OLIVIA BRALEY, AUTHOR OF SOFTENING
The Light Bulb is an interview series by The Lumiere Review. We’ve interviewed several authors of chapbooks to shed some light on the process of finding inspiration, drafting, revising, and publishing a chapbook. We believe in amplifying a diverse range of writers in the ever-expanding literary scene through this series. For writers who have their eyes set on publishing a chapbook, we hope that these conversations can bring you one step closer to a completed manuscript or a home with a press.
This time round, we have Olivia Braley, author of SOFTENING (Emerge Literary Journal, 2021). Support Olivia and her work by ordering a copy here.
I. MOTIVATION
First thing’s first, what got you motivated to write your chapbook, SOFTENING?
I will be totally honest here: it began as a writing project I did for a class in undergrad called “Mystery in Literature,” taught by professor and writer Maud Casey. So part of the motivation was for a grade, admittedly. However, that version of SOFTENING is very much not what you are looking at today. Finding the motivation to take it from that project to a full-blown chapbook is a different story. I have come to find I’m a slow writer, and a big advocate for time and space away from a draft for a while. For me, there’s nothing that can really expedite the maturation process of a piece of work. So I’ve been returning to SOFTENING periodically since that original draft in 2017. I do have a hard time feeling like a piece of writing, whether a chapbook or a single poem, is ever finished. I don’t think I’m unique in that feeling. But SOFTENING has had many forms over the years as I tried to decide what the best way to tell this story was. It’s been closer to poetry, to short story, and there was even an iteration that I illustrated with pen and ink drawings. Once I decided it needed to be a chapbook, it’s like it clicked for me and I had a renewed sense of motivation to get it finished and out into the world.
Could you elaborate on the themes, arcs, and/or journeys that define SOFTENING?
Though not nonfiction, it’s a very personal work for me in that it reflects on the implications of occupying a body that is perceived as girl in our world. That’s a subject I find myself returning to often as my writing grapples with gender, memory, and whatever else I’ve got swimming about in my mind at the moment. So in that way, I was in effect always researching for SOFTENING, even passively, as I navigate the daily lived experience of being a woman, whatever that means. In its consideration of gender and girlhood, the collection seeks to interrogate what is remembered, what can’t be forgotten, and how memory manifests in the physical body.
What keeps you going when you lose the willpower to continue writing and drafting?
Having a writing friend or group is essential for me– seeing them work hard at their writing pushes me to do the same. And knowing they will be there to talk writing, ideas, and read drafts… even very rough ones. It’s equal parts accountability and support. Also, reading is such a source of inspiration for me. Sometimes it’s rereading old favorites– Anne Sexton, Frank Bidart, Richard Siken– and sometimes it’s reading really amazing new work in a literary journal. When I read a few good poems I feel that it almost always pushes me back to the blank page. I’m like, “I want to write like that!”
II. EXECUTION
Tell us about the way you sequenced the poems in your chapbook. What are some tips on finding a satisfactory order?
It’s not easy! I would say don’t be afraid to just totally tear your work apart and reorder it. Worst case, you can always put it back the way you had it! But being open to deep restructuring can help you see things in a new way. There are different ways to organize the logic of a chapbook: is it thematic? temporal? is it grounded in a physical space? Once you have a sense of what kind of logic you’re dealing in, you have an organizational starting point.
For SOFTENING, I’ve completely lost track of the amount of times it was ordered and reordered before reaching its final sequence. Which means it was more than a few. The chapbook deals in memory and coming-of-age in a series of linked vignettes. There are early childhood moments and moments where the subject is much closer to adulthood, but they don’t necessarily come in order. Time is fluid. There are a few themes that repeat in different ways so I tried to order such that the vignettes oscillate between them, creating a back-and-forth effect as the narrator digs deeper into their memories.
What’s your writing process like?
Sporadic, for sure. I wish it were more regular. I start almost everything by hand in my notebook. Sometimes even if I have an idea and I write it out in the Notes app on my phone, I’ll still copy it over to my notebook when I have time. I like to begin on the physical page. And I tend to have a more-is-more mentality. What I mean is, I’m often writing pages and overwriting early drafts, and then paring back to carve out the poem or prose piece from the brain-dump. So I’ve had to get pretty comfortable saying goodbye to good lines/paragraphs/pages of writing that don’t work in revision. It’s rare that I think things like, “this poem needs more stanzas.” Most often it’s like, “the ending is actually in the penultimate stanza.”
