I don’t recall which author said it, but I’ve always remembered a very specific piece of writing advice:
Write about the things you can’t forget, the things that keep you up at night.
I take that to mean: write about scenes you can’t stop replaying in your head, write about the moments that still horrify and provoke you, write about the events where you’d like to dig a hole in the ground and disappear from the world in which they ever existed.
In the latest Glimmer Train bulletin, Roxana Robinson discusses that impulse—to write toward your anxieties. She says:
All the fiction I write arises from the same sort of impulse: it’s a feeling of discomfort, a kind of unspecified anxiety, a need to uncover something that troubles and disturbs me. I write toward that feeling. I try to explain it to myself in order to disarm it, to rob it of its potency. I don’t know how this explanation will happen. I don’t know how the disarmament will take place, or what else will happen in the process.
Also this month at Glimmer Train:
- Interview with Myla Goldberg by Sarah Anne Johnson
- Interview with Javier Marias by Eli S. Evan
Jane Friedman has spent nearly 25 years working in the book publishing industry, with a focus on author education and trend reporting. She is the editor of The Hot Sheet, the essential publishing industry newsletter for authors, and was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World in 2023. Her latest book is The Business of Being a Writer (University of Chicago Press), which received a starred review from Library Journal. In addition to serving on grant panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Creative Work Fund, she works with organizations such as The Authors Guild to bring transparency to the business of publishing.
[…] Pay More for Everyday Items Science Says: Complaining Is Terrible for YouPTSD in YA LitWrite Toward Your Unspecified Anxieties Ethics in Nonfiction for Kids Picture Books Featuring Modern Native American Families NAJA […]
This idea has come to mind the past week as a way to face my fears. They are especially descriptive and, yes, scenes that play over and over. Thanks for this post.
[…] Write about the things you can't forget, the things that keep you up at night. […]
Thank you. Great article! I found you through Joanna Penn.
I am so glad you posted these links and introduced me too such talented writers. I read this post and the linked articles. These are truly thoughtful writers and they inspire me. I’d love to read more by Roxana Robinson and Javier Marias. All three are lovely pieces. Thank you, Jane!
[…] Write Toward Your Unspecified Anxieties […]
[…] Pay More for Everyday Items Science Says: Complaining Is Terrible for YouPTSD in YA LitWrite Toward Your Unspecified Anxieties Ethics in Nonfiction for Kids Picture Books Featuring Modern Native American Families NAJA […]