Interview with Alyssa Wees

I’m so excited to kick off our new interview series today! Three questions posed to various authors about how to keep writing. I love what Alyssa has to say about it, I mean, spoiler alert:

I sat next to Alyssa in the MFA program at Columbia College in Chicago for years and can tell you, she is a delightful person. Quietly hilarious, with impeccable taste, she is a writer who never fails to impress with the scope of her imagination. Her first book, The Waking Forest, is a dark YA fantasy that twists and unfolds like magic. Her second, Nocturne, comes out next month. Set in 1930’s Chicago, it’s a haunting ballet fantasy that promises to be just as lyrically written and expertly plotted. You can preorder here.

Did you ever go through a period of doubt, thinking this book wouldn’t see the light of day?

I went through so much doubt writing this book (and every book I've ever written, honestly). I've had to accept that doubt is just part of my process, and that it's easier to acknowledge it and sit with it rather than trying to fight it. I always doubt myself around halfway through the first draft, wondering if this is the right story, if I'm telling it "right" (whatever that means!), and if it's good enough to be published. Usually, when I'm really overcome, I need to take a step away and force myself not to think about it for a few days. My agent has been a lifesaver for me throughout these periods. Without her Nocturne would never have gotten done! It always helps to have at least one trusted reader you can rely on to guide you out of the dark fog of doubt with a bright lantern of encouragement. My anxiety was even worse when it came time to submit the manuscript to editors. I've had books go out on sub that never sold, and it's so heartbreaking to put aside something you love and spent so much time on. Though I wrote Nocturne with an older audience in mind, we subbed it first as a YA novel because my first published book was YA. With rejection after rejection, I thought that that might be the end for my little nightmare ballet book. But then we submitted it as an adult fantasy, and the book sold in about four weeks. After all that doubt, it did work out this time, and wonderfully! But I will still doubt myself when writing the next book. And the next, and the next.

Do you have any tricks or tips for staying motivated?

Sometimes I have to trick myself to stay motivated, and one of the ways I do this is to ban myself from writing. I ban myself from looking at my writing, or even thinking about it. Maybe for three days, or a whole week. A weird thing happens when I tell myself that I can't work on my WIP... suddenly I really, really want to. If you're a contrary person like me, this might work for you too! I also make playlists specific to the project I'm working on. It helps to listen to music for a while and let my mind wander before I begin, to give myself space to crawl back into the vibes of the story. Another little trick I learned in grad school is to grab a notebook and write every word that pops into your head without thinking too hard about it. For two minutes or for ten, however long you need to get your brain warmed up. The list of random words you end up with isn't nearly as important as the making of the list of random words. It's like stretching before you go for a run. 

Any reading recommendations? 

A few of my favorites from 2022 were Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid, Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison, The Stars Are Not Yet Bells by Hannah Lillith Assadi, and Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson. Thief Liar Lady by D.L. Soria doesn't come out until July of this year, but I was able to read it early and I highly recommend it! It's a twist on the classic story of Cinderella that was wholly unexpected and delightful.