with Lynne Marie Zerance

LZ: You’re a groundbreaking and sometimes controversial novelist who broke the so-called rules to tell your stories the way you wanted to. Yet you’re also a respected teacher. In teaching, how do you address the balance between inspiration and technique, or native talent and acquired skill?

JR: The question I’m often asked is “Can you teach writing?” And the answer is yes, you can, but you can’t teach talent. You either have it or you don’t. What you can teach is technique. And the reason that writers, instead of academics, should teach writing is that we’ve been through the experience, we’ve developed our techniques, and we can provide shortcuts.

LZ: How do you view the role of independent editors—book doctors—in today’s literary environment?

JR: I think that independent editors, professional editors, anyone who helps a writer is good. But the writers must be wary of where they send their materials to be evaluated. This is true whether they send it to Random House, a literary agent, or an editor. I tell my writers when they’re moving out that they have to be very, very careful about whom they listen to. A writer has to become a critic of criticism. I’m very careful about how I evaluate any writing. My courses are restricted to talented writers.

As long as the service or entity you’re sending your manuscript to has a somewhat selective process, it’s most likely going to be safe to send it to them. I believe that a large, large, large percentage of writing courses in colleges and universities are worthless. I advise students to be very careful to put their artistic talent only in the hands of people who know what they’re doing. Otherwise, it can be disastrous. One editor can be very, very good—but another can be terrible.

I consider myself a very reliable guide. There have been about forty books published that have been written under my guidance.

LZ: How can a writer tell what type of editor or teacher they’re getting before they hire one or sign up for a class?

JR: I tell them to look up what the person teaching a course or offering editing services has done professionally himself. That can give you some workable idea. If it’s an agent, find out what they have placed, who they have worked with. Always do some general investigation.

I’ve dealt with writers who just randomly send their manuscripts to agents. I would say that there are as many bad ones as there are capable ones. I can’t tell you the number of so-called writing teachers who’ve have asked me if I can help them get their own books published.

LZ: How do you feel about the general direction in which publishing is going today?

JR: I think that the publishing industry is in disarray and that things are settling not for the better. A lot of the discussion today revolves around the internet: How is it going to provide an outlet? How much of it will be good, and how much of it will be bad?

LZ: What can today’s writers do to increase their chances of publication in a world where publishing is “in disarray,” as you term it?

JR: The best thing for writers to do is just hope, and if you believe in deities, then pray to them. I’ve been in the business for over thirty years, and it seems to be more in flux than at any time in history. Many writers are not using agents, they’re using lawyers. It’s a time to watch and see how things will develop.

I’m glad that I’m not beginning right now. I think that new writers are encountering hurdles that are quite different from the ones I had to face. And I think they’re formidable.

You have editors who are more business persons than editors dedicated to publishing good books. Literature is getting short shrift, that’s one of the sad things that is happening. I emphasize quality and the beauty of the sentence…that sort of thing.

LZ: Most of our e-zine subscribers hope one day to get published, if they haven’t been already. Do you have any advice for them?

JR: My advice is to proceed on the assumption that there is an enormous “no” waiting for them. And then they have to use all at their disposal—writing at their very best, seeking possible professional contacts, and, yes, dogged perseverance to try to chip away at that “no.” That will give them at least some confidence to keep trying.

Don’t just send out a story idea—everything has to be as polished as it can be. With my students, often I ask to see the first page—only one page of whatever they’re working on—and I want it to be perfect. They need to look at every single word. Whatever they submit must declare: “This is the very best I can do.” That is their final assignment in my courses.

LZ: How do you feel about the atmosphere related to academic writing courses? Do you think they help writers become better at their craft and increase their chances of publication?

JR: I think it’s ridiculous that they’re offering PhDs in creative writing now. They’re being handled by the English departments, and so they offer theory courses for writers. That’s ridiculous. I don’t think they should lull students into believing that this will increase their chances of being published. Some of the most famous writing courses rely on their publicized reputations as though that’s a passport to publication. Some of them are utterly worthless. If people just want to take writing classes as a form of entertainment, that’s fine. But to proceed on the assumption that those courses can turn people into great writers—or just publishable writers—is ridiculous. It’s fraudulent.

LZ: In the interest of ending this interview on a positive note, is there anything encouraging that you can say to our aspiring authors?

JR: Hone your talent to its very best potential. Then, with the confidence that this may bring, persevere. For all the difficulties involved, there is nothing that rivals the high of the artistic creation.

I’ve had a lot of very talented writers come through my classes—and some famous ones who’ve made it, such as Michael Cunningham, who won the Pulitzer Prize. But then I’ve had equally talented writers who’ve not been able to get published because there is so much ignorance out there. I could easily name ten extremely talented writers that have come in contact with me, and I’ve have tried everything I could do to help them. They get admiration but nothing else, and then they give up, a terrible loss. 

There are probably a thousand fine manuscripts out there that will turn to dust with the authors’ bodies. I’ve also seen some of the worst writers get published; it’s a sad thing. Because if you have money and can buy your way into NYC and take an agent to lunch at The Four Seasons…well, I’ve seen that work, and with well-known houses, too. It’s vastly unethical.

So much for encouragement, eh? (chuckles) Truly, though, the best advice I can give is to try to believe in yourself and do the best you can. Like in everything else, strive for quality, and use your courage to try to chip away at the big “no.” And find the right “critic” of your work—not necessarily the one who praises you,— but the one who moves you in the right direction of making your writing the best it can be. I don’t believe in changing a writer’s direction, just in guiding them along in their own direction to assist them in reaching their full potential.

About John Rechy: He was the first novelist to receive Pen-West-USA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the author of 14 books, and his work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. He writes frequent essays on his website, located at www.johnrechy.com.