Portland Fiction Project Interview: Jeremy Benjamin

This interview was conducted and transcribed by contributor Spencer Cushing.  You can see what Spencer is up to over on Twitter.

Once again Reading Local sits down with a member of the local writing workshop group, the Portland Fiction Project. Jeremiah Benjamin is no stranger to fiction, having started writing since the 3rd grade. Jeremiah is the author of a collection of short stories titled If I Catch You Reading This published through InkWater Press here in Portland, OR. When we met at the Aliviar Coffee House, he approached on Bike, his distinctive red hair bouncing from beneath his helmet. It’s when I sat down with him that I realized he’s a controlled ball of energy and man with many projects on his plate. He’s a writer, an actor, a man with a quirky take on the world and an all around friendly guy.

Reading Local: You’re a member of the Portland Fiction Project. Tell us about that.

Jeremy Benjamin: So the PFP is basically a critique group for local authors. Portland based. Originally the gimmick was one story a day. So seven authors each bring in one a week. So there’s something fresh and original every day of the week. The unique asset of the group is the relentless output.

So the basic structure is, every week, our leader gives a prompt word that can be interpreted as loosely or as figuratively, or as literally, or as not-at-all as we feel inspired that particular week. Usually very loose parameters, no particular length or style, but every once in a while, to spice things up, he’ll give us a little challenge.

RL: How has PFP affected your writing? Have you seen it change the way you write?

JB: I write a lot more often now. [Laughs] Well at first, before I joined I was kind of in the midst of a…I don’t like to use the “Writer’s Block,” because that’s not-there’s no such thing. That’s just a cop-out for any number of things. I mean, having the pressure, knowing that people are relying on you to write a story every week that definitely helped me get over whatever reason I wasn’t writing at the time. That was pretty significant.

Usually you think of writers as these really solitary, introverted people locked in a basement. But having a group, I mean we’ve known each other for a couple of years. You know we have a certain chemistry, we know each other’s styles really well and we can give really pertinent critiques. We can say this kind of reminds me of this one theme you were playing with in stories you had last year, and it’s interesting that you’re going this direction. We inspire each other sometimes. We just have a lot of fun with it.

Sometimes one of us will kind of mimic another persons story, you know, with their own spin on it.

RL: What’s your Process for Writing?

JB: I do have kind of a regimented routine. I hate to admit that. So, Wednesday night we meet and discuss, we get our prompts, we get our assignments. Thursday is usually when I do the bulk of my revision work. I’ll take down a lot of notes on people’s comments.. I’ll kind of look it over, I’ll process it and I’ll do few rounds of revision. The first round I’ll do just the surface things. Correcting all the grammar, little things like that. Then I’ll do a more in depth round. I’ll usually do about four or five rounds until I’m satisfied with it.

So I’ll usually send in my revision Saturday morning. I like to take at least one full day to not think about my next story, to not think about fiction. Who coined the phrase, “the creative power of doing nothing?” That principle applies.

Sunday I will start bouncing around ideas. Also, I keep a notebook of random thoughts that will hit me at any given time. I’ll kind of plant little seeds of things that should or maybe shouldn’t be a part of a story. If I’m not feeling inspired, I’ll pick up my notebook, I’ll flip through it and I’ll look for something from the past. I’ll say, “Oh yeah, I’ll go with that this week. I’ll see what comes out of that.” …So by the end of Sunday, I’ll have a pretty good idea of where I’m going with it and then, Monday and Tuesday, I’ll usually sit down and flesh something out.

RL: So you have a collection of Short Stories out through Inkwater Press called If I Catch you Reading This. What was the process of pulling those stories together?

JB: Well the idea came to me from another group alumni. Tim Josephs. Before I started he had just finished his collection of stories. So when I first joined I always had in my mind that once I hit a certain volume of output that I would want to follow in his footsteps; that the entire group would. We would want to make that a group tradition. Eventually we’d each have our own book that we’d be toting around.

I’m a pretty mathematical guy. I had a certain number in my head. I said once I get to 50 stories then that’s when I’m going to start thinking about it. So I got to 50 and I thought, “Well, 50 does that really have any numerical significance? Maybe I should make it 52.” Because there’s 52 in a deck of cards. So after my 52nd story I said, “Alright, that’s 52, now let’s sit down…”

Before I thought about finding a publisher, I went through all my stories and I said, “Ball park figure, how many stories would be reasonable to put in a collection.”

So I just started browsing through all my stuff and basically, picking and choosing which ones I personally liked the best. But I was aware of which ones got the most reactions from people.

Then I basically went through each one and did a more intensive round of editing.

RL: Besides writing, what keeps you busy?

JB: I’d say mostly internet Porn. [Laughs] No.

RL: I’m putting that in there.

JB: [Laughs] Acting is my other main interest at the moment.

RL: You’re in a series of web episodes. What’s that called?

JB: The FreeBox. It’s a comedic series. It’s a cross between Seinfeld and I forget what else. [Laughs]

RL: An Interview wouldn’t be complete without an Author question. Is there a Portland Author you recommend?

JB: Recently, I had the pleasure of reading Monica Drake’s Clown Girl (Hawthorne Books). Which I liked very much. It’s been advertised as a very emblematic story for Portland culture, which I definitely agree with. It very much represents the bohemian arts culture of Portland in a very moving way.

RL: Thank you very much for taking time with Reading Local.

JB: Thank you.

Check out Jeremy’s first essay for Reading Local here, and more of his writing for PFP here.  And don’t forget to check out the Portland Fiction Project 7pm on July 6th at the Maiden.