What Are You Working On?
Writers on their works in progress

Binnie Kirshenbaum

novelist

Binnie Kirshenbaum (website) is the author of two story collections and five novels, including A Disturbance in One Place, Hester Among the Ruins, and An Almost Perfect Moment. She is a professor of Fiction Writing at Columbia University Graduate School of the Arts.

 
I've just finished up the second draft of a novel which sounds further along than it really is; it usually takes me five or six drafts to get it right.

I'd been working on another novel, a very traditional narrative about an unhappy housewife, for nearly two years and hating every minute of it. Clearly, something was wrong. One Sunday, I was sitting on the couch in my living room and looked up at a photograph I have on the wall of my great-grandmother and it occurred to me, albeit not for the first time, that I don't know what her name was and that there is no one for me to ask who would know. I went to my office to write that down, thinking I might someday want to write something about it, and I emerged seven hours later. And so a new novel was born.

Each new book is new in every way, so I always feel as if whatever I've done before is irrelevant and, alas, of no practical use.

 
What's it like working on this project?

Each draft seems to present its own set of challenges. Right now, I'm stuck on the shape of it. There are two stories intertwined, one very much in the present and the other about nothing but the past. It's finding the balance, a way to keep the present story alive while going back in time with which I am currently struggling.

After all the months and months I spent with the aborted novel, dreading going to work -- really, I used to go to sleep each night hoping the morning would be a long time in coming -- to so enjoy working again, to enjoy the process of writing, to anticipate the next day, is a gift, like falling in love.

 
When do you anticipate finishing the project?

I am hoping to finish up during the summer; it would be especially nice if I could finish up before the next semester begins and thereby have something of a vacation. The novel, still untitled, has been sold to Ecco/HarperCollins where I am so fortunate as to have a home.

 
How are you able to be sure you'll be done by the time your next semester begins?

My writing habits are very disciplined. I do usually write six days a week for at least a few hours each day, but mostly more. That said, while I am hoping to get the book in before the summer is over, there might be a lot of wishful thinking going into that. But, it is true too, that I do have some idea how long it can take. The last draft, that one I know is a two week or so process. It's when I read it over a bunch of times with the red pencil in hand, taking out whatever is clunky, awkward, unnecessary. The drafts between now and then... I'm aiming for two months on each. I find it helpful to set deadlines for myself. Even if I don't keep them.

 
Since you're a writing teacher as well as a novelist, I want to ask you about Lynn Freed's article in Harper's last year in which she attacked creative writing programs. Freed said that creative writing programs are in danger of creating false expectations in students, few of whom will ever become really good writers or approach your own success. Have you discussed this piece with your colleagues and students? What is your take?

I read Lynn Freed's article and discussed it with a number of my students and colleagues. It's never wise, in my opinion, to paint with a broad brush. I can't speak for other programs but, quite to the contrary, at Columbia we create no false expectations. All the time we talk about how the odds are against them. We can't and we don't promise them anything. And I ought to point out that there are thousands of unemployed Ph.D.s out there, and no one makes accusations against the liberal arts & sciences for creating false expectations. Many of our students go on to publish, a fair number go on to have very successful careers. Others use to degree to teach or to go into other, but related, professions in the publishing industry or the arts. And some go on to law school. But I have yet to come across one who regretted having gotten the degree, and I have yet to come across one whose writing did not improve during their two years.

Links

Pages on the site of HarperCollins, Kirshenbaum's publisher, for three of her books

Reviews of Kirshenbaum's books in the NYT (free reg. req.): An Almost Perfect Moment; Hester Among the Ruins (with a second review here); Pure Poetry; History on a Personal Note

Lynn Freed's article on writing programs discussed on SlushPile, Galleycat and Sleigh

See more What Are You Working On? interviews.

published 16 Mar 06 on Too Beautiful. email copyright 2006 Mark Pritchard, Bernal Heights, San Francisco