Anne is such a beautiful character to relate to. My kids cheered when we finished the book. 🩵 I love what Amy said about working hard on the process and worrying less about the end result. I also love seeing glimpses of people’s writing space. Thanks Amanda & Amy!
"I’ve applied all the writing advice and have literally edited myself down to a blank page. It felt like a constant game of Twister. I’d have one hand on red, put my foot on green, and keep going like that. My voice just got so awkward and self-conscious that it couldn’t hold itself up anymore."
I appreciated this so much. I do use an AI-based editing tool to catch basic grammar stuff that I'm really bad at, but I balk at the way it attacks my word choice or sentence structure. And then you add actual people on top of that who all have opinions about your style. I'm glad that Amy has gotten so clear about preserving her own voice, which it seems to me is supposed to be the point of the creativity business. I hope folks reading this will take it to heart for themselves as well.
such great questions posed at the end of this terrific interview
One way my writing changed over time is that I began to see it all as a lifelong body of work ... when I was younger, each individual piece of writing mattered so much. Today, it matters in that moment of working on it but also it isn't the be all, end all. I give myself to it then I release it into the world and let it find who it's meant to find. I keep working on the whole body ... and I follow my curiosities more easily because I recognize that if I could look back from a vantage point of 100 years from now the whole trajectory will make sense even if it's all confused meandering paths now
Hi, I really enjoyed this interview, thanks Amy and Amanda! I’m not a writer, I’m an illustrator, and I came back to art in my late thirties (nearly ten years ago) after a childhood and teenage good drawing all the time, and a belief I would be an “artist” when I grew up. I really relate to what you say about developing your practice. The main thing I feel it’s about it learning self trust. At first you feel there are some rules to follow, and you will be there, but as you say, that leads you to a point where all you can do is blend in with your talent in the most bland way, so then you have to start to break the rules and find your own voice. I think working consistently is really important (for me anyway), and having a daily practice means that I get more and more fluent. I know what I want to do (mostly) when I approach the paper, and my intuition races ahead of my judging, critical brain. Anyway, I’m getting carried away, thinking about the creative process! So interesting to read your journey. I am in the middle of an ADHD diagnosis and it has been very healing, and helps me understand many things in my past that I couldn’t understand why I did. And now I am learning to allow myself to be, without trying to constantly tidy myself up, and tightly pack myself away always!
Much the way Amy connected with the character of Anne from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s books, the first character in a book that I remember relating to was Jess Aarons in Bridge to Terabithia. There was this shared experience of rural poverty, but more importantly, as a child I often escaped into a world built by my own imaginative interactions in the woods near my home. I was deeply disappointed in the film adaptation. When reading the book, your imagination builds Terabithia as much as the imaginations of Jess and Leslie. While it is a story that teaches the hard lessons of loss, it also teaches the importance of living in the moment. It might be the only book from childhood that I revisited as an adult.
This is such a generous and perceptive interview! Sometimes I wonder if the most unique and smartest voices aren't the most vulnerable to self-doubt and "editing down to a blank page" while others blaze on confidently ahead.
I just realized that today is the day I have on my calendar to reach out to see if you would like to set up virtual tea. But also that notes on each others walls (or whatever these are called) is how we communicate. I’m reachable via my full name at gmail. If you’d like to coordinate. If you’re still feeling like your plate is full, no worries at all. Time is sort of imaginary anyway.
Anne is such a beautiful character to relate to. My kids cheered when we finished the book. 🩵 I love what Amy said about working hard on the process and worrying less about the end result. I also love seeing glimpses of people’s writing space. Thanks Amanda & Amy!
"I’ve applied all the writing advice and have literally edited myself down to a blank page. It felt like a constant game of Twister. I’d have one hand on red, put my foot on green, and keep going like that. My voice just got so awkward and self-conscious that it couldn’t hold itself up anymore."
I appreciated this so much. I do use an AI-based editing tool to catch basic grammar stuff that I'm really bad at, but I balk at the way it attacks my word choice or sentence structure. And then you add actual people on top of that who all have opinions about your style. I'm glad that Amy has gotten so clear about preserving her own voice, which it seems to me is supposed to be the point of the creativity business. I hope folks reading this will take it to heart for themselves as well.
Truth! The homogenous voices are vulnerable to AI.
Every writer who can coherently put their words together has their unique audience.
Sometimes a 'diagnosis' gets in the way of our development and ability to adapt.
such great questions posed at the end of this terrific interview
One way my writing changed over time is that I began to see it all as a lifelong body of work ... when I was younger, each individual piece of writing mattered so much. Today, it matters in that moment of working on it but also it isn't the be all, end all. I give myself to it then I release it into the world and let it find who it's meant to find. I keep working on the whole body ... and I follow my curiosities more easily because I recognize that if I could look back from a vantage point of 100 years from now the whole trajectory will make sense even if it's all confused meandering paths now
Wow, such a fascinating interview. It was great to hear about Amy and her writing. Such brilliant insights. Thank you, both!
Hi, I really enjoyed this interview, thanks Amy and Amanda! I’m not a writer, I’m an illustrator, and I came back to art in my late thirties (nearly ten years ago) after a childhood and teenage good drawing all the time, and a belief I would be an “artist” when I grew up. I really relate to what you say about developing your practice. The main thing I feel it’s about it learning self trust. At first you feel there are some rules to follow, and you will be there, but as you say, that leads you to a point where all you can do is blend in with your talent in the most bland way, so then you have to start to break the rules and find your own voice. I think working consistently is really important (for me anyway), and having a daily practice means that I get more and more fluent. I know what I want to do (mostly) when I approach the paper, and my intuition races ahead of my judging, critical brain. Anyway, I’m getting carried away, thinking about the creative process! So interesting to read your journey. I am in the middle of an ADHD diagnosis and it has been very healing, and helps me understand many things in my past that I couldn’t understand why I did. And now I am learning to allow myself to be, without trying to constantly tidy myself up, and tightly pack myself away always!
I love Elisabeth Gilbert! When she replies to one of my letters from love, I die. ❤️
Much the way Amy connected with the character of Anne from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s books, the first character in a book that I remember relating to was Jess Aarons in Bridge to Terabithia. There was this shared experience of rural poverty, but more importantly, as a child I often escaped into a world built by my own imaginative interactions in the woods near my home. I was deeply disappointed in the film adaptation. When reading the book, your imagination builds Terabithia as much as the imaginations of Jess and Leslie. While it is a story that teaches the hard lessons of loss, it also teaches the importance of living in the moment. It might be the only book from childhood that I revisited as an adult.
Amy,
you are a writer in the truest sense of the word. Don't ever stop. Keep modeling what is possible.
Pat
This is such a generous and perceptive interview! Sometimes I wonder if the most unique and smartest voices aren't the most vulnerable to self-doubt and "editing down to a blank page" while others blaze on confidently ahead.
We all help each other. I am keeping my eyes out for memoir publishers.
I just realized that today is the day I have on my calendar to reach out to see if you would like to set up virtual tea. But also that notes on each others walls (or whatever these are called) is how we communicate. I’m reachable via my full name at gmail. If you’d like to coordinate. If you’re still feeling like your plate is full, no worries at all. Time is sort of imaginary anyway.