Reading time: About 4 minutes
Early in her writing career, Danila Botha says she didn’t realize how many full in-depth drafts would be required before a book was ready to be published.
Danila Botha is the author of three critically acclaimed short story collections, Got No Secrets and For All The Men (and Some of The Women) I’ve Known which was a finalist for the Trillium Book Award, The Vine Awards and the ReLit Award.
Her new collection, Things That Cause Inappropriate Happiness, was published in April by Guernica Editions. It was named by The Toronto Star as one of Twenty-One Books to Put At the Top Of Your Reading List and the title story was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is also the author of the award-winning novel Too Much on the Inside which was optioned for film. Her new novel, A Place for People Like Us, will be published by Guernica Editions in 2025. She teaches Creative Writing as part of the faculty at Humber School for Writers.
I was excited to talk to Danila about how she approaches writing.
Q. Roughly how much time do you spend writing every day?
I write most days, for at least an hour or two. Some days, when I have time and I have a deadline approaching, it can be anywhere from five to eight hours, but I write almost every day, even if it’s just research notes for something I’m working on.
Q. What’s a simple activity or habit that makes you a better writer?
I think reading is really important. I learn so much from reading, about craft and theme and approaches to a subject or character. Listening to music can be really helpful in getting into the mindset of the character, or even remembering pop cultural references, fashion or settings from a specific time. I find going for walks really helpful too, or any kind of physical activity, really. If I’m struggling with something, it resets my mind and I have more perspective on what I’m writing or working on. There’s also the meditative aspects of walking, having the time to go over sentences and ways of expressing something, which can be really helpful too.
Q. What interferes with your writing?
It’s funny to say this, as someone who sometimes loves listening to very loud music when I write, but noise can be distracting. Having full out conversations, or being asked to do things in the middle of a breakthrough paragraph can completely take me out of what I’m writing. I sometimes find late at night or very early in the morning is really productive because everyone in my house is asleep (I have three young kids, and dogs) I remember reading that the author Elisabeth De Mariaffi had this amazing sign on her home office door when her kids were young (it just says NO in big capital letters) and I appreciated it so much. I’m grateful to my husband, who facilitates this when I need it. He’s very supportive, which makes such a difference.
Q. How do you persuade yourself to sit down to write on days when you really, really DON’T feel like doing it?
I ask myself why I don’t want to work that day. Often if a paragraph or part of a story is really challenging and I recognize that I need distance from it, I work on a different part, a different section of a story, another short story (I’m often working on more than one) or I go more deeply into the research or structure to figure out why it’s not working. Sometimes a subject is difficult to navigate, and research can help (not even necessarily reading, but watching a documentary or YouTube video.) Drawing and painting have always been a huge part of my process too. I sometimes storyboard or draw a whole scene, which helps me to embody my characters, reminds me of description, setting, what their bodies and faces are doing, etc.
Q. Is there a particular motto or saying that you’ve found helpful for writing?
The author Alison Pick has this great line, “remember that every book you’ve ever read, and every book that you’ve ever loved, started with a bad first draft.” Sometimes just giving myself permission to write, without expectations of it being ready to share it is the most helpful thing I can do. It’s those first drafts that lead to the final products.
Q. Which stage of the writing process do you enjoy the most: researching, writing or editing/rewriting and why?
Definitely writing, but I enjoy editing and I enjoy researching too. I honestly enjoy all of it, but there’s something about creating a world, developing characters and feeling like the story is taking you somewhere, but you’re not sure where that is, is so exciting. I really love voice and characterization, the feeling that I know my character so well that I can express everything in their voice the way they would. I enjoy research, whether it’s reading, doing library or online research, watching videos, or interviewing people. I really feel grateful for all aspects of my job.
Q. What’s the best book you’ve read (either fiction or non) in the last five years?
Wow, it’s a long list. I read a lot, often one to two books a week. I really love short fiction. I have 10 shelves of nothing but short fiction in my house. I recently really loved Shashi Bhatt’s collection, Death by A Thousand Cuts. I also loved her previous book, The Most Precious Substance on Earth. I plan to read her debut novel soon. Zoe Whittall is one of my favourite writers, and she recently published an amazing collection of short stories called Wild Failure. She also has a new poetry collection, No Credit River, coming out this fall. Heather O’Neill is another favourite. Her collection of short stories, The Daydreams of Angels is incredible, and she has a new novel, The Capital of Dreams coming out soon, which makes me want to squeal with excitement.
Q. What book are you reading right now?
Recently I’ve read with some amazing writers, and I really loved their books. Jade Wallace’s novel Anomia is so unique and beautiful. Angel Di Zhang’s The Light of Eternal Spring is amazing. Stephanie Cesca has a novel coming out with Guernica Editions called Dotted Lines that is really beautiful too. I was sent a copy of Angel B.H’s memoir, All Hookers Go to Heaven and it’s sensitive and moving and beautifully written. It was also edited by Alicia Elliot, whose recent novel, And Then She Fell, was brilliant too (as is her nonfiction, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground). I recently read both of Eliza Clark’s novels, Boy Parts and Penance, and I was really impressed with them. I love complex, unreliable female narrators.
Q. What do you think is the biggest misperception that new writers have about the act of writing?
I think it’s hard to understand the depth of the editing process until you’re in it — on a large scale and on a line level. There’s always so much work to be done. I know early in my career, I didn’t realize how much writing and rewriting needed to happen, how many full in-depth drafts needed to be done before a book was ready to be published, how many pages or chapters or paragraphs would end up not being used (some were repurposed later which was a wonderful feeling). I think as long as writers are willing to commit to the process, it gets easier and more enjoyable with time.