Writer vs. Writer: Shannon Waite

What if women’s fiction let you choose your own ending? That’s what first drew me to Shannon Waite, whose debut Raising Women flips the genre with a choose-your-own-adventure style that’s as bold as it is brilliant. I recently sat down with Shannon to talk about breaking narrative rules, writing complex women, and why she’s drawn to stories that live in the mess, not the margins.

• Hi Shannon. Glad to have you here. I want to say, before we move forward, that Raising Women is such a unique experience. I love the choose your adventure style. What made you want to write a novel in this interactive format?

Thank you! A few years ago, I was thinking about my favorite books and how cool it would be to reread them. I mean, of course I can reread them, but think about the magic you get to experience when you read something you love and connect with for the first time; the way you feel like you’re experiencing some new adventure. How cool would it be to read more from your favorite author, in the world you’ve already decided you love? Eventually that thought made me think about the Choose Your Own Adventure brand, which made me think about how the interactive style isn’t typically used in literary fiction. I don’t know if writers think it’s too game-y, childlike, non-typical, or what, but I realized there was some kind of opportunity there. I tabled the idea as something fun, but didn’t know if I’d ever do it. 

Sometime after that initial idea, I had a title, an opening sentence, and then suddenly some inspiration to write something long. When I decided that the time to write that interactive novel was then, I didn’t realize that it would come so easy to me. I loved writing Raising Women and think it worked so well with my writing process and style, which made it so easy for me to finish. What started as the seed of an idea to reread my favorite authors and books turned into the experiment that became Raising Women.

• That's interesting. In the first book, there are 24 different paths in the book. How did you keep track of all the possible directions the story could take without losing the emotional core?
  

One piece of paper with one sentence summaries of the different sections, and a lot of arrows that pointed to the different jumps. Haha. Then when I started writing, the top of each section had something like “1a” “2a” “2b” “3a” etc. so that when choices were given at the end of sections, I could say “Turn to page 2b.” Eventually, when the manuscript was finished and all the text was set on their final pages, those headings were removed, and in the choices you’re given, actual page numbers replaced the numbers and letters so people knew where to jump to.

I go into more detail on how I actually planned and wrote Raising Women (including drawings of this one-page flow-chart/map I’m talking about) on my website. [Link here] In regards to keeping the emotional core, I just made sure that all the choices you’re given will still lead you to a scene that develops the book’s themes. I mean, I imagine it’s like a typical novel-those have many different conflicts happening at once too, the difference is that my conflicts exist sort of on their own planes as opposed to being layered in one continuous plot.

• Impressive. I wouldn't be able to do that without going insane. Have any readers told you about the paths they took through the book and were any of their choices surprising to you?
  

You know, this book is so interesting because when people tell me they have read it, I almost feel like I’m nodding my head and smiling at someone speaking a language I don’t know. Haha. What I mean by that is that I have no idea what story they actually read, even though I wrote the book. Sometimes I just thank them, and sometimes I ask what ending they got, but there are so many ways to get to the endings that I don’t typically ask them to detail everything that happened.

I’ve had people admit to me that they chose what they thought were the ‘safest’ options (and then they usually admit that they realized the options were never really safe). I’ve had people admit that they chose what they would have chosen for themselves in high school. Then others have admitted that they chose whatever was exciting or what they’d want to do now. It’s fun hearing the different ways people have owned the story and made it their own. It also speaks to some of the themes in the book, and how readers making choices interact with those.

• For me, narrative-wise, the way you explore what it means to grow up as a girl in today’s society feels real. What personal experiences or observations shaped that portrayal?
  

Again, thank you. One of the best compliments I can receive is when people say that the book feels real or that they know these girls, because that’s what I was going for. Honestly, I’m a woman who was a girl, so there are many things that happen in the book that were pulled from my experiences, but I will briefly talk about a few. This includes the scene where a man at the restaurant starts asking you about the fake tattoos you put on your cheek, and then his friend asks him why he didn’t get your number (even though you told the man you’re in high school). This actually happened to me when I was sixteen and working at a restaurant. 

Then things like losing friends, searching for someone new you feel you identify with, and keeping secrets all feels relatively universal to girls.

Also, the questions that you and Evan ask each other based on an experiment that says these questions help you connect with someone are real. On a first date I had, I went through these questions with a guy (and they worked!). The date was incredible but never went to date two. The specifics of my date do not happen in Raising Women, but the plot point is, again, inspired by my experiences. In addition to some other things in this book that I personally experienced, there are also many other things in the book that have happened to girls I grew up with. Stories I’ve heard, things I know, journals I’ve read. Also, while this book generally takes place in “a Midwest city” (although a specific place is never actually identified in this book), a lot of the settings I wrote about are based on real places in the Detroit-area in my mind.

