Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Where Writers Write: Greg Olear


Welcome to another installment of TNBBC's Where Writers Write!

Where Writers Write is a weekly series that will feature a different author every Wednesday as they showcase their writing spaces using short form essay, photos, and/or video. As a lover of books and all of the hard work that goes into creating them, I thought it would be fun to see where some of TNBBC's favorite authors roll up their sleeves and make the magic happen.


This is Greg Olear. He is The Nervous Breakdown’s senior editor and the author of the novels Totally Killer (Harper, 2009) and Fathermucker(Harper, 2011). He teaches fiction writing at Manhattanville College. And he recently birthed The Weeklings, a website that boasts a single post a day, every day. 
Greg is certainly no stranger to TNBBC. When I was fairly new to this blogging thing, there was this interview. And of course the reviews for Totally Killer and Fathermucker. Then there was this awesome post where he cast my chart. And finally, our bloggish buddy-dom came to a head when we met face to face for the first time at his KGB reading in NYC. (Poor Greg had to deal with my typical New York City nervousness with the subway system).

Today, he visits us once again and shows us where he finds his writing mojo:


Where Greg Olear Writes



I write in a variety of places. My desk is where I crank out most of the essays I’ve done for The Weeklings, my new blog project.



When I work on my fiction, I like to go someplace with fewer distractions and free air conditioning. University libraries are ideal, especially in the morning, especially in the summer. You know how many college students are at the library at 9 am on a random morning in July? None. It’s just me and the guy changing the lightbulbs.






Also, there are bathrooms, and bathrooms mean graffiti. I love graffiti. Not the graffiti that defaces subway cars and houses—that’s odious—but the bons mots stressed-out students write in ballpoint pen on library desks and bathroom stalls. That sort of graffiti is just as full of life and energy and pain and longing and heartbreak that any of the books on the racks.




   Check back next week to see where Amber Scott gets her writing done!

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