What a lovely thing to say. Thank you for taking the time to read this Asha. I think stories are so vital as a means to understanding and seeing each other.
I love your thoughts, Beth, about arriving at a book structure. After writing snippets and notebooks, "sometimes years," there does come a day "when all the pieces suddenly fit together and the overall picture becomes clear."
Being at the bulging notebooks stage of my next book, I take special comfort from the "sometimes years" part! This does not happen quickly. I'm doing pretty well at being patient—some days better than others. And I take note of each of the realizations that seems like "this is it!" only to find in a few days or weeks that it doesn't carry the weight after all, as the real spine of a book needs to.
For me a crucial piece of working my way toward the structure of my next book is reflecting in a deep way, over and over, on who I am. Questions like, What is my deepest contribution? How does my writing touch/overlap with my writing buddies, but ultimately depart from each of them? It's the difference part that seems to be leading me forward this time. The clearer I can get on what is uniquely mine to offer, the more the outlines of the book start to materialize out of the fog.
Do you (or anyone else) find that understanding your unique voice or message is part of coming to your book structure?
This is a beautiful way to explore what you have to offer in the world. I absolutely think that exploring our core message - the theme of our life we write over and over and encounter in life over and over in different ways - is related to what we write about. In terms of the structure I can only speak from experience of my own books, but they all serve to support the presentation of my ideas, and all my books are related to my main theme of making the most of this precious life, even if the central topic of each book varies (from freedom to beauty to Christmas etc in my case!). I wonder what your message is emerging as?
Yes, something is emerging! I get more and more excited the clearer it becomes. Am just surprised by how closely it's tied to the book spine. Like, figuring out this WIP is less (way less!) about figuring out the book than it is about figuring out who I am. As a writer.
Thank you Beth and Amanda. The section about shaping a book is timely as I move into the second draft of my WIP. It felt like you were talking directly to me. I loved the vivid description of having your eyeballs rinsed, yes that’s it exactly!
Each answer was a beautiful crafted story in its own right. Your desciption of the process of writing a book sounds like my experience of just writing a Substack post! Thank you Beth and Amanda.
John, you have pinpointed one of the reasons I love Substack - each essay has the opportunity to have its own structure and message and story. In fact perhaps we shouldn't share them until they have all of those things. I am going to think more about this, thank you!
"In fact perhaps we shouldn't share them until they have all of those things." So true, and guilty as charged. I'm going to try harder not to smash that publish button until I've given myself a chance to edit my work. I owe it to the story and to my readers. Thank you, Beth!
I think you owe it to yourself to work at a pace and with a process that is sustainable, that sustains you John. I loved that you held back your recent PFAS essay until it was ready, and that you shared something from your archive to tide us over.
What an amazing story in itself, Beth. All I can say is thank goodness you didn’t become an accountant. I escaped a soulless existence of ‘delivering shareholder value’ just over 10 years ago. Now to find the courage to truly call myself a writer!
Ahh thank you! I was actually just talking with someone today about whether, if I had followed that path, I would still have found a way to turn off it onto this one at some point. Who knows? Good for you for seeking value in what you care about Xx
I LOVE this SOOOO much! These two quotes truly resonate with me:
1- "There are many reasons to love this work, but one of my favourites is that it shows my daughters we can take what is in our heads and hearts and then turn it into physical books in our hands, food on our table, and an interesting life."
2- "Sometimes I just linger in the space left behind by the poem, watch the sun rise, and exhale ink onto the page."
I really needed this today as look at a mass of notes and am humbled by how I will organize them to make meaning.
Always a delight to read Your insights Beth! Every time your words inspire me to put down words/ideas/stories of my own. I hope you will host a writing retreat someday! Or we can just have a pajama party and read in silence all night long :)
I am seeing an exquisite raindrop hanging suspended from a branch, in the sunlight, heavy, about to burst. And when it does, the words will spill and land, scattering wide and far, reaching many hearts.
What an incredible piece - you are a huge inspiration! The doubt will try and creep in but I will continue writing, no matter what, following the trail of magic to see where it will lead me.
I know what you mean about the book feeling like it was always there, almost as if it is waiting to be written. I’m currently writing my debut novel and I really have an intuition that each word already knows its place, I just have to keep on going and allow things to fall into place!
