How did you become a writer?

It was a total fluke. At UCLA, my initial plan was to get a bachelor's in mechanical engineering and then a PhD in physical oceanography so I could design, build, and pilot submersibles. I watched a lot of Jacques Cousteau as a kid. But I was bored silly with the science and math courses and took a creative writing class as an elective. I loved it mostly because I loved my classmates—a bunch of renegades and bohemians, so much more interesting than engineering students. That class led to more workshops and an eventual switch in majors to English. 

Name your writing influences (writers, books, teachers, etc.).

I like to answer this by citing some favorite books: Stoner by John Williams, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, So Long, See You Tomorrow by William Maxwell, and Selected Stories by Alice Munro. But probably one of the most important mentors I had was Richard Yates. I met him in a restaurant/bar in Boston when I was 24 and saw him fairly often for a couple of years. He only read one story of mine, which he didn't particularly like, but he served as a model for the type of dedication that a writer needs. 

When and where do you write?

Since I teach full-time, I mostly binge-write during the summer. Every day, all day. 

What are you working on now?

I usually take a break after a book comes out, so that's what I'm doing now, not working on anything. But I'm letting an idea for a short neo-noir novel gestate in my head. 

Have you ever suffered from writer’s block?

Not writer's block, per se, but I have suffered from false starts. In fact, with my last two novels, The Collective and Lonesome Lies Before Us, I wasted a year on each, working on an entirely different storyline before abandoning it and starting what would be the eventual novel. Those weren't fun experiences, but I wonder now if that's become my method for writing novels. Yikes. 

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

I don't know where I picked this up, but the best tip I've ever gotten is to use a kitchen timer (or phone or whatever) when you're slogging. Set it for 20 minutes, and make a deal with yourself. Once you start the timer, you cannot go on the internet, look at your phone, check Twitter or Instagram or Facebook, etc. You can't even get up to go to the bathroom. You can only do one of two things: write, or just sit there. You get so bored, you end up writing. When the timer goes off, take a break, then start the timer again. 

What’s your advice to new writers?

Don't take yourself so seriously. I didn't really improve as a writer until I finally did just that and stopped being so goddamn pretentious. 

Don Lee's latest book, the story collection The Partition, has just been published by Akashic Books. He is also the author of the collection Yellow and the novels Country of Origin, Wrack and Ruin, The Collective, and Lonesome Lies Before Us. He has received an American Book Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction. He lives near Baltimore with his wife, the writer Jane Delury, and directs the MFA program in creative writing at Temple University in Philadelphia. don-lee.com