JASON REYNOLDS AND JASON GRIFFIN ON AIN’T BURNED ALL THE BRIGHT
Reynolds: I’ve been around your work for half my life, and I’ve seen it go through all sorts of changes. What sparks the change? What makes you say, “Okay, now I’m going to try and do it this way?” Or is your approach always the same and the outcome is just different?
Griffin: I think the truth lies somewhere between having an approach that is similar while at the same time trying to mix it up. With any project I’m working on, I always tend to make a lot. I wish I had the ability to just create the thing on the first try, but that rarely happens. Creating art is a process of trial and error and allowing space for happy accidents. So, in a sense, I always push myself to make an abundance of work, and play as much as possible, and that sets me up to create things that are different than what I’ve done in the past. And on that note, you, sir, share the same strength of locomotion. You don’t stop and are extremely prolific. What are some of the things you do to keep the process fresh?
Reynolds: I think for me it’s just about curiosity. I want to make the things I haven’t seen. Does that mean they don’t exist because I haven’t seen them? Not necessarily. As a matter of fact, I don’t think there are too many stones unturned at this point, at least in literature. But I do think my point of view is all that’s necessary to inject freshness into an already explored thing. In order to keep my point of view evolving, I try to live a curious life. I try to be open to all there is to know. I try to hear and see the world with a childlike wonder. And then I try to write with a kind of recklessness—a looseness—to see how my current voice translates without fear of judgment. Writing, or maybe the creative life in general, is all an exercise in becoming.