I also love the idea of lighting a candle and reading a poem before writing, so thank you for all your words of wisdom.
"Sometimes I just linger in the space left behind by the poem, watch the sun rise, and exhale ink onto the page." ❤️ This is a wonderful inspiration for me as a poet myself to create my poems for my readers! Thank you, dear Beth!
Thank you, Beth and Amanda. What a lovely way to start my day. Beth your stories were so vibrant and your journey is lighting something up inside me. I’ll be 38 this year and have just started tapping into my inner kid who loves writing so much. Ive always loved reading and writing, but I’ve never cultivated my creative skills or my interests in the way I have over the last 6 months or so - it’s exciting & your stories here feel so resonant.
I love how you followed your interest of all things Japanese, even when it wasn’t (isn’t) a common path! My kids and I are obsessed with Miyazaki’s movies and Japan is definitely on my bucket list - such a beautiful place! Looking forward to getting one of your books from my local library. 🩷🩷
This was absolutely lovely! My heart was in my throat as you explained giving up your "safe" job and choosing to study Japanese - even though I know everything worked out, I am such a creature of habit that I was nervous for you!!
Thank you, Amanda and Beth! Such a rich and moving interview.
Beth, I love the way you pay homage to your mother and her influence on you. Every mention of her at different moments of your life feels so important; she sounds like a remarkable woman.
Loved reading this and it comes at the perfect time for me. After decades of writing exacting features about other people and then dipping into personal essays, I can tell what is best for my brain, body and soul now. It confirms my own experience with an anthology series I dreamed up years ago. Immensely satisfying though not financially rewarding. Now, I need that reckless teenaged courage! Thanks.
Beth, you are a great storyteller, which is a role I have aspired to all my life. Long before I aspired to be a writer.
Thank you for all of these stories. They were the visceral, human touch I needed this morning.
What a lovely thing to say. Thank you for taking the time to read this Asha. I think stories are so vital as a means to understanding and seeing each other.
I love your thoughts, Beth, about arriving at a book structure. After writing snippets and notebooks, "sometimes years," there does come a day "when all the pieces suddenly fit together and the overall picture becomes clear."
Being at the bulging notebooks stage of my next book, I take special comfort from the "sometimes years" part! This does not happen quickly. I'm doing pretty well at being patient—some days better than others. And I take note of each of the realizations that seems like "this is it!" only to find in a few days or weeks that it doesn't carry the weight after all, as the real spine of a book needs to.
For me a crucial piece of working my way toward the structure of my next book is reflecting in a deep way, over and over, on who I am. Questions like, What is my deepest contribution? How does my writing touch/overlap with my writing buddies, but ultimately depart from each of them? It's the difference part that seems to be leading me forward this time. The clearer I can get on what is uniquely mine to offer, the more the outlines of the book start to materialize out of the fog.
Do you (or anyone else) find that understanding your unique voice or message is part of coming to your book structure?
This is a beautiful way to explore what you have to offer in the world. I absolutely think that exploring our core message - the theme of our life we write over and over and encounter in life over and over in different ways - is related to what we write about. In terms of the structure I can only speak from experience of my own books, but they all serve to support the presentation of my ideas, and all my books are related to my main theme of making the most of this precious life, even if the central topic of each book varies (from freedom to beauty to Christmas etc in my case!). I wonder what your message is emerging as?
Yes, something is emerging! I get more and more excited the clearer it becomes. Am just surprised by how closely it's tied to the book spine. Like, figuring out this WIP is less (way less!) about figuring out the book than it is about figuring out who I am. As a writer.
👌
Thank you Beth and Amanda. The section about shaping a book is timely as I move into the second draft of my WIP. It felt like you were talking directly to me. I loved the vivid description of having your eyeballs rinsed, yes that’s it exactly!
Good luck with your WIP Michelle!
Thank you, Beth, that is kind of you.
Each answer was a beautiful crafted story in its own right. Your desciption of the process of writing a book sounds like my experience of just writing a Substack post! Thank you Beth and Amanda.
John, you have pinpointed one of the reasons I love Substack - each essay has the opportunity to have its own structure and message and story. In fact perhaps we shouldn't share them until they have all of those things. I am going to think more about this, thank you!
"In fact perhaps we shouldn't share them until they have all of those things." So true, and guilty as charged. I'm going to try harder not to smash that publish button until I've given myself a chance to edit my work. I owe it to the story and to my readers. Thank you, Beth!
I think you owe it to yourself to work at a pace and with a process that is sustainable, that sustains you John. I loved that you held back your recent PFAS essay until it was ready, and that you shared something from your archive to tide us over.
I appreciate you, Michelle.
What an amazing story in itself, Beth. All I can say is thank goodness you didn’t become an accountant. I escaped a soulless existence of ‘delivering shareholder value’ just over 10 years ago. Now to find the courage to truly call myself a writer!
Ahh thank you! I was actually just talking with someone today about whether, if I had followed that path, I would still have found a way to turn off it onto this one at some point. Who knows? Good for you for seeking value in what you care about Xx
I LOVE this SOOOO much! These two quotes truly resonate with me:
1- "There are many reasons to love this work, but one of my favourites is that it shows my daughters we can take what is in our heads and hearts and then turn it into physical books in our hands, food on our table, and an interesting life."
2- "Sometimes I just linger in the space left behind by the poem, watch the sun rise, and exhale ink onto the page."
I really needed this today as look at a mass of notes and am humbled by how I will organize them to make meaning.
Thank you!
Oh my pleasure Xx
Always a delight to read Your insights Beth! Every time your words inspire me to put down words/ideas/stories of my own. I hope you will host a writing retreat someday! Or we can just have a pajama party and read in silence all night long :)
I will bring the strawberry toothpaste :-)
I am seeing an exquisite raindrop hanging suspended from a branch, in the sunlight, heavy, about to burst. And when it does, the words will spill and land, scattering wide and far, reaching many hearts.
What an incredible piece - you are a huge inspiration! The doubt will try and creep in but I will continue writing, no matter what, following the trail of magic to see where it will lead me.
I know what you mean about the book feeling like it was always there, almost as if it is waiting to be written. I’m currently writing my debut novel and I really have an intuition that each word already knows its place, I just have to keep on going and allow things to fall into place!
I also love the idea of lighting a candle and reading a poem before writing, so thank you for all your words of wisdom.
My pleasure! Good luck with your debut novel. I have so much respect for the imagination it takes to create an entire world for a story.
"Sometimes I just linger in the space left behind by the poem, watch the sun rise, and exhale ink onto the page." ❤️ This is a wonderful inspiration for me as a poet myself to create my poems for my readers! Thank you, dear Beth!
Please spill and share many!
Thank you, Beth and Amanda. What a lovely way to start my day. Beth your stories were so vibrant and your journey is lighting something up inside me. I’ll be 38 this year and have just started tapping into my inner kid who loves writing so much. Ive always loved reading and writing, but I’ve never cultivated my creative skills or my interests in the way I have over the last 6 months or so - it’s exciting & your stories here feel so resonant.
I love how you followed your interest of all things Japanese, even when it wasn’t (isn’t) a common path! My kids and I are obsessed with Miyazaki’s movies and Japan is definitely on my bucket list - such a beautiful place! Looking forward to getting one of your books from my local library. 🩷🩷
What an exciting time for you and your creativity. When we have the courage to lever that crack open an entire world comes pouring in Xx
This was absolutely lovely! My heart was in my throat as you explained giving up your "safe" job and choosing to study Japanese - even though I know everything worked out, I am such a creature of habit that I was nervous for you!!
Thank you, Amanda and Beth! Such a rich and moving interview.
Beth, I love the way you pay homage to your mother and her influence on you. Every mention of her at different moments of your life feels so important; she sounds like a remarkable woman.
She would have called herself ordinary, but I have recently come to understand just how remarkable she was. Thank you for noticing.
Loved reading this and it comes at the perfect time for me. After decades of writing exacting features about other people and then dipping into personal essays, I can tell what is best for my brain, body and soul now. It confirms my own experience with an anthology series I dreamed up years ago. Immensely satisfying though not financially rewarding. Now, I need that reckless teenaged courage! Thanks.