Conversation with Apoorva Tadepalli
#Scurf195: On writing, pitching and the excuse called "writer's block"
For this edition of Conversations, I speak with writer Apoorva Tadepalli. She writes about literature, history, cities, and work. She’s worked as an assistant editor for Lapham's Quarterly and a fact-checker for The New Republic and Guernica Magazine.
You’ve written for quite a few publications ranging from the literary to the mainstream ones. How do you navigate pitching?
I read what different magazines publish, especially on the subject I’m trying to write about, to decide where to pitch. Usually my pitches share a brief summary of my proposed essay or argument followed by (hopefully) a mention of why it works for this specific magazine. My earliest pieces were for smaller magazines and as I got more work published, editors began approaching me with assignments.
What happens to ideas that sometimes don’t get picked up by any publications?
Sometimes they percolate there at the back of my mind or in my “shelved” folder just waiting for an opportunity, but sometimes—especially for pieces that are timely—I just have to let them go if the moment has passed and my pitches haven’t been accepted. I rarely feel bad when I bury an idea, though. No one’s missing it, and I often just outgrow it on my own.
In India you’ve lived in Bombay and Bangalore both. Which of the two cities would you say is closer to your heart?
It’s not a competition. Every place I’ve lived is close to my heart and critical for my writing, my sense of self, and the season of my life that I’ve spent there.
In your instagram captions, I admire the way you write about home, your grandparents and family life in India generally. Do you ever think of expanding on that in the form of an essay or a short story?
I’m not a fan of personal writing in essays unless it’s in service of some broader criticism, but I do write about my family in fiction and journal entries that I work on for myself. I write about my grandparents because they’re always on my mind and I don’t want to forget anything after they die.
What role do cities and places play in your writing?
People in my writing—whether it’s the “I” in an essay or someone else in a work of fiction—are shaped almost entirely by their sense of place, so cities are characters too. They’re the source of memories and future plans.
Have you ever experienced writer’s block, and how do you manoeuvre around that?
I am usually on deadline, so I can’t really have writer’s block. I’d be curious to see how that excuse would play out with any respectable editor. That isn’t to say I don’t procrastinate—sometimes I do, and the consequences are bad enough that it usually doesn’t happen again. But I also write every single morning, so I’m not saving my words for anything…which I imagine is often the reason for people to have writer’s block.
Being a writer, have you learned a lot of things since your first essay, into your most recent one? How would you say these experiences have changed you as a writer?
I’m definitely a better writer than I used to be. I’m more sensitive to unnecessary bloat or shininess in my sentences. I’m also a better reader, I think, so my later reviews are (hopefully) more well-thought out.
Is there a classic or contemporary book that you tried getting into but couldn’t find your way? Like it just didn’t speak to you the way it did to others?
I can’t for the life of me read epic fantasy. I grew up surrounded by people who were talking about LOTR and GOT constantly and I just never got it. I preferred murder mysteries.
What about a (recent or classic) favourite book that you swear by?
The Pillow Book.
Do you read a lot of contemporary fiction or nonfiction? Or are you a classics person? How do you decide what to read next?
I read the classics a lot for my old job working at a history magazine, but now I prefer reading twentieth-century fiction. Sometimes I move by region; last year I spent a lot of time in interwar and postwar Italy, this year I’ve been in the twenty-first century in France and French territories in Africa and the Middle East.
While reading a book for a review, do you keep running notes? Do you have to re-read the book to arrive at a solid review or do you go about it more on the go?
I always leave notes in the margins to come back to, and I highlight lines that I’m going to collate later.
Are there authors whose books, essays and even the next Insta post is always on your radar?
I’ve been waiting for Erin Morgenstern to write her next novel for years!
Other than books, magazines, what other forms of culture do you surround yourself with?
When I’m not reading, I’m outside; I swim a lot, I play football and tennis, I go to parks. I live in New York so you can walk literally everywhere and it’s perfectly safe. Once it gets cold I go to museums sometimes, but the portion of my brain reserved for art and culture is mostly taken up by literature. When I have a moment to spare I go to the beach.
What are the upcoming 2024 books that you’re looking forward to?
I would swear by anything that New York Review Books or Europa Editions put out!
You’re also pretty active on Instagram. How would you define your interaction in that space?
Right now I’m just consuming. I use my explore page to watch cat videos, get recipe ideas, and look at interior decor or desk setups. It’s just something soothing I do to switch off my brain the way I used to with old reruns.
Does social media have a role to play in your writing or rather creative life?
I don’t post or even take photos anymore (I broke my phone camera) but when I did, instagram definitely played a part in what I noticed around me and how I constructed little stories, for myself as much as for my followers, about my surroundings.
Reccs:
A book criminally under-read: The Bible?
A TV show you can’t stop thinking about even after having seen it 10 (or so) years ago: Harper’s Island
Trick to get out of the non-reading zone: Mystery novels. Bookstagram recommendations.
Emojis you love using: 🪻🌱 🌞🐢 🍪
Your go to exercise to fight a writer’s block: Knowing that there’s no such thing as writer’s block! Some days you make excuses, some days you write.
Read older editions of Conversations here.