SO Good Interviews Kevin Keck

Memoirist Kevin Keck will visit campus Tuesday, Sept. 9. He will give a lecture at 2:30 and read some of his new work at 6 p.m. in Powers 29. Both events are free and open to the public.

Keck has published two memoirs Oedipus Wrecked and Are You There God? It's me Kevin. SO Good sat down with Kevin to ask him some questions.

SO Good:
Your book Oedipus Wrecked was originally a series of essays on Nerve.com. How difficult was it to publish through Nerve?

Kevin Keck:
I got lucky. I found an editor with a sympathetic ear who was willing to help me craft the first essay I published there (which had been sitting around for three years prior to that). After that, it was pretty easy, because I felt like I had the form down.

SG:
Do you find it hard to censor yourself in your writing either because of family concerns or personal feelings?

Keck:
I try not to censor myself, but obviously, if someone is still alive and I have to deal with them, I'd be a liar if I said it didn't impact me in some capacity. I try not to misrepresent others, but I'm pretty honest about my own actions.

SG:
Is it difficult for you to write publicly about such personal matters?

Keck:
No, I think there's not enough writers who accurately account for the intimate minutiae of existence. I actually feel I have an obligation to record every aspect of existence so that people now and in the future can perhaps have some sense that their experience of living is one that is shared and transcends time.

SG:
Was any member of your family concerned about Oedipus Wrecked--that you would be sharing too much?

Keck:
I don't think we really talked about it. I didn't really talk to them about my work until that book, because then I had no choice.

SG:
How much time do you spend revising your work?

Keck:
It depends. Magazine/web pieces usually get written right before the deadline. I tend to draft in my head, then just sit down and write in a frenzy. But where Oedipus Wrecked was concerned, I spent years reworking those essays. They're a lot tighter than how they were originally printed. For the latest book, Are You There God? It's Me. Kevin., I wrote it in six weeks. That was somewhat purposeful, as I wanted to capture a certain immediacy of emotional experience. I revised it once, over two or three days, but that was it. I wanted the prose to have a loose, meandering, raw feel.

SG:
When meeting someone who has read your books is their a moment of awkwardness that happens since your stories are so personal?

Keck:
I really don't think about it unless they bring something up. I have a great capacity for forgetting what I've written, so it doesn't cross my mind until later when I think, "Oh, that person has read a very graphic account of me losing my virginity, and we just spoke about the weather for five minutes."

SG:
How much of your memoirs are truth and embellished truth?

Keck:
They are all true for the most part, but I'm not a journalist--my job is to tell a good story. I do adjust time lines when it's necessary to place two events closer together for narrative purposes. And when I do embellish, I try to give my readers textual clues. Often the more fantastical things happen in my books when the narrator version of me is in an altered state of being, or I will allude to some piece of literature that should clue the reader into the fact that things may not be as accurate as they seem. If a reader gets that, great; if not, oh well.

SG:
In Wrecked the image of you masturbating on your knees seems to have religious connotations. How much does religion play into sexuality in your writing?

Keck:
Well, I am obsessed about death. I'm not pleased about the fact that we are finite beings, but what can I do? Have sex and hope there's a God and a Heaven, that's about it, so I would say that all of my writing is about religion and sexuality in some way.

SG:
What can we expect next from the Keck?

Keck:
I've been wondering about that myself. I have a novel done, but I want to release it as a serialized piece in a periodical, or as some sort of digital book you can print at home. It's too easy for novels to get swallowed in the ocean of books these days, and I want to do something different. Other than that, I've got two books of non-fiction sketched out that are purely to please my agent and make money. I don't like to admit that, but the reality of being a working writer with three children is that sometimes you have to write some commercial, soul-sucking tripe. But I can assure you: it will be well-written, funny, soul-sucking tripe.

SG:
What advice would you give to young writers trying to get their name out?

Keck:
Go into investment banking. Seriously. This is a lonely profession, and the odds favor misery over success. But if someone wishes to ignore my advice, then I would say this: writing a job; treat it like a job. Be disciplined about it. But writing is also a mysterious process, so be reverent about its mysteries. If you work hard, if you read the kind of work you want to write, then success will follow. Also, get an agent. The publishing business is still part of the entertainment industry, and if you want to be a choice cut of meat, you need a good butcher.

For information about Kevin Keck, visit his website at www.thekeck.com or his blog kevinkeck.wordpress.com.