I’m so pleased to present this interview with Kate Messner, author of the brand-new SUGAR AND ICE ( Walker, 2010) and THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z. ( Walker 2010 ).
Here, Kate generously discusses writing resilience – having it, pumping it up, and reinforcing its importance in the writers’ journey.
If you struggle with resilience, note how even a natural optimist as Kate is chooses the way she speaks to herself about certain writing events – you can make those choices, too, particularly if you learn and practice the technique of “disputing” pessimistic thinking.
THE IRREPRESSIBLE WRITER: Kate, do you consider yourself a natural optimist, or do you have to work at an optimistic attitude and staying a resilient writer?
KATE MESSNER: I’m naturally pretty optimistic, but truth be told, it’s easy for the publishing industry to make a pessimist of anyone, I think. The journey to a debut novel can be a long one, and as rejections mount, it can be tough to keep that optimistic attitude. I think the best advice I ever heard about this was from a fellow author who suggested that writers interpret each rejection not as a “No,” but simply as a “Not yet.”
TIW: Great advice! What are the specific difficulties you have struggled (and/or continue to struggle) with as part of your writing journey?
KM: Time is always the biggest issue for me, since I also teach middle school full time and have a family. I generally write from 9-11 each night after my kids are in bed, but there are nights when I’m reluctant to open my keyboard, thinking, “Oh, it’s late…I won’t have time to get much done, so I won’t bother.”
TIW: How have you handled these difficulties? What helps? What doesn’t help?
KM: I find that whatever story I tell myself about my writing tends to come true. If I let myself think, “There’s not time to write anything good,” then there’s not. But if I tell myself, “Just write for an hour anyway. Something good will come of it,” that’s usually right, too.
TIW: What is the single most important part of your life (this could be a phrase, a person, a group) that helps you reinforce your resilience as a writer?
KM: Two things: my family and spending time outside. My husband and kids help me remember at the end of the day that a book is just that… a book… and that even if I wrote it, I’m not defined as a person by what anyone – agent, editor, reviewer, or reader – thinks of it. My husband and kids are also an inspiration on another level – all three are hard-working and tenacious. Watching them, especially the kids, makes me want to have an attitude that’s just as positive.
Spending time outside is another gift that helps me to put the world of writing in perspective, as I think it can feel like it’s swallowing you up sometimes. A walk in the woods works wonders.
TIW: How do you see (or not see) your own beliefs about and/or experience with resilience figuring into your characters or stories. Do you want to highlight aspects of resilience deliberately? Or do you find that resilience is simply part of how our characters have to evolve in order to create strong stories?
KM: I’m not sure I ever set out to write stories about resilience, but all my books do have that in common. My agent pointed out to me a while back that even though my books are all different from one another, all of my characters have the common goal of finding their place in the world, on their own terms, and that involves a fair amount of resilience, trying and failing, and trying again. With Gianna Z. it was finding a way to get her school leaf collection project done on her own terms. With Sugar and Ice, Claire had to overcome obstacles in her new skating life and ultimately decide if this was indeed a dream she wanted to choose for herself.
TIW: Is there anything else about persisting, and staying a resilient writer, that you’d like to share?
KM: I like Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent,” and I think that’s really important to remember in a writing life. Someone else will always have better luck with submissions, better sales, a better marketing plan, a better font, nicer cookies at the launch party…you name it. It helps me to remind myself that I’m in it for the writing…for the joy of telling stories. It helps so much to keep that in mind.
TIW: Thanks so much for sharing all your thoughts and feelings, Kate! Warmest wishes for the success of SUGAR AND ICE!
