Paula McLain On Writing - The National Post

A fantastic article about being a woman, writer, and mother by The Paris Wife author. Paula McLain: A room, a cranny, a borrowed (public) chair of one's own - published in The National Post, March 22, 2011.

Modern Writing and Reading, My Month of Firsts

As a writer, reader, and avid book buyer, the month of March has been a big month for me. I will ALWAYS support the printed, paper book. I don't care how many trees it saves to use other formats, the feel of a book in my hands (and even the smell) will always be special moments in my life. I don't think I could manage very well without books, coffee, chocolate, etc. etc.

For Christmas I ended up getting a Kindle, which I have to say, although it took me about 2 months to pick it up, I finally gave in and LOVE it! No, I can't smell the ink or feel the smoothness of paper under my fingertips, but I can read a large novel without giving myself carpel tunnel and it fits nicely in my purse. So, when I went to the bookstore a week ago and found myself picking up books and putting them back down, thinking I could just get them on my kindle, I shocked myself beyond belief. After rebelling for so long, I have become one of those people. And I have to say, I have no problem with it.

Another first for this month is the fact that I took a weekend trip to New Orleans and didn't go into a SINGLE bookstore!! Mind blowing, I know. I only even brought home one brochure, for a tour I didn't even get to take. I will admit, however, that I have been home from New Orleans for two days and have already called the Garden District Book Shop to order a signed book.

After months of hearing from various people that I should try writing on my iPhone in Evernote (an app that I have had for months but never really used much), I finally reached a point where I just had to do it. Fat-fingering on a phone keyboard is one of my big pet peeves, which is why I don't even text much. But on the way home from New Orleans, in the dark, there was no way I could pull out my notebook and pencil. So, I picked up my phone and wrote like made all the way from Natchitoches to Shreveport. Now...I just have to remember to actually transfer it all to my computer.

Where The Words Go...

I was on my way to the bookstore to pick up a handful of magazines that feature my newest article and I started thinking about all of the articles that I have written in the past 4 years. It is SO exciting to see the words, the thoughts that you have created in the printed form (especially if it's glossy!). I have poured my heart into approx. 4 years of experiences in the written form. I began laminating each article several weeks ago and was amazed at the portfolio I have created.

Then I thought...what happens to published articles after they've "done their time"?

I'm not talking about the actual paper that the piece is printed on...just the words, the story. Is it doomed to be filed away and forgotten forever? Do the words die a quick death with no hope for resurrection? Is it stolen by the same little gnome that tends to kidnap my socks on laundry day? Is it calling out to me, stretching out its "arms", yearning for me to pull it out of the flood of other published works?

I see each piece that I write as a part of me, a baby that has grown up and left home but it is still MINE. So as I work on new articles to distribute throughout, I continue to wonder about my "babies". Do they miss me?

April Issue of Louisiana Cookin'

The newest issue of Louisiana Cookin' Magazine is now in bookstores! My article about the World Championship Crawfish Etouffee Cook-Off in Eunice, LA is a mus-read!

Interruptions...And Who's Doing the Dishes?

The best time for planning a book is while you're doing the dishes. ~Agatha Christie

Getting my daughter ready for school, carpool, dishes, laundry, church obligations, Facebook, paying bills... these are just a few things that are scratching around in my mind while I try to write. My husband asked me the other day "Are you a house keeper or are you a writer?" I immediately said "A WRITER, of course!".

But who is going to vacuum the rug? Who is going to make sure we have toilet paper and the cat is fed? Even taking the time to shower or brew a single cup of coffee interrupts what could be precious minutes of writing. What's a writer to do? Put on your blinders to the floor that needs mopping or the fact that you're down to your last pair of undies? Oh, and there's this little thing called sleep...

How to balance the creative process with the reality of family life...it's a mystery to me.

Brain Washed

Writing, I think, is not apart from living. Writing is a kind of double living. The writer experiences everything twice. Once in reality and once in that mirror which waits always before or behind. ~Catherine Drinker Bowen, Atlantic, December 1957

I have discovered that the more I write, the more I think like a writer in every situation I find myself in. For example, it is sometimes hard to read books without feeling the urge to edit even the tiniest mistake. And possibly to a fault, I sometimes gauge the quality of books, not by plot or character appeal, but how the manuscript is constructed...much like a composer of music. If it sounds awkward, do the words make any sense?

Another instance of "writer interference" was during a conversation with my husband several days ago. I was telling him about my day while propped up in bed and he stopped me in my tracks, pointing out that I had configured my last sentence as if I were introducing a character instead of just discussing the details surrounding a person that we both knew. I believe my e-mails could possibly sympathize with my husband as well.

I went to a concert with a close friend over the weekend and although I thoroughly enjoyed the music, I found myself focusing more on the song lyrics and how they told the story that the band wished to convey. In soaking the "stories" in, I began having idea after idea for things that I could write...and oddly enough, during the 2 hour show, I sometimes wished that I was at home in front of my computer, purging all of these thoughts. Of course, now that I am home, I cannot remember most of my "bright ideas". Even as I sit here writing this, I am thinking about new ideas for stories...yet it is time for carpool. How is it that we can have such wonderful ideas if we haven't the time to jot them down or remember them an hour later? Hmm...

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. ~Mark Twain

When it comes to writing submissions, I think that the bone folder is possibly mightier than the pen. How else can you take about five pages and a SASE and thin it down to the point that it only needs one, maybe two postage stamps, max?

Proofread carefully to see if you any words out. ~Author Unknown

There is nothing creative about writing query letters, printing manuscripts, folding (if the submission is small) and stamping. Thank God for self-adhesive stamps and envelopes, however! The process is drone work almost making me want to "hire" my 5 year old to do it for me while I sip a latte and read a novel.

As for keeping up with my submissions, it is now extremely easy since I found the program Sonar online. It allows me to keep up with when I mailed my submissions, and if they have circled back like a boomerang for me to dispense yet again to another editor.

Don't be too harsh to these poems until they're typed. I always think typescript lends some sort of certainty: at least, if the things are bad then, they appear to be bad with conviction. ~Dylan Thomas, letter to Vernon Watkins, March 1938

Here goes nothing....yet, maybe something?