4. Were there any specific books or authors that influenced your voice or inspired how you approached Raising Women?

Yes. There are many authors and their books definitely impacted the novel’s voice and stories, such as; Elizabeth Ellen’s Fast Machine, Selah Saterstrom’s The Meat and Spirit Plan, Eliza Clark’s Boy Parts, Miranda July’s No One Belongs Here More Than You, Victoria Lancelotta’s Here in the World, along with many others.

The things these women write about (and in the raw, beautiful ways in which they do) that make women’s experiences so real and uncomfortable and normal, have made me feel seen. Reading their work has also made me a better writer in that it should me the rules they have broken in their stories to create something profound.  These books have been very impactful on my art, and I really value what these women have made.

“Write whatever you want. But know why you're writing it.”

• You claim to be a “transgressive” writer and many told you that your writings are as such. How do you feel about that label, and do you intentionally push boundaries when you write?
  

I love transgressive fiction - writing that challenges social norms, and I try to do that in my own writing. This means that I appreciate when others notice that, because yes I do intentionally push boundaries when I write. Unfortunately, I don’t think I do it enough. What I mean is, I love writing that pushes boundaries to the extreme - satire that undeniably criticizes society in a provocative way. Sometimes my writing does that, but oftentimes I think it’s more subtle than what I like from the things I read. I suppose I just tell the story that my heart is looking to tell in that moment, and sometimes it transgresses more than other things I’ve written and sometimes it doesn’t, but you can bet I’m still definitely critiquing something in it either way.

• Same here. For me, transgressive fiction is the best for women to explore womanhood and what does it mean to be a woman in different societal contexts. I'd like to ask you, if someone wanted to write a book that breaks traditional rules or tackles tough subjects, what would you tell them?
  

My initial reaction is: go for it! Write whatever you want! But then when I stop to think about this question, I have a few more thoughts. First, think about what your purpose is for writing the piece. I’m not a fan of writing things just for the sake of shock-value, especially not if it’s criticizing people, or benefiting from the stories of people suffering. I think if you’re writing stories like this it’s because you’re adding perspective to an important, broader conversation.  Once you’ve decided the purpose for your story, think about the best way to tell it (this includes form, point of view, tense, etc.). One of the many reasons I love that Raising Women is interactive is because that form supports the themes. In a world where women are confined, told who to be, how to be it, etc., this book presents you choices, so it’s almost like there is freedom. Yay! But when you’re only given two choices, is it really freedom? Because you still have to do what you’re told. It’s an interesting way to look at it.  Also, think about what works with your writing style, or what new thing you might be willing to push yourself to do. And then ask yourself: is the topic or writing style something you’d be willing to stand by? What I mean by that is this: if you plan to share it with people, someone’s going to critique it. Are you confident enough in this weird or controversial thing you created that you will be okay with that? 

I love experimenting- writing is fun- but there are small or big consequences that can come with different experiments.

“I love transgressive fiction—writing that challenges social norms.”

• You've got a new book out. “The Women.” Congrats. Tell us about it. Is this a ‘choose your own path too?’
  

When I finished writing Raising Women, I knew I wasn’t done. I mean, the novel was done, but the girls weren’t. They had so many more stories to tell, and so I decided to keep writing, which is how The Women came to be.

Interactive fiction, commonly known by the brand Choose Your Own Adventure is, in a way, like a game. Some video games are told in the interactive story format too, after all. So when I decided to continue writing these girls’ and women’s stories, it immediately felt like an expansion pack. If you’ve ever played The Sims or Roller Coaster Tycoon (or a vast number of other games), you know what those are, but in case you haven’t, expansion packs are additional games you can buy that add onto an original game (so for example in The Sims, you could buy the date night expansion pack which, once you added it to your core game, allowed your characters to get dressed up and go out on dates, which they couldn’t do before). So in this case, my expansion pack The Women allows readers to get to know the original novel’s girls on a deeper level.

So to answer your question, no. You don’t choose a path in this book. Instead, The Women is a gritty, unsettling, and vulnerable short story collection told from the perspective of eleven girls and women from the original novel. Some get one story, some get five, and some get over ten. Honestly, I loved giving voices to the different women. Some of their stories are heartbreaking, some are rage-inducing, some are ‘cheer for her’ moments, and I think they’re all relatable in some sad way. 

Questions I’ve asked myself when writing this book include: is it a short story collection? Or does it work more like a disjointed novel? Is it a prequel or sequel to Raising Women? Or can it be read on its own? But the answer is yes to all of these. It’s some kind of chameleon. Some of these stories take place before Raising Women and some take place after Raising Women, but you also don't need to read Raising Women to read them. 

I don’t know. I’m just out here having fun with the things I write, and if they break rules, I’m okay with that. 

Thanks so much for sitting down with me, Shannon. It’s been such a joy to hear how your work challenges form, feeling, and everything in between. Can’t wait to see where your stories go next.

If you would like to know more about Shannon, contact with her or buy her books, please check the below links:

Website

Instagram

Books