by Writing Workshops Staff
A day ago
There is a moment in Alyssa Songsiridej's debut novel, Little Rabbit, when the unnamed narrator finds herself suspended between desire and fulfillment, caught in what Anne Carson calls the "bittersweet" space of longing. It's a feeling most writers know intimately—that exquisite tension before the story resolves, before the characters touch, before the page turns. But few understand how to architect that ache with the precision Songsiridej brings to her craft.
"I think when we talk about intimate scenes and relationships, we jump straight to 'how to write a sex scene,' while missing the real question: why do we write a sex scene?" Songsiridej explains during our conversation about her upcoming seminar for WritingWorkshops.com. "What is the emotion behind it, and how do you write that feeling?"
It's a question born from an incredible literary journey. Before becoming a National Book Foundation 5 under 35 honoree and a finalist for both the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Hemingway Award, Songsiridej moonlighted as an editor at an erotic e-book company. Later, as managing editor at Electric Literature and an instructor in Temple University's MFA program, she worked with stories that would appear in Best American anthologies. Through this dual perspective—genre and literary, commercial and artistic—she discovered something crucial: the most powerful intimate scenes aren't about what happens between bodies, but what happens in the space between wanting and having.
"Your only job as a writer, each day, is to do the day's writing, as well as you can," she says, echoing advice that has sustained her through the daily practice of her craft. "It's not to write a whole book." This philosophy of incremental precision extends to her approach to longing on the page—building desire not through grand gestures, but through the accumulation of small, devastating moments.
Her upcoming class, Distance, Intimacy, and the Page: On Longing in Fiction, promises to decode these moments.
Students will examine how authors like Garth Greenwell, Elif Batuman, and Miranda July create what Carson describes as the fundamental condition of desire: the simultaneous presence of lack and fulfillment. They'll learn to think strategically about how emotion drives narrative meaning, how to generate scenes that crackle with unresolved tension, and most importantly, how to make readers ache for what might never come.
"I honestly don't feel like I get to choose what I'm working on," Songsiridej admits. "More often than not, it chooses me." Perhaps that's the secret to writing longing—recognizing that the best stories, like the most profound desires, arrive unbidden and demand to be followed to their natural conclusion, even when that conclusion remains beautifully, achingly out of reach.
Below is our interview with Alyssa on Longing in Fiction:
Writing Workshops: Hi, Alyssa. Please introduce yourself to our audience.
Alyssa Songsiridej: I'm the author of Little Rabbit, a novel about art-making, the creation of the self, and desire, that was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Hemingway Award. I'm also a 2022 National Book Award 5 under 35 (although I'm now over 35) and a former literary magazine editor.
Writing Workshops: What made you want to teach this specific class? Is it something you are focusing on in your own writing practice? Have you noticed a need to focus on this element of craft?
Alyssa Songsiridej: I think when we talk about intimate scenes and relationships, we jump straight to "how to write a sex scene," while missing the real question: why do we write a sex scene? What is the emotion behind it, and how do you write that feeling?
Writing Workshops: Give us a breakdown of how the course is going to go. What can the students expect? What is your favorite part about this class you've dreamed up?
Alyssa Songsiridej: I'm going to want to hear from you about your favorite novels featuring longing, and we're going to talk about how the authors achieve this sense of distance and intimacy. I'm also going to analyze a few of my favorite works that I think illustrate the craft of longing brilliantly, and run through a few generative exercises with the students.
Writing Workshops: What was your first literary crush?
Alyssa Songsiridej: Wow, that is hard. Sheila Heti?
Writing Workshops: What are you currently reading?
Alyssa Songsiridej: The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
Writing Workshops: How do you choose what you're working on? When do you know it is the next thing you want to write all the way to THE END?
Alyssa Songsiridej: I honestly don't feel like I get to choose what I'm working on—more often than not, it chooses me. Then I have to make sure I'm putting enough time and energy into it to follow it to its natural conclusion.
Writing Workshops: Where do you find inspiration?
Alyssa Songsiridej: Inspiration hits me in the most random places, but usually from other forms of art—movies, music, etc.—and also life. The most random encounter on the subway can lead to a short story.
Writing Workshops: What is the best piece of writing wisdom you've received that you can pass along to our readers? How did it impact your work? Why has this advice stuck with you?
Alyssa Songsiridej: Your only job as a writer, each day, is to do the day's writing, as well as you can. It's not to write a whole book. As writers, we can sometimes get overwhelmed and intimidated by where we want to go. It's important to have goals, but to remember that the real work of writing is in the day-to-day effort.
Writing Workshops: What is your favorite book to recommend on the craft of writing? Why this book?
Alyssa Songsiridej: I'd actually recommend THE CREATIVE HABIT by Twyla Tharp, who is not a writer but a dancer. But I think there is a lot we can learn from studying other disciplines, and figuring out how to maintain stamina and curiosity throughout this process.
Writing Workshops: Bonus question: What's your teaching vibe?
Alyssa Songsiridej: Rigorous goof meets The Fielder Method
Learn more about Alyssa's upcoming seminar, Distance, Intimacy, and the Page: On Longing in Fiction, and sign up now before the class is sold out.
Instructor Alyssa Songsiridej is a National Book Foundation 5 under 35 honoree and the author of Little Rabbit, a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Hemingway Award and, according to Carmen Maria Machado, “a love letter to bottoming and being an artist and following yourself to the end of everything.”
