Sarah Terez Rosenblum

Oyster River Pages: What role does the writer play in society?

Sarah Terez Rosenblum: Writers are truth-tellers, but to be effective, we must rigorously self-examine. Writing is one of few vocations for which thinking about yourself all the time is a god damn public service. Sometimes early drafts are that self-examination (For example, is your character meant to come off as passive-aggressive, or is that your unchecked mindset?), but by the time a draft is outward-facing, you’ve got to have an understanding of your material (yourself?) so that what the reader gets is— let’s say 94% intentional. (All good writing has some subconscious murk swirled in.) The purpose of all that dredging and depth-plumbing is to allow the reader to find some hidden, true part of themselves reflected. So I figure that’s my job. Throw open the doors to my selfhood, so you can rent storage space in my soul. Also I write a lot about Taylor Swift.

ORP: How does writing change you?

STR: I’m going to answer this as if the ‘you’ refers to me specifically, rather than as if it’s a general ‘you.’ As I’ve developed a consistent writing practice, I’ve found that I can think more clearly in daily life. I’m also incredibly attuned to word choice. People love this about me: Who doesn’t want their partner shouting “fewer” at them when they use the word “less” incorrectly while on a personal call two rooms away?

ORP: How has your writing changed over time?

STR: I use fewer words.

ORP: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

STR: My father, an English professor, told me, “if you don’t know the right answer, admit it. Sometimes all good teachers feel like frauds.”

ORP: Name three writers you’d like to be compared to. Why these people in particular?

STR: Edward Albee. His dialogue is both lyrical and genuine. He captures the absurd beauty of relationship conflict. Kevin Brockmeier. If one out of ten of my lines wound up as evocative and exquisite as each of his, I’d be thrilled. Marc Maron. I admire the work he’s done to map the scope of his darkness. He’s crafted his persona over decades. Deeply personal investigation and primal discomfort undergird every funny line.

ORP: Do you consider your writing time to be work or play?

STR: A writing project is like a relationship. The early stages are all effervescent excitement and chemical thrills. By the time the excitement wears off, you’re committed. You’ve cultivated a deeper connection, the kind that comes from dedication, vulnerability, and perhaps owning property together. In other words, you’re loyal, which means you’ll push through when things get less fun. Similarly, in the early stages of a project, you shouldn’t be writing things that bore you, that don’t feel like play. If you are bored by a scene or it feels like work, I tell my students to pay attention to that, because often you’re bored because the scene is not necessary. At a certain point, of course, most projects do feel more arduous, but by then you have 1.5 kids. Or to answer this question more succinctly: yes.

Sarah Terez Rosenblum is a Pushcart Prize nominated writer whose fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in literary magazines such as Third Coast, Underground Voices, Pioneertown, and The Boiler. She has written for publications and sites including Salon, The Chicago Sun Times, The Satirist, XOJane, afterellen.com, Curve Magazine and Pop Matters. She was a 2011 recipient of Carve Magazine'sEsoteric Fiction Award and the 2015 first runner up for Midwestern Gothic's Lake Prize, as well as a finalist for Washington Square Review’s 2016 Flash Fiction Award. In addition, she was shortlisted for Zoetrope All Story’s 2016 Short Fiction Contest, receiving an honorable mention. Sarah holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, is a creative coach, and teaches creative writing at The University of Chicago Writer’s Studio. Her debut novel, Herself When She's Missing, was called “poetic and heartrending" by Booklist. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, or her own website. Read her story “Later” from Issue 3.2.