Andrew Sippie finds his happy place when writing and reading speculative fiction. He can often be found teaching and tutoring students from all over the world, jogging through the woods, and delving into the unknown.
1. What is the best piece of advice you have for new writers?
Pam Allyn said, “Reading is like breathing in, and writing is like breathing out,” so to be the best writers, writing and reading must be as natural, essential, and consistent as breathing in and out. Reading gives us life by inspiring, challenging, and showing us what is possible. Like breathing out, writing must emanate from within the most vital aspects of ourselves, such as our life experiences, and will lead us to our own, unique, writing voice.
2. How do you measure success when it comes to your writing?
If I can say yes to the following questions when I write, I feel successful: am I maintaining my writing routine? Have I made meaningful progress? Am I finding and staying true to the story within the words?
3. What tips do you have for finding time to write?
Create time. Stay up later, wake up earlier. Do it on your phone when waiting in line. Do it on your computer while on hold. Do it on your commute. Do it during downtime at work. Do it until it becomes as much a part of your routine as getting a cup of coffee or taking a shower. Once it feels necessary to do because it is so much a part of who you are, you’ll always find time.
4. Have you attended any conferences or writing retreats? What was the experience like and do you have any to recommend?
I have attended a few conferences. If you benefit from inspirational speakers or benefit from being around fellow writers in person, any writing conferences may be worthwhile. Many even have literary agents one can pitch books to. That is primarily what draws me to them.
The best conference I’ve been to is the Gotham Writers Conference, mostly for their pitching roundtable concept. In another conference I attended, I got 10 minutes with a single agent to pitch a book. However, at Gotham Writers Conference, they had a round table discussion where multiple literary agents and multiple writers pitching their books would sit down together for a few hours and talk through their book pitches, give recommendations, share feedback, and learn from each other.
5. If you could go back and find yourself five years ago, what advice would you give yourself?
Read more. Read widely. Please, just read.
6. How do you deal with rejections?
I do what Stephen King does with rejections: keep them. I also have a running count of the total number of rejections at my personal website to remind me that they will happen and are nothing to be ashamed of. They’ve even helped me realize that I would write even if I never got published.
7. Do you participate in any online or in-person critique or writing groups?
Yes, I do, and every writer should have one or a few. Need writing feedback? They got you. Need to share tips, tricks, resources, ideas? They got you. Need supportive people who understand the struggle of aspiring writers? They got you. Even giving others feedback on their writing helps with your own writing, and it gives practice with reading like a writer.
8. In your opinion, how important is a writing degree or MFA when it comes to achieving success in writing fiction?
It depends. Some MFA classes have been essential to my development as a writer and encouraged some of the best writing, but other classes have not been helpful at all and discouraged me.
The best part of an MFA is the community, deadline-based writing and reading assignments, and instructor feedback. It is easier to find a critique group during an MFA because they will be your fellow students, the feedback given from instructors can be extremely useful (most have had success/experience within the publishing world), and you may be challenged to read and critically think about literature you never would have considered before.
The worst part is that it focuses mostly on literary fiction (if you want commercial success, this is not for you), typically focuses on literary theory and criticism rather than more practical lessons on writing craft, and can be expensive and time-consuming with little chance of resulting in a future job or literary success.
9. What book are you reading right now?
I am reading Ken Liu’s “The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories.” If you are enthralled by the blurring of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Magical Realism often with Asian culture, you should check it out.
10. Are you an outliner or discovery writer? Or somewhere in between?
When I use outlines, they always change, so I’d call myself a discovery writer, but it’s a spectrum, so if I had to put a number to it, on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being pure outliner and 10 being pure discovery), I’d say an 8, but when I started writing seriously, I was a 10.
I went from being a writer who jumped into something with no direction and little idea to a writer who has an idea to pursue and actively makes plans, but often deviates from them. I’ve learned it is essential to think through a few paths a story may take to discover the one that flows most naturally and feels most essential. That way, the characters and world are invited to make a meaningful impact. When they do, the most unexpected and wondrous things start to happen and often feel organic to the story.
