Reading time: About 2 minutes
When Ryad Assani-Razaki doesn’t feel like writing, he still positions himself at his computer desk. “Whether or not I end up writing, I’ve put myself in the right conditions to do so,” he says.
Born in West African Republic of Benin, Ryad Assani-Razaki moved to North America in 1999, to study computer science. He wrote his first short story in 2006, after witnessing an Asian man struggle to order food in a fast-food restaurant because of his difficulties with the language. His debut short story collection Deux cercles won the Trillium Book Award for French-language fiction in 2010, and his novel La main d’Iman won the Prix Robert-Cliche in 2011. An English edition, The Hand of Iman, was published this year.
I was excited to talk to Ryad about how he approaches writing.
Q. Roughly how much time do you spend writing every day?
Good question. Considering I have a full-time job that’s unrelated to my writing, I only write on weekends. It amounts to a few hours on one weekend day.
Q. What’s a simple activity or habit that makes you a better writer?
Experiencing life makes me a better writer. As I go through life experiences, I store them and unpack them in my writing.
Q. What interferes with your writing?
All these aspects of life that make you a better writer are also what, paradoxically, interfere with your writing. Work, family and friends, and the notion that you only have one life and you need to enjoy it.
Q. How do you persuade yourself to sit down to write on days when you really, really DON’T feel like doing it?
Essentially, I do it by creating the right physical environment around me. Time and place. For a certain amount of time on the weekend, I’ll isolate myself in my office and sit at the computer. Whether or not I end up writing, I’ve put myself in the right conditions to do so.
Q. Is there a particular motto or saying that you’ve found helpful for writing?
Don’t force it.
Q. Which stage of the writing process do you enjoy the most: researching, writing or editing/rewriting and why?
As a fiction writer, I enjoy the time I spend before the writing session, when I’m mentally defining the story, the characters. I’m crafting a world that becomes real to me. I inhabit it and I feel my characters’ journeys.
Q. What’s one of the best books you’ve read (either fiction or non) in the last five years?
The best book I’ve read in recent memory is Do Not Say We Have Nothing, by Madeleine Thien. I loved her treatment of music and the characters’ relationship with the musical world.
Q. What book are you reading right now?
I’m currently reading Five Little Indians, by Michelle Good.
Q. What do you think is the biggest misperception that new writers have about the act of writing?
The belief that it’s strictly an act of passion. Passion is at the core, but it can take you only so far. You also need to build resilience. You need to build the ability to read the same piece of writing 15 times, over and over.
