Tanaïs Writes Their Drafts At Night and Revises During the Day

Tanaïs’s novel Stellar Smoke explores themes of grief, artificial intelligence, and human connection through the story of a musician interacting with her deceased mother, who exists as a machine consciousness. The book’s origins trace back to the 1980s, when the author, as a young child, watched cartoons like Jem and the Holograms. The show’s premise—a young woman named Jerrica transforming into a rock star named Jem with the help of Synergy, an artificial intelligence based on her late mother—left a lasting impression on Tanaïs. This childhood experience planted a seed that later developed into the novel’s central themes. The book is not a critique of AI but rather a reflection on human relationships and emotional dependence. Tanaïs describes the writing process as relentless, noting that the emotional weight of such themes makes writing feel harder than even difficult conversations.

Tanaïs writes their first drafts at night, from 9 PM to 5 AM, a period they describe as the time when 'the veil is thin'—a metaphor for the boundary between the waking world and the subconscious. They prefer writing by candlelight with a dimmed computer screen to create a dusk-like ambiance, often writing by hand without glasses to feel closer to the words. This tactile approach is liberating for Tanaïs, who has a visual disability. The early stages of a book are always handwritten, requiring later transcription into legible text. Tanaïs mentions that this nighttime routine has been consistent since infancy. However, during the final revision phase, they switch to daytime hours, finding daylight’s clarity and structure helpful for refining their work. The contrast between nighttime creativity and daytime precision is a deliberate part of their creative process.

Kiese Laymon, a prominent writer and professor, had a significant impact on Tanaïs’s writing education. While at Vassar College, Laymon saw a play written and directed by Tanaïs about four South Asian femme friends dealing with the aftermath of a suicide. Impressed by Tanaïs’s work despite their young age, Laymon became a mentor figure. Tanaïs credits Laymon with teaching them to 'let the sentences breathe' and to embrace revision as a liberating process. Laymon’s emphasis on Black love, freedom, and art deeply influenced Tanaïs’s approach to writing. The two later reunited to launch Tanaïs’s book Stellar Smoke at The Center for Fiction, highlighting the enduring impact of their mentorship.

Tanaïs cites David Lynch’s film Mulholland Drive as a cultural touchstone they could not live without. Released in 2001, the film left a profound impression on Tanaïs, who watched a bootleg DVD of it 20 to 30 times while studying abroad in Nairobi in 2003. They describe the film as a 'queer femme masterpiece' and praise its blend of mystery, sexuality, power struggles, and surreal beauty. The film’s themes of identity, illusion, and emotional complexity resonate deeply with Tanaïs’s own artistic sensibilities. They highlight the chemistry between actors Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring as a standout element of the film’s emotional impact.