Every author has a method

Invariably, whenever an author is interviewed, a discussion surrounding this question comes up: Describe your writing process. 

History writer and poet Barbara Krasner, interviewed me recently for her newsletter. Among other topics, we discussed my memoir, Twice a Daughter, and why I decided to write about the search for my birth relatives. She also asked that I expound on how I coax words to the page. 

Here’s an excerpt from our discussion:

“My writing process varies depending on where I am in the development of a piece. It is also dependent on whether I’m working on an essay, column, freelance piece, or a chapter for a book.

I write a weekly blog called That Girl This Life, as well as a monthly column by that same title for my local paper (The Beacher Weekly Newspaper). In my computer, I keep a running list of topics to which I add and delete. The themes for both the blog and column are identity, family, community, and to life’s quirky moments. The pandemic has provided rich material for these essays. For the column, my neighbors and community are my target audience, so I always have them in mind when I develop a piece. Because I have an idea of where I want a piece to go ahead of time, I can crank out a weekly blog or a column in an afternoon or two.

For me, writing a book is a much different process than crafting essays and blogs. I’m currently working on my third book, a coming-of-age memoir about what it was like to grow up as a twin and an adoptee in a large Catholic family. It will be published in May 2024 by She Writes Press. I just completed a collection of essays that I hope to publish, too. For both books, I developed a structured outline with possible chapter titles, themes, and storylines. The outline serves as a guide for the project, but it doesn’t constrain my ideas. I continually add and delete until clarity on the final product is achieved. Sometimes where I thought I was going with a book length work is not where the writing ends up taking me.

When I wrote my first memoir, Twice a Daughter, I was living in Michigan City, Indiana. I have a wonderful writing space there on the second floor. I painted the walls a Tiffany Blue, and there is just enough room for a desk and a printer. Since this room faces south, it’s a heavenly place to write in the mornings. In the afternoons, I write in the kitchen so that I’m near the heart of the house and the coffee maker! In 2020, when I was working on the final edits of Twice a Daughter, I was wintering in a Sarasota condo. There, I wrote at a small desk in the living room with a view of the gulf. When the pandemic hit, I was immersed in final edits. The shutdown afforded me ample time to write all day long. 

I do want to note that it is my habit to precede writing sessions with a meditation. This tends to unlock my brain and grease the pathway for creativity to emerge. If I’m stuck on a passage, I go for a walk and that usually offers some inspiration.”

In addition to what Barbara Krasner and I discussed, I must share that part of my method involves getting up before sunrise, making coffee, and getting to work on an essay or chapter that has been nagging at my subconscious. I let my fingers tap out whatever it is that comes to me, unfettered and unfiltered, and then I take an exercise break. And then in an afternoon writing session (1-3 hours in length), I evaluate what the morning free write produced and start cutting and rephrasing. Much like the making of a good soup or stew, I let these fresh writings sit for a day or two, and then I revisit them again. This is how a blog, column or book chapter comes together for me. 

I believe that this quote sums up my feelings about the process of writing:

“It’s hell writing and it’s hell not writing.
The only tolerable state is having just written.” 
― Robert Hass

This week I will be speaking:

On Feb. 3rd with Cathy Daly’s Booked on Friday Book Club, Hinsdale, IL (virtually, to keep everyone healthy).

On Feb. 7th, I will discuss Twice a Daughter with Danene’s Long Boat Key Book Club.

*****

If you missed the Dropping In podcast (Voice America) featuring the adoption panel discussion with host Diane Dewey, author and activist Marcie Keithley, and me on Friday, Jan. 28th, here is the link.

Just read: Billie Jean King’s autobiography, All In. As a tennis player who learned to play with a wooden Chrissie Evert racquet, this book was like gobbling candy. 

Currently reading: Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. 

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” 
― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

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