Jen Spyra — ”How much doubt attends every stage of your writing?”

Slow Stories

While some stories remain in your heart, others simply make you laugh out loud. Jen Spyra's storytelling oscillates between the two. You may recognize Jen's work from her roles at revered comedic havens like The Onion and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert or from her bylines in publications like The New Yorker and McSweeney's. Most recently, Jen has channeled her editorial expertise into her debut book. Enter Big Time, Jen's comedic story collection, which has received praise from industry giants like Tina Fey, Jack Handey, and Mindy Kaling.

In Big Time, Jen lends her sharp—sometimes irreverent—comedic voice to fourteen jaw-dropping short stories. While these works may be fictitious in nature, Jen doesn't shy away from using humor to examine the facts of contemporary culture—and in turn, her own life. For Jen, comedy often stems from a place of empathy and paying attention. In this interview, Jen shared more about these ideas, along with the role of pace in her writing process, how she's defined her distinct comedic sensibility, and what instincts she had to unlearn to write Big Time.