Reading time: About xxx minutes
Martha Bátiz says she’s never afraid or ashamed of early drafts. “They are the rock that you’ll slowly shape into a statue,” she says….
Martha Bátiz is an award-winning writer, translator, and professor of creative writing and Spanish language and literature. She is the author of five books, including the story collections No Stars in the Sky and Plaza Requiem (winner of an International Latino Book Award), as well as the novella Boca de lobo / Damiana’s Reprieve (winner of the Casa de Teatro Prize). Born and raised in Mexico City, she now lives in Toronto. A Daughter’s Place is her first novel.
I was excited to talk to Martha about how she approaches writing.
Q. Roughly how much time do you spend writing every day?
I don’t have a specific time or schedule for writing. I write whenever I have the chance, or when I can make the time. If I’m working on a project, then I usually write in the evenings or on the weekends. I wish I had a steady schedule to write, but I lead a very hectic life, and it’s very difficult to do this.
What’s a simple activity or habit that makes you a better writer?
Reading. Observing people closely. Watching how they react to different stimuli. How they express their anger, their sadness, their frustration. How they speak. How their gaze changes. Their body language. Opening my senses to the world and being like Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother-wolf: hear everything, smell everything, taste everything, feel everything with as much intensity as possible, trying to register the sensations so that they can be described later. Those are things that can be done every day and they don’t cost a cent.
Q. What interferes with your writing?
Life! I’m a mother of three, and even if my children are big now, they still need their mom. Being a mother and having a house to take care of is very time-consuming. We also have two dogs, and two cats. It’s busy! I’m a part-time professor at three different universities, and preparing my classes and grading takes a lot of my time as well. I do enjoy my work, however, and the spare time it allows me, when it comes, but during the term I’m always commuting from one campus to another, and running errands. All of that interferes with my writing, but I never let it stop me from writing. And I think a lot about my characters and stories while I’m driving. I don’t recommend this as a practice, but when I’m in the car I’m alone, and can gather my thoughts in a way that is not possible when I’m at home (unless everyone has gone to sleep already, which is why I usually write at night).
Q. How do you persuade yourself to sit down to write on days when you really, really DON’T feel like doing it?
If I really don’t feel like doing it, I try to force myself by working on something fun, something lighter. Or by reading something that will relax me and put me in the mood to write. But, to be honest, I usually never try to force anything. For me, writing is a physical need. My stomach aches if I don’t write. I get in a bad mood. That alone will bring me to my desk and to my computer — it’s an urge, a pull. A kind of hunger. But in the same way as you don’t eat when you’re not hungry, I don’t force myself to write when that need isn’t there. Because if it isn’t there, it means my idea is not ripe enough yet to come out, and I need to wait. So, I wait, and I write in my head in the meantime.
Q. Is there a particular motto or saying that you’ve found helpful for writing?
Yes. I remember one of my mentors saying that I should never be afraid or ashamed of early drafts. They are the rock that you’ll slowly shape into a statue. So, it helps me not to expect an early version or draft of a story to be perfect. All I need is for it to be there, so I have something to work with. For me, writing is fun. It’s like playing in a sandbox, experimenting, building and destroying and building again. But for that to happen, I need to build that sandbox first. And for me, a first draft is nothing but a sandbox. It’s liberating not to worry too much when you’re starting off.
Q. Which stage of the writing process do you enjoy the most: researching, writing or editing/rewriting and why?
I love editing. Once I have my editor’s feedback, my challenge is different and richer. Now I know how to make things better, and it’s always a joy to work on that. I also learn a lot from the corrections I receive. I’m always grateful for them. I know a lot of writers (and many of my students!) feel frustrated or intimidated or angry, even, when they receive a draft fully marked with corrections and suggestions, but I love it. I see it as a way to learn, to grow, to improve. And if I’m not in agreement with something, I can always say so. But I need to have a strong argument. Creating that is a challenge I always welcome with open arms, because I feel it makes me, and the story, stronger.
Q. What’s one of the best books you’ve read (either fiction or non) in the last five years?
I adored Our Share of Night, by Mariana Enríquez. She’s masterful when it comes to narrating political horror and bringing it to the sphere of the supernatural. I also loved Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World, by Irene Vallejo. She’s such a wise woman, and her work is so beautifully rendered, that I can barely think of a better way of learning about history. Hands down one of my favourite reads!
Q. What book are you reading right now?
The Immortal Woman, by Su Chang.
Q. What do you think is the biggest misperception that new writers have about the act of writing?
I think the biggest misperception is that writing should be easy simply because you know how to type and are literate. Writing is an art, and just like being able to walk will hardly turn you into a wonderful dancer, writing needs time and patience to hone your skills. New writers tend to be impatient. They want instant success, perfect first drafts, positive feedback only. It’s important to be humble and open to criticism in order to become a better writer. I wish more new writers were open to this reality, because you cannot improve if you don’t acknowledge what needs fixing. And something will always need fixing. If we as humans are a constant work in progress, what makes us think our stories and writing aren’t?
