Artist, Author and Creative Technologist Roni Leibovitch

This week’s Writer Wednesday features artist, author and creative technologist Roni Leibovitch!

Based in West Bloomfield, Michigan, Roni has been working on and completing many creative projects. Guided by feedback and copy editing from New York Writing Room coach Lizz Schumer, Roni began releasing his serialized Substack project “Henry Plus One.” This creative autofiction tells a timeless story through a sequence of significant events.

Check out his Substack at henryplusone.substack.com. Learn more about Roni below!

What writing projects are you currently working on?

“Am I Talking Now?” is a collection of essays and reflections about things I have no control over, like the economy and where Jupiter is in the cosmos. 

I’m also working on “A Bug, A Bear & A Butterfly” which is a series of the favorite questions my kids asked me over a span of five years or so. Only questions, without answers and I’m creating multi-medium art based on each question curated as a picture book.

What is your favorite part of the writing process?

Re-writing! Raw writing is good, but going back to shape and add depth became more enjoyable than round one. 

What does your writing workspace look like?

A little messy, orderly chaos. A dozen Schneider .8mm pens for freedrawing, many books, and tropical plants, from the ceiling, behind me and all around. My writing workspace also has my favorite tea mug from Grand Marais in Michigan’s UP. 

What area of your interests do you find most exciting to write about, and what draws you to that particular topic?

The unanswerable question, existentialist ideas, the edges of unexplored questions, an attempt to solve all the world’s problems, or at least my Universe’s. Exploring ancestral knowledge applied against modern concepts often motivates me to explore. My Jewishness I think is the fuel to my mind – but I don’t know? 

What is your favorite non-writing hobby?

Sauntering in the Michigan woods, especially if the woods are in the Upper Peninsula. 

What is your favorite piece of writing advice?

Re-write! Writing is a clay to mold, not a one arrow shot. Don’t expect some perfection in fact, it’s like french toast – even on your 100th time making it you might burn it, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make batch number 101, and dedicated specific times! (My favorite is before breakfast, find your creative window.) 

Follow Roni on Instagram at @dot.roni.

— Interview by DWR intern Jenna Hausmann.