Do different vignettes play separate roles in your chapbook? Do they drive the storyline, serve as transitions, or converse directly with the audience?
Yes, they do. Some are memory-based, and serve to fill in context around the speaker’s life and experiences. Others are similar in tone but drive the storyline by exploring the central plot, insofar as there is one. Those are interspersed with more direct, present-tense passages that address nostalgia, trauma, gender, and other tensions of the work more explicitly. Those passages serve more as transitions, or touchstones that keep the reader grounded through the chapbook. They’re not in direct conversation with the reader but they’re closer to it. Plus the chapbook is in second-person, so there is some proximity between speaker and reader created by the “you.”
III. REVISION
Writing’s one thing, but editing is a whole other domain. Once the first draft is complete, what are some suggestions on transitioning into revision?
In my process, taking a step away is essential. There’s nothing that can replace a little distance from the draft. Sometimes writing is really an exercise in patience. Personally, I can feel when I need to move from initial writing to revision when all the bones of the plot or poem are there and no more “bulk” needs to be added. Which isn’t to say that there won’t be more writing later on in revision. But when I first get the impulse to read back through it in its entirety and afterwards feel like all the pieces are there somewhere, it’s time to revise, I think. Maybe it’s a gut feeling to some extent. But again, patience! Everyone has their own pace but for me, drafts are often percolating for weeks or months before I return to them.
Could you share what your revision routine/process is like?
Sometimes when I complete a draft, I still feel too close to it to begin editing it. For me, that’s a good time to ask someone to read it and just give me initial thoughts and feedback. That puts a bit of room between me and the draft. In returning, I try to read through and make sure each line/sentence needs to be there– that it offers or expands on what came before it. If not, I cut or at least flag to condense that section. Often I’ll read the entire draft aloud a few times. Sometimes in this phase I realize there’s two poems or stories at work in one draft. Once I’ve done one or two pass throughs in this way, I’ll look at more structural changes and probably ask to get more eyes on it!
How do you know when you’re ready to move on from editing to publishing?
Like when moving from writing to revision, maybe to some extent this is a gut feeling. But it’s important to remember that submitting for publication doesn’t mean you can’t keep editing! If I feel excited and compelled to submit a draft, I’ll often sleep on it, then reread with fresh eyes. If I still like and am excited by it, then sometimes I’ll just go for it – there’s nothing to lose in trying. I think it takes a bit of trial and error at every step in the writing process to find a comfortable pace.
IV. PUBLICATION
Where can we start when looking for chapbook presses?
I have had a lot of success by interacting with other writers on Twitter and similar platforms. I think one good place to start is in the books or chapbooks of writers that you admire. You can look to see what their publisher is – especially if it’s one of their first books and is out of a lesser-known press – and often they have Acknowledgements or Bios that reference where their writing has been previously published or journals that they may have worked on or edited for. I’d also look out for presses that are specifically soliciting work from emerging writers – there are a lot – Emerge Lit Journal, where my chap is being published, for instance!
Do you have any words of advice on submitting manuscripts to these presses?
As with submitting individual poems or stories, resilience is key. Just because you are rejected doesn’t mean your manuscript isn’t worthwhile! It’s just looking for its home. And remember that this is your work – you have the final say on any edits, formatting or other discussions that might come up. You don’t have to compromise, and you’ll probably be happier with the end result if you don’t – even if that means waiting a little longer to publish.
Following an acceptance from a press, what are the next steps?
First is the shock and awe of an acceptance! Then, for me, letting it sink in, which took a while. I’m sure it’s different depending on the press but in my experience it was an ongoing collaborative process with the publisher. I worked with them through formatting and cover design. I also had to solicit blurbs from other writers and come up with an Author Bio, Acknowledgements, Dedication, and all of the elements of the book that are outside of the actual text. Then there is the promotional side – trying to get people to buy and read your book! It still feels a little strange to me to self-promote, but I’m working on it!
Olivia Braley is a writer and author of the chapbook SOFTENING. She is a co-founder and Editor in Chief of Stone of Madness Press, and a Reader at Longleaf Review. A 2020 Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize Nominee, she has been published in Hobart, Hooligan Mag, Maudlin House, and several other journals. Keep up with her work on Twitter @OliviaBraley or at her website, oliviabraleywrites.com.
Interviewed by Jessica Kim.