventually they took shape and became Bad Thoughts.
What did your writing routine look like when writing Bad Thoughts? Can you take us through a day in the life? Has your process changed since you've been working on your novel?
It took a lot of trial and error to find my rhythm. I’d had an office job for years prior, so the muscle memory of waking up, commuting, emails and meetings took a while to shed. Early on, I spent a few months renting different office spaces with an illustrator friend of mine; one of which was just a garage in some guy’s backyard with no AC or bathroom so we had to go into his house to use the bathroom and bring our own toilet paper! Eventually I figured out that I couldn’t share a creative space and needed solitude. I started working from home at that point so most days I’d get up, make coffee, read for a bit then write for 2-4 hours in bed, then around 3pm I’d go for a run, shower and in the evenings I’d make dinner or see friends. That sounds peaceful, but every writer knows that is actually a very hardcore and punishing routine. Ha! The process hasn’t changed much since, although I got a standing desk in June that is still sitting in boxes because I refuse to build it, but a new life awaits me once I do.
What is your favorite piece (or pieces) of craft advice that you've received?
My friend Allie Rowbottom recommended “Self-Editing for Fiction Writers” and it’s one of the best and most useful craft books I’ve ever read. I need to re-read it a couple of times a year to remind myself. Otherwise, the most useful piece of advice I’ve gotten is a little cliche but just to allow yourself to write an ugly first draft and not look at it as an indication that you suck and will always suck. Also reading out loud is the best editing trick. You can instantly hear when a sentence is too long or sounds off.
How long did it take you to write Bad Thoughts? Did you work solely on the book or did you take breaks to work on other things?
It took me two and a half years to write it, then another year to edit it after I sold it. I really didn’t work on anything else during that time, but I put a lot of energy into learning how to be a writer, which included doing readings, applying for residencies, grants, contests, freelancing, reading, starting a writing group, befriending writers and attending workshops. Writing the book was part of a bigger lifestyle/identity shift for me that included a lot of things to support that besides sitting down and writing.
I was listening to you speak on Brad Listi's Otherppl Podcast about how you saved up money to quit your job to work on writing full time. That's amazing! How did that process work for you and what were some of the emotional and practical adjustments you had to make?
Yes! At the end of 2018 I quit my job to write full time. It’s not that I had delusional confidence that things would work out. I felt very much the opposite. But I do that sometimes; I just have to run into my worst fear and get it over with. It wasn’t an impulsive move though, it took me a year to save up enough money to give myself a few months to focus on writing (I naively thought I only needed three months.) I’d been busy working for almost a decade, operating in a kind of survival mode loop and when I slowed down I had to face a lot of the emotional stuff I’d be repressing or neglecting. Meanwhile I was trying to maintain my steady machine-like productivity that worked so reliably in my past life. My nervous system was not prepared for such an abrupt lifestyle shift. It’s like when you’re in a really busy season of your life and the moment you slow down and rest, you suddenly get sick. I started experiencing all these weird, mysterious health issues and felt very mentally blocked for months. I really resented it at the time, but I had to get lost in it, feel hopeless and slowly loosen my grip on how I thought it was going to be to be open to how it was. The whole thing was a real hero’s journey for me.
What was your editing and revision process with Bad Thoughts? Are you an edit as you write person, or do you just get everything down and then go back with revisions? Also, how hands on was your agent with revisions before the book went out on submission?
I write in a very painstaking way where I edit as I go. When I return to a piece, I always start from the beginning. It’s not the most efficient approach, I know, but so much of writing feels like performance to me and requires a certain posture or persona while I’m doing it. I pay attention to the rhythm of the sentences, the pacing, the voice. Stream of consciousness writing feels too raw and chaotic for me even though I know it functions as an intuitive channel where all good ideas flow from.
Once I had something resembling a manuscript, I hired Hannah Beresford as a freelance editor to help me shape it before I sent it to my agent. She worked with me for a few months and was enormously helpful. I highly recommend her. I sent it to my agent after that who luckily didn’t have a ton of structural changes for me because she really just trusted me and wanted to maintain my voice and also knew how intense I already was about it, having quit my job, quietly written the collection, and hired an editor before sharing it with her.
Would you be able to talk a little bit about what your new novel is about? I'm so looking forward to what's next for you.
Yes! It’s about intergenerational trauma, performance art, revenge, memories, and a children’s dance troupe. I was watching Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal the other day and realized there are so many similarities between that show in my book, if that tells you anything.
As a debut author, what advice do you have for aspiring writers? What advice did you hold on to throughout your process that helped you?
The process of writing your first book is so long and difficult and boring that you have to consciously decide that it’s the most important thing in the world. You have to be intense and dramatic about it. You’re up against so many forces, both internal and external, that are either actively working against you or indifferent to you, so you need to have a religious devotion to your work and trick yourself into thinking it’s a worthwhile endeavor. You must maintain some kind of romance with it. Believing in something you cannot see yet is not for the faint of heart or the cynical or the fearful. Guard it, make space for it, and treat it with deep reverence and care. It will do the same for you.
NADA ALIC is the author of Bad Thoughts and a forthcoming novel. Her story "The Intruder" was shortlisted for the CBC Short Fiction Prize 2019, "My New Life" was published in No Tokens Journal. She lives in Los Angeles.
About the Interviewer
Barrie Miskin is a teacher and writer whose work has appeared in Hobart, Narratively and elsewhere. She recently completed her first book, HELL GATE BRIDGE, a memoir of her journey through maternal mental illness. Barrie lives in Queens, New York with her husband and daughter.
