Ask the Author: Lee Kofman
Answered Questions (8)
Lee Kofman
Firstly, Australia is heading towards the winter now... But I always have a reading list, or more precisely - tower-high piles of to-be-read books by my bedside. Currently I'm in the middle of writing my new book about the relationship between our physical appearance and selves. For this, I'm reading widely. Next on my list is Ovid's Metamorphosis which is all about what I'm doing really. Then the sociologist Ervin Goffman's famous Presentation of Self. For voice and general inspiration, I look forward to reading Best American Essays 2016 edited by Adam Gopnik.
Lee Kofman
I'm a so-called 'confessional' writer, so all my books, whether fiction or creative nonfiction, are driven by personal questions. My last memoir, The Dangerous Bride, was driven by my attempt to understand why I always wanted to be non-monogamous and always failed at that. Right now, in the book I'm writing I'm exploring the mystery of my (physical) scars - how did my body influence my self.
Lee Kofman
In the short term, I'm currently translating a novella I published in Israel into English, and also writing a series of personal essays on topics ranging from Russian literature to cafe culture.
In the long term I'm hoping to begin a book about my relationship with Russia, a country where I was born, and which I left at 12 and never visited since.
In the long term I'm hoping to begin a book about my relationship with Russia, a country where I was born, and which I left at 12 and never visited since.
Lee Kofman
Overall inspiration is not a problem for me, because I only write about things I feel I must write about. But on a daily basis, to get inspired, or rather - get myself into the mood of writing - I often re-read passages from books by writers I particularly love, such as Joan Didion, Robert Dessaix or Hanif Kureishi.
Lee Kofman
Because I often either experience or afraid of experiencing writer's block, over the years I collected many strategies to combat it. My favorite ones are:
- self-talk where I remind myself that writing has always been difficult for me but that this doesn't mean I can't write publisheable works
- giving myself license to write rubbish, reminding myself that I enjoy re-drafting more than writing first drafts and that rubbish can be turned into something worthwhile via revision.
- identifying what underlies the block, what kind of fear, and then writing around that fear.
- self-talk where I remind myself that writing has always been difficult for me but that this doesn't mean I can't write publisheable works
- giving myself license to write rubbish, reminding myself that I enjoy re-drafting more than writing first drafts and that rubbish can be turned into something worthwhile via revision.
- identifying what underlies the block, what kind of fear, and then writing around that fear.
Lee Kofman
For some years I’d been trying to write a book about my migration experience, but really I was seeking to explore my simultaneous yearnings for security and for risk-taking, a conflict which tormented me in many areas of my life, love included. The problem was that unlike doing migration, writing about it felt too safe. I realised that the only way to write about risk was, as the legendary editor Gordon Lish suggested, to ‘write to convict’ myself, which is what admitting my romantic failures and my desire for non-monogamy – perhaps one of the last sexual taboos today – amounted to. So I wrote a memoir about my non-monogamous misadventures. But also about my misadventures as a recent migrant.
Lee Kofman
I’ll share here my own writing mantra: Write only about what feels urgent; what makes you blush and feel ashamed is going to be your best material; It is more important how you describe what happened than the precise details of what happened - reflection and analysis are usually more interesting than even the most colourful action.
Lee Kofman
I get to go to cafes, which is where I love writing. Plus, in my work I process many of my own experiences, and thus save a lot of money I would have otherwise spent in therapy… More seriously, writing serves for me the same functions that religion serves for many. It helps me to understand better the world around me and through writing I try to better myself.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more