Faculty and Visiting Faculty

 

CHRISTIAN McLEAN

Lecturer, Creative Writing
Director, Southampton Writers Conference
Christian McLean teaches undergraduate fiction and ethics, graduate arts administration, and directs the Southampton Writers Conference. His fiction has been published in The Rumpus, Scores Anthology, and The Southampton Review. His poetry has been featured in a collaborative work at Dundee Contemporary Arts (Scotland). Christian has a Master of Letters in Creative Writing from the University of St. Andrews and an MFA in Creative Writing from Stony Brook University.  

FACULTY INTERVIEW:

What genre(s) do you write in?

Primarily fiction. I do have a play that I have been working on, but that is on the way back burner.

What is the thing that excites you about the act of writing?

The sentence making! When it's going well and you can feel the energy between the sentences. When you're going with strength and all the lights are green.

Do you feel like your work is in conversation with other writers or work? If so,
who/what?

Lately, in my shorter work, I hope to be in conversation with Karen Russell and Stephen Dobyns. Then there's those people you studied when you were forming your ideas about what writing is. For me, that’s Tim O'Brien and Raymond Carver. Those were the people we were told we should model ourselves after.

I find myself looking at class a lot in my work. In that way, I think about F. Scott Fitzgerald. He's so ingrained in Long Island life. He's even got a story called Dice, Brass's Knuckles & Guitars, which takes place in Southampton.

What literary magazine would you recommend to your students?

I’ve always loved One Story. I love the idea of one single story being strong enough to carry the entire issue. When it first came out, you couldn't read on your phones, so it was great to have an easily portable magazine. 

What is your writing process?

It shifts dramatically throughout the year, depending on what my life looks like. Recently, I will try to get writing done before work. I’ve also gotten rid of social media, so in those moments where everyone else pulls out their phone to look at Instagram, I can pull out Google Docs and generate something. 

Also, throughout the year, I will sequester myself for 48 hours in a hotel room. I don't talk to anyone. I don't see anyone. I eat ramen noodles and spend 48 hours in the project.

How do you generate ideas?

Sometimes I'll hear something and it will get caught in my head. If it keeps coming back to me, I'll take advantage of that. Generally I am a What If kind of writer: what if a person does X? what are the logical ramifications of that? Even if it's speculative: what if a werewolf hunter had to make a living in an economic downturn? I follow these questions through to their logical conclusions. 

How do you manage when you get stuck?

I listen to craft audiobooks. I find that hearing people talk about writing allows my mind to wander and explore my own writing.

Inspiration or perspiration?

I think both. Inspiration to start, and perspiration to do the hard work and finish the project.

If you weren't a writer, what job would you have?

I always say I would be an automechanic, even though I don't know how to do anything related to that. I can't even change oil. But I like the idea of tinkering with small pieces to make something bigger.

Do you have a writing tip for emerging writers?

Just keep doing it. It takes time and work before success comes. Continue to do it even when you feel like it's time to give up. Otherwise, go back in time and become a financer.