"I wasted a lot of time as a young person, when I could have been writing, so I try not to waste time now thinking about worrying about not writing, and just get to the page."
Thank you for this interview. I'm excited to read the book, and I was equally excited to read this paragraph:
I wasted a lot of time as a young person, when I could have been writing, so I try not to waste time now thinking about worrying about not writing, and just get to the page. I have come to understand the value of the messy draft, whereas I used to be clenched in the pursuit of immediate perfection on a sentence level, which was paralyzing, exhausting, and counterproductive.
As someone who does this, I very much needed to read this today as a reminder to stop sabatoging myself and just finish the messy first draft!
It pains me to think about the lives of the two high-profile men you write about. From afar, I liked them both—each in his own way. But they each flew too close to their own narcissism. So, while I’m sure it’s funny I think I’ll take a pass.
To read a funny book about low profile men who don’t exploit women,
That’s your choice. I think my book is quite timely and the literature as well as this site are suffused with stories of flawed, abusive and misogynist men and triumphalist women.Trump and his bro-cronies have certainly added to that narrative. But the men is this book we’re deeply disappointing to me and the author is capitalizing on that. She had to have been an enabler to last as long as she did. Maybe you’re missing something maybe I am. So be it. Don’t miss the “Hands Off” today.
I love thinking about the characters in my memoir having been "pressed into service," as you say, to tell my story. Wow. That says it all! At a recent author event in a South Carolina indie bookstore, my brother was in the audience for the first time (he's in the book). An audience member turned to him and asked, during the Q & A in her southern drawl, "what did you learn about your sister from reading her story?" "I had no idea," he said, "what was going on in her head during the pivotal, fraught family events we both attended, how it felt for her." My dear baby brother, pressed into service twice, on the page and in a public forum: I love you.
thank you for this Laurie and Sari- I LOVED Care and Feeding and I love reading Woolever’s comments here on her process - especially about an hour as early in the day as possible!
Thank you for this interview. I'm excited to read the book, and I was equally excited to read this paragraph:
I wasted a lot of time as a young person, when I could have been writing, so I try not to waste time now thinking about worrying about not writing, and just get to the page. I have come to understand the value of the messy draft, whereas I used to be clenched in the pursuit of immediate perfection on a sentence level, which was paralyzing, exhausting, and counterproductive.
As someone who does this, I very much needed to read this today as a reminder to stop sabatoging myself and just finish the messy first draft!
I love your looking backwards and seeing yourself as you were in your own writing as it brings forth new feelings of how you relate to yourself.
It pains me to think about the lives of the two high-profile men you write about. From afar, I liked them both—each in his own way. But they each flew too close to their own narcissism. So, while I’m sure it’s funny I think I’ll take a pass.
To read a funny book about low profile men who don’t exploit women,
try my “Men as Friends” (Koehlerbooks).
you are missing out, sir, if that is your reason -and also, using this as a way to promote your book? i think i’ll take a pass
That’s your choice. I think my book is quite timely and the literature as well as this site are suffused with stories of flawed, abusive and misogynist men and triumphalist women.Trump and his bro-cronies have certainly added to that narrative. But the men is this book we’re deeply disappointing to me and the author is capitalizing on that. She had to have been an enabler to last as long as she did. Maybe you’re missing something maybe I am. So be it. Don’t miss the “Hands Off” today.
I love thinking about the characters in my memoir having been "pressed into service," as you say, to tell my story. Wow. That says it all! At a recent author event in a South Carolina indie bookstore, my brother was in the audience for the first time (he's in the book). An audience member turned to him and asked, during the Q & A in her southern drawl, "what did you learn about your sister from reading her story?" "I had no idea," he said, "what was going on in her head during the pivotal, fraught family events we both attended, how it felt for her." My dear baby brother, pressed into service twice, on the page and in a public forum: I love you.
thank you for this Laurie and Sari- I LOVED Care and Feeding and I love reading Woolever’s comments here on her process - especially about an hour as early in the day as possible!
It pains me to think about each of the