Christina Bagni
Hello! My name is Christina Bagni, and I live in Boston, Massachusetts.
Question 1: How have your past experiences influenced you as a writer?
Wholly. Everything I write is heavily influenced by my past experiences. The poem that was published in Livina, "I do not miss the spring," was based off of a fling I had that lasted just over one spring season, for instance. I think grounding your work in your experience is the best way to make genuine art. Even if you've never experienced something directly (like lots of things in sci fi/fantasy writing), it helps to think of something similar that you have experienced. For example, you may never have taken off on a spaceship, but maybe you've been on a plane, and a roller coaster, so you can combine those experiences to write something believable.
Question 2: What have you written that you're the most proud of?
My first novel, My Only Real Friend is the Easter Bunny at the Mall, was published by Deep Hearts YA in the Spring of 2023! It is available at: linktr.ee/christinabagni
Question 3: What do the words “writer’s block” mean to you?
"It's time for a break." Being obsessed with outlines helps with writer's block—if you know the ending and you know the next step you need to get to, well, you always know what to do next. But if I'm staring at the blinking cursor on my Word doc for more than a few moments, it really just means my brain is tired and needs a break. Or a snack.
Question 4: What is your writing process like? Are you more of a plotter or a pantser?
Oh, a plotter. To the max. I have notebooks, charts, graphs, chapter-by-chapter outlines—I use Excel sheets a lot to track scenes and character development. I find it's so helpful to know where you're going and what you want to say before you begin trying to say it. I honestly have no idea how anyone "pantses" successfully—if you're a pantser, you're basically a wizard to me!
Question 5: If you could spend a day with another popular author, whom would you choose?
Madeline Miller. I'd start a campfire and ask her to tell me obscure Greek myths in the firelight. I make a good s'more and she tells a good story—it'd be great. Or Taylor Jenkins Reid. Turns out we went to the same college, and even lived in the same dorm building (not at the same time). I am SURE we could bond over the chaos that was Emerson's Little Building pre-renovation.
Question 6: What is the most valuable piece of advice you’ve been given about writing?
Honestly, to pay attention to theme. I think people get hung up on plots and characters, and then on writing pretty descriptions, etc.—but what is a piece of writing really about, when you strip away all the details? The theme. Developing a strong theme IS the difference.
Question 7: What do you think is the best way to improve writing skills?
For fiction, study stories. Yes, when you read, but all stories. When you watch a sitcom, pay attention to how the writers tied the A and B plots together. When you watch stand-up, pay attention to how the comic foreshadows and calls back to earlier moments to enhance the joke. Books are the best teacher for writing books, but stories are everywhere. Mindfully engaging with stories is the best way to improve your own skill. For poetry, I'll leave it at this: make the familiar strange and the strange familiar.
Question 8: Are there any books or authors that inspired you to become a writer?
My friends all know the story of how I first decided to try writing fiction. I was 12, my dad was watching Fantastic Four (2005), and I thought it was so boring. I said to myself, "Jeez, I could do better than this." Then I stole a legal pad from my mom's desk and just started writing. A year later, I had a 300-page superhero novel. I learned to type because of that book, I learned the basics of storytelling (I remember thinking to myself, "I need something big to end on..." before deciding, "What's a bigger climax than Mars literally crashing into Earth?"), and most importantly, I learned that I loved writing. A story people know less is how John Green's Looking for Alaska shaped my writing when I was about 15. I had written another book by this point but was feeling really disappointed with both of them, without really knowing why. Then I read LFA—mostly in tears—and realized I didn't want to write superhero action books, but books that really have an emotional effect on the reader. Books that stick with you and, well, make you cry. I got into poetry much more recently, and my inspiration for that was much less singular. Essentially, the online poetry community on TikTok, Twitter (rip), YouTube, etc. was so raw and real, and I wanted to be a part of it. It was like a whole new world of writing, and I loved learning the ropes along with such a supportive group of artists.
Question 9: What do the words “literary success” mean to you? How do you picture it?
I would really like to see my books (and other writing) grow a fanbase someday, a "small but passionate" fanbase. I always find that those are the best! I write young adult fiction and especially for teenagers, so my goal is to write the kind of book I needed at that age, the kind of book that would have rocked my worldview and inspired drawings of main characters in the margins of my math homework.
Question 10: How many books have you written and which is your favorite?
Oh gosh...I think about a dozen that I've finished? I started writing when I was 12, so the large majority are very...um...let's just say, they're never going to see the light of day! Only one has been picked up for publication, so it's between that one ("My Only Real Friend is the Easter Bunny at the Mall") and the book I'm pitching to agents right now. Wish me luck, friends!