Robert Kolker’s new book, The Vanishing Family, is available now from Doubleday, so we asked him a few questions about writer’s block, favorite books, writing practice, and more.
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Who do you most wish would read your book? (your boss, your childhood bully, etc.) I’d wish it for anyone who has ever felt the pull to jump straight to the ending of a tale (even their own). The Vanishing Family centers on individuals capable of that, glimpsing their destiny, yet the consequences for them are extraordinarily high.
How do you tackle writer’s block? I once kept a small handwritten message at my workstation that said, “What if this were fun?” It helped me loosen up, ease the pressure, and stop feeling so exposed when I hit a rough patch. My kids saw it, thought it sounded grim, and poked fun at me, so I removed it. Still, I’m convinced the idea can be genuinely effective.
Who is the person, or what is the place or practice that had the most significant impact on your writing education? My beginnings were at a weekly community newspaper in Manhattan, where I covered unfolding installments of ongoing stories as they happened. Each piece carried a cliffhanger. Will the demonstrators halt the tower’s construction? Will authorities disrupt the drug trade on a single block? Will the club president confess to embezzlement? It was there that I became hooked on both the storytelling craft and the human dimension of reporting.
What book has elicited the most intense emotional reaction from you (made you laugh, cry, be angry)? John Irving’s The World According to Garp managed all three reactions. My initial reading left me angry: as a youngster, the painful turns felt almost cruel. A few years later, I wept recognizing how arbitrary and disorderly life can be. Lately, I’ve laughed at recognizing how accurately Irving already grasped the world we inhabit.
What’s a book you recommend to other writers? Stephen King’s On Writing offers practical tips for surviving a first draft. I’d pair it with Steve Martin’s Born Standing Up, which is far more than a memoir—an excellent portrayal of the discipline and consideration required to sharpen writing and elevate it into something that may appear effortless to outsiders.
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The Vanishing Family: Love, Fate, and the Quest to End Dementia by Robert Kolker is available from Doubleday, an imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.
