When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
I always wanted to be a writer. I have a really clear memory of being assigned to write a new ending to a Ramona Quimby book in the third grade — I couldn’t get over myself, I just wrote for pages and pages. I was geeked.
It took me a while to realize that the kind of writing I was really passionate about was journalism, more essays, and interviews. My dad brought home the 50th-anniversary issue of GQ, and inside was a collection of the best quotes the magazine had gotten over 50 years. One of them was Donald Sutherland talking about going to his first audition: The casting director said something like, “We’re looking for a boy next door-type. But you don’t look like you’ve ever lived next door to anybody.” Something just clicked. It was absolutely hilarious, almost too good to be true. That was the kind of story I wanted to tell and be told.
What advice do you have for students who are looking to write for a living?
Read everything and write as often as you can. Pay attention to what writers you like, and ones you don’t.
What is something you wish someone told you about the industry when you were first starting out?
When I was in college, I took everything so seriously. I was the opinion editor of my college paper for a long time because I thought that was the only place you could have any fun with your writing, or write with any voice. Probably this was because of how journalism is taught, but it’s just so false: there are plenty of opportunities to write with humor and cleverness and curiosity.
What was your first writing job? What did you learn from it?
I had internships throughout high school and college, mostly doing research and fact-checking and front of book pieces for magazines (Boston mag, O, The Oprah Magazine, etc). The first time I felt like I was writing for real was when I went to Sundance in 2016 with IndieWire and RogerEbert.com. That was some of the most rigorous work I’d done: seeing lots of movies, and pitching my own ideas about them. From there, I did a little bit of freelancing for IndieWire, and it felt like my first stab at being a real writer, not just someone’s intern. I learned a lot about how the entertainment industry works, but even more important, I learned that my biggest asset is trusting my own voice and my own taste.
How do you deal with criticism on your pieces? (From readers, editors, etc)
Writing is so sensitive and mushy and weird. If it’s a piece that needed a heavier edit, I put off revising until the absolute last possible minute until I just must start making changes. Sometimes criticism sticks with me, but usually, it doesn’t. I like to keep myself too busy to sweat the small stuff.
Which of your pieces are you most proud of?
I really loved talking on the phone with Ethan Hawke about First Reformed, ditto the comedian Luenell about A Star Is Born. I’m really proud of writing a little essay about Eighth Grade and Lady Bird and girlhood. It always makes me dumb happy when people talk to me about Lady Bird. This is so extremely lame of me to say but this thing I wrote about Andy Garcia being hot makes me laugh.
Do you have a favorite piece (not written by you) that you always go back to reread or a piece that you always share with other people? If so, what is it?
There are so many of those pieces: I started reading Vulture and New York mag because of the Gossip Girl cover, which is still such a fascinating read. (I also love one of Blake’s quotes: “I thought this was New York Magazine. I thought you were supposed to be classy.”) I’m still trying to figure out how Kyle Buchanan’s interview with Paul Thomas Anderson is such a delight. Doreen St. Felix on Rihanna is required reading. This interview Bilge Ebiri did with Al Pacino floats around my mind all the time. I could go on about this forever, honestly: Alex Jung on BPM, Jada Yuan on Jenny Slate, Allison P Davis on Lena Dunham. These are the first things that come to mind that I re-read a lot.
You can read Hunter’s writing for Vulture here.
Unsung Heroes 