No. 14 Free Loader Feature: Stefen Styrsky

Stefen Styrsky is featured in our No. 14 Free Loader issue with his piece, Garbage Mouth. We chatted with Stefen about growing up in Miami and how he handles writers block.

Tell me a little bit about yourself, where did you grow up etc?

Born and raised in Miami. When I left for college it wasn’t a place I belonged: macho, homophobic, very little of a downtown, banks, lunch counters, and a discount commercial strip catering to tourists pouring off the cruise ships. Not my idea of where a writer should live – you know, the traditional and mostly mythical bohemian lifestyle of cafes, bookstores, and bars. Older, I see now what I didn’t notice then about Miami, how vibrant and exciting it was (and is) and wonder what might’ve been.

Went to college in DC and stuck around. After a few years, went back to school to get an MA in Fiction Writing from Johns Hopkins. A great experience, wonderful teachers and students. I remember coming out of the classroom really inspired to write. There’s always been a lot of discussion if whether writing programs are effective, good, harmful. I have no idea. I do know it can’t hurt to be around people as interested in writing and literature as you are. At least I felt empowered by it. But I think what really makes or breaks a writer is persistence.  

What is your favorite thing to write about? 

Well, I get a lot of mileage out of pairs: comrades/lovers who have trouble living with and without each other, often to the point of their own destruction. Flip summary might be co-dependents. I like to think it’s a deeper head-shot of a person’s need to be with a someone else while at the same time being so wrapped up in themselves, they have trouble pulling off a relationship. Not sure if “favorite” is the right word, maybe by dint of its constant appearance in my stories it might be called “favorite.” 

How do you handle writer's block?

Writing on a schedule helps. There’s something about writing at the same time every day that keeps ideas flowing even if I’m convinced I don’t have any. Some days are better than others to be sure. And often just to say I’ve written in a day, I’ll rewrite a scene or story from another point of view. That’s actually spawned new ideas about where to take a piece.

I also ignore, at least while writing, how absolutely atrocious my first -- and second, and third -- drafts are. Such worrying only ever makes me seize-up. And I try (success varies) not to compare myself to other writers – their talent, their success, and worst of all, their youth. I write how I write and I do the best I can.

Reading through my notebooks has also helped me find inspiration when it feels as if I’m nothing but a dried-up Bic pen. You know, those notebook writers are supposed to drag with them everywhere so they can jot down interesting images, scenes, or snatches of dialogue. I often go back a year or two and see what’s there. Since I’ve forgotten most of the things I’ve recorded, rereading them strikes me fresh, and now and then provides the seeds of story.

What would you say is your proudest accomplishment as a writer?

Speaking of writer’s block, I recently went through a long fallow period, absolutely convinced I sucked and so why bother. Writing every day the past half year is my proudest accomplishment as a writer. I intend to stick to it.

What do you think of when you hear the phrase Free Loader?

Somebody living off the fat of the land, a.k.a. other people. Always borrowing money or bumming cigarettes or conveniently always friends with a person who owns a car. When I read about this issue’s theme, I said, “I know that guy!”

What inspired your piece Garbage Mouth?

A bunch of separate incidents forced to cohabitate under the rooftop of the narrator’s skewed worldview. I worked in a restaurant where the act of eating leftovers was called “garbage mouthing.” Not something I ever did, but there were times when I was hungry enough the idea posed at least some merit. At another restaurant, there was a falling out between me and the manager – all my fault – and left me so embarrassed I was ashamed to pick up my year-end W-2 (I’d moved and hadn’t provided a forwarding address) and asked a friend to do it for me. Lastly, I once saw a kid pop a sugar packet into his mouth, chew, and swallow, all to the consternation of his mother.

Any upcoming projects?

Every so often I tinker with an unpublished collection of short stories I’ve titled “Midnight Tales” and of which “Garbage Mouth” is a part.  Right now I’m drafting a novel set in 1950s Miami during the months-long smear campaign the Miami Herald ran against the lesbian, gay, and transgender people (perverts as they were called) living in South Florida, part of the newspaper’s “clean up the city effort.” The news stuff is mostly background. The story is about the people living in the shadow of that mess.

You can find more of Stefen’s work on his website and twitter, @Stefen_Styrsky