Work Your Writing

By Clorisa Phillips






Writing essays and a memoir-in-progress is work for me. In a good way.



When I retired from my four-decade career in higher education, colleagues encouraged me to write a book. “Do it!” “It would be so informative!” All I could think was ugh . Strategic planning, community relations, fund-raising? Performance tracking? That would just continue the impersonal work I’d always done. Eager instead to go on what Isabel Allