March 2010
Jeffrey McDaniel teaches creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College and is the author of The Endarkenment, Alibi School, The Forgiveness Parade, and The Splinter Factory.

What is more frightening: a blank page or a manuscript in need of a complete rewrite?
The blank page.

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?
This is an ongoing tug-of-war. As a teacher, I try to approach a poem on its own terms and see where a poem is getting its energy from. In my teaching, I tweak Hugo’s options to include: music, image, and idea (Pound’s idea).

How does teaching influence your work as a writer?
It forces me to read published work a lot closer. In my workshops, we read a book a week.

What’s your favorite in-class writing prompt?
I don’t do a lot of in-class writing. Classes are usually divided between reading and discussing published work and critiquing student work. Students do turn in a poem each week and sometimes there are prompts for
that. Not sure that I have a favorite.

Are there any aspects of writing that you feel can’t be taught?
Inspiration. Passion. Though I don’t know that those are aspects of writing. I know Aristotle said that metaphor making can not be taught, but I am not sure I agree. I think I believe that that particular muscle can be developed.

When you are teaching, what pet peeves do you come across frequently?
I prefer to see them as challenges.