Photo credit: Beowulf Sheehan
Weike Wang is the author of Chemistry, Joan is Okay and the forthcoming Rental House. She is the recipient of a Pen Hemingway, a Whiting award and a National Book Foundation 5 under 35. Her work has appeared in Ploughshares, The New Yorker, Best American Short Stories and has won an O. Henry Prize. She earned her MFA from Boston University and her other degrees from Harvard. She currently lives in New York City and teaches at the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Barnard College.
Tell us about your latest novel, Rental House. What inspired this story and how did you approach it?
Rental House was inspired by my yearly desire to book a summer house in the Cape Cod area, and spend a month there with friends and family. This vacation has yet to happen, but a girl can dream and write about it. The novella format has always fascinated me so I wrote that first half–the story of Nate and Keru and their parents–as one major arc. Then I considered how their marriage might change with time, the arrival of mid-life, so I decided to check in on them, during a second vacation. These vacations gave me controlled time frames to develop the characters and hone in on ongoing tensions.
Buy the book now: Bookshop.org | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Your novels often blend humor with deep, emotional topics. How do you strike that balance in your writing
Humor has always come natural for me. Humor is my coping mechanism. When I sense that I am taking the readers through something very intense, I know I have to let off the gas a bit/hold their hand. The balance allows for me to hit the emotional points without trauma dumping or numbing the reader.
Science plays a significant role in your work, particularly in Chemistry. How has your background in science influenced your writing process and storytelling?
Clarity and selection. I still teach science and math and students most scared of these topics always think that they are supposed to be convoluted, that convoluted means “smart”. Totally untrue. A good grasp of STEM requires distillation and focus, not getting bogged down by extraneous information, and finding ways to connect concepts clearly.
What does your writing routine look like? Are there specific rituals or habits you rely on to stay creative?
No rules or habits! My teaching and work schedule can be unpredictable, so I have learned to write whenever and wherever I can. My ideal writing time is 8-10 am on my desktop, in my office, but at this point, I just have to make it work. Sometimes I only have 30 minutes between sessions so I get in some words, I edit. Sometimes I only have the afternoons. Sometimes I have to write on the train to my next teaching job. A habit I try to enforce is to keep track of my word count, pages and literally, typing into the document what I should write next. The latter has been really helpful. Because even while I’m working on other things, I can think about how the next section can map out.
Humor can be difficult to convey in literary fiction, but it’s a strength in your writing. What advice would you give to writers trying to incorporate humor into their stories?
Humor is the juxtaposition of light and dark. I generally advise that if the story is getting a bit heavy, the topics, the conversation, too loaded, practice pivoting out. Humor can also come from self-awareness and being able (willing) to make fun of oneself or one’s characters. Nothing is too precious.
Your prose is often described as sparse and powerful. Do you consciously aim for a minimalist style, or is that something that naturally evolved in your work?
I consciously aim for a lean style. I see writing as cutting down the bloat of a sentence and streamlining it until it is both beautiful and true. I used to teach ESL and through that, learned the importance of diagramming sentences to understanding the nuances within the language. Most modifiers, adjectives and adverbs, add fat to a sentence. If that is intentional to the voice then good, as in a maximalist style, but if not then I cut down.
As an author who transitioned from a scientific career to writing, what advice would you give to those considering a career change into creative fields?
Don’t do it. Just kidding. My MFA mentor/teacher Ha Jin once told the class, only go into writing, if you can only exist on the page. I didn’t know what that meant then, but now I do. The best parts of me are on the page, in my stories, essays and books. So I would say only go into a creative field, if you would miss it entirely, if you can’t see yourself doing this thing as a hobby. I don’t miss basic science research but I would miss writing. That being said, science jobs are just way, way, way more stable. Stability is important. It helps you sleep at night. So maybe I would recommend, if you’re a full-time artist, to find a supportive partner who is not.
What role has community played in your writing journey, and how do you engage with other writers or readers?
I found a great community in my MFA cohort–great writers, teachers. Teachers have always been a crucial support for me. I wouldn’t be writing today were it not for generous, kind and enlightened English teachers along the way. Writing is such a solitary process that I don’t engage much with other writers until we do events together. I do try to support other writers through blurbing, moderating events, reposting social media posts etc. I also try to engage with readers through social media as well. But I’ll tell you, once the semester starts my students also need me and I’m really stretched thin.
What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received, and how has it shaped your work?
I have 2. Write to your smartest friend and don’t flinch. Both these pieces of advice have helped me be more direct, more clear and have guided me in cutting out excess that is explanatory.
What’s next for you? Are there any upcoming projects or themes you’re excited to explore in your future work?
Working on another novella/short novel! This summer I went to a residency in Italy for a month. There I met so many artists and made a whole group of new friends. I left that place an optimist and a romantic so I’m currently working on a love story/romantic friendship that starts at a residency.
Leave A Comment