November 2009
Gabriel Brownstein is the author of two books of fiction: a novel, The Man from Beyond , and a collection of stories, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Apt. 3W , which won the PEN/Hemingway Award. He teaches at St. John’s University.

How do you start a new piece?
Sometimes accidentally.

What is more frightening: a blank page or a manuscript in need of a complete rewrite?
Depends on who’s asking for the rewrite.

In Richard Hugo’s essay “Writing Off the Subject,” he states, “When you start to write, you carry to the page one of two attitudes, though you may not be aware of it. One is that all music must conform to truth. The other, that all truth must conform to music.” In your writing practice, have you taken a position on this? In your teaching?
Hmmm. There was a story I was writing once, and I kept saying to myself as I wrote it, in a kind of mantra, “The logic of the story is the logic of the voice.” But then I went as far as I could go with the voice and the voice got really ornate in its strangeness, and the story is still on my desk, awaiting revision.

How does teaching influence your work as a writer?
In terms of time, I often resent teaching—I resent having to read student writing when it comes in large piles. But I do end up saying things in class that I ought to say to myself, and sometimes the energy and optimism of my students cheers me up.

What’s your favorite in-class writing prompt?
I like getting students to write dialogues collectively, where they gather in a group and work on a situation, usually with certain rules as to what can and cannot be spoken … sometimes in group writing exercises, they push each other in lively directions.

Are there any aspects of writing that you feel can’t be taught?
Oh, I think good teachers realize that they never do very much at all. Students take from us what they can and what they will, and the best we can do is provide them with opportunities for discovery and invention.

When you are teaching, what pet peeves do you come across frequently?
Expository dialogue. Like, “John, we’ve been in this relationship for twenty years and still you haven’t told me what you keep in that secret box under your pillow.”