Working Windmill |Interview #3 with Tal Heyman

Tal Heyman worked on Issue #7 of Windmill.

Sabrina: Had you heard of Windmill prior to taking the class?

Tal: I have heard of it, but only a little bit as a class that I knew seniors in English Publishing were required to take. I wasn’t that aware of what went on in the class but that it was something related to publishing. People also described it as an internship, so I thought it would be very structural or rigid, but it was actually very fluid and collaborative with the entire group as a team, which I loved.

S: What were you most looking forward to when you started working on your issue of Windmill?

T: I was most looking forward to experiencing what it’s like to create something from nothing (not entirely nothing, since we are getting submissions, but we are working on a blank slate). Reading what people give us for two decades, we could now decide on what we wanted to put out in the world. Going through past editions made me a bit nervous to decide since a lot were very depressing. I remember reading one of the earlier volumes, and I read a story about a mom shooting herself and the daughter finding her and it was so heavy, and I started the next story and the first line was that the grandpa had cancer, and so I knew that with our edition, I did not want stories that were depressing for the sake of being poignant. Stories could be sad and discuss emotions but there could be a hint of some hope that life could get better and that there are people out there who can relate to the feelings you are going through. I am glad to say that we were able to make an edition that did focus on this theme of balancing strong feelings and a light at the end of the tunnel, and I hope that readers are able to find solace within these pages.

S: What was your favorite part of Windmill? Least favorite part?

T: My favorite part is that most of my classes are discussion-, reading-, and writing-based, and I didn't feel like I actually improved on anything or learned that much in the past 3.5 years, but I have gained a lot of knowledge and experience in publishing due to this course. I learned how tiring reading through hundreds of submissions can be, but that spark when you find something truly great makes it all worth it. There were a couple submissions that made me cry because of how emotional and well-written they were. It made me understand the joy of finding a manuscript you love and why literary agents and editors do what they do. My least favorite part is that I enjoyed back-and-forth conversations with the rest of the class and hearing their criticisms over things I might not have thought about on a piece I liked or didn’t like, but sometimes it would feel as if people would nitpick a story for the sake of hating on it and not logically criticizing it. Part of working as a team is knowing that opinions must mesh together and not to be negative just to be negative or be the opposite of other people.  

S: What did you learn from this experience?

T: I was able to gain experience of what goes on in a literary journey, from reading submissions, to choosing the final list, and now editing and going to the final stages of creating the magazine as well as choosing art for the magazine and the cover. I can't wait to continue seeing all the work we did culminate into a physical book. I also learned a lot about collaborating with a team and knowing where to fight for your opinions and where to concede, knowing that there is a vision you have to collectively work for with people who might have differing visions, even completely contrasting opinions. I'm very happy this is a class in the publishing major, and I have gained so much hands-on experience that I hope to use in my career post-graduation.