Summary
In honor of National Reading Group Month (NRGM), on October 18th, the WNBA-NYC hosted a panel discussion entitled The Art of Writing Nonfiction: From Memoir to Investigative Inquiry. The panel highlighted three outstanding and very different authors: Michelle Gadsden-Williams, Joyce Maynard, and Sarah Weinman.
Moderator Roz Reisner opened the evening with a reminder that the WNBA supports ways in which reading brings groups together. The authors then introduced themselves, and the audience members asked questions centered on the writing process. Overall, the authors conveyed that the process for each person is different and that it’s important to find what works for you.
Michelle Gadsden-Williams
Michelle Gadsden-Williams, author of Climb spoke of her metamorphosis as corporate executive turned author. She received the African American Literature Award in the self-help category for her story of how she climbed a steep corporate ladder to the top. Obstacles in her path included 10 years of commuting between Switzerland and New Jersey. Michelle looked at the audience with a candid mix of modesty and radiance, and asked “How crazy was that? […] How we ascend, each to our North Star…isn’t in a playbook for women.”
Michelle took a leap of faith to write full-time. She wanted an understandable, pragmatic story rooted in data. She had help along the way from an editor and her collaborator, Carolyn Brown. To Michelle it was important to use real names. She did, and she is grateful no one sued her. It was “courageous” and she found the process “cathartic.”
Joyce Maynard
Joyce Maynard — memoirist, journalist, novelist — hit the public eye with some notoriety as the muse of JD Salinger. She began writing and publishing in her teens. She smiled at us vivaciously, wide eyed, aware she was in a room full of writers. Her love story with her second husband Jim is the subject of her latest memoir, The Best of Us. It is a beautifully written, deeply personal account of their short time together before Jim died of pancreatic cancer. I found I couldn’t put the book down, even though it was painful and heartbreaking to read.
Joyce’s motto, “type less, think more,” is a philosophy — a trust in the process to sit with your story and to let it grow in your mind.” As for Joyce, she urges writers to ask “What is this book really about?” It’s not about what happened; it’s about what was experienced. She also said, “What never works is to write while you are still hot. You have to cool down. You need emotional truth. How did this story change you?” Another big memoir question that Joyce answered — how do you write about your mother? Joyce’s response was, “Don’t worry about it while you’re writing. Write as if you are an orphan.”
Sarah Weinman
Sarah Weinman, editor of Women Crime Writers, shared her narrative nonfiction epic, The Real Lolita. Her obsession with Nabakov’s Lolita, led to her interest in the real life kidnapping case of 11-year old Sally Horner by Frank Lasalle. Sarah spoke about obsessions and how she nurtured hers until it fruited a novel.
Sarah’s obsession with crime, led her to a forensic science course at NYU. Her writing process entailed a lot of research through city archives, talking to the people who once knew Sally Horner, and journeying to the places where Sally stayed during her capture. She found this last step important in helping her connect to the girl she wanted to faithfully represent on page.
Closing Thoughts
The takeaway from the event was, it’s not about true facts, but about a story that rings true for the author, as the NRGM panelists passionately illustrated.
Want to know even more about the panel? Watch a live stream of it here.
The next WNBA-NYC event is tomorrow night’s Holiday Book Drive and Gift-Wrapping Party. Stop by and help gift wrap books for children in NYC public schools!
Sheila Lewis — WNBA-NYC member since 2010, blogger, and co-recording Secretary. Sheila’s recent projects include editing and project managing the memoir: Joe’s Violin: A Survivor Remembers, (Rachen Press, on Amazon), and co-authoring with Andrea Adler, “Spanda Cards for the Entrepreneurial Spirit: Bridging ancient wisdom and business acumen,” (Beyond Words Publishing, due out 9-25-’18). In her spare time, Sheila teaches meditation, coaches writers, and reads too many children’s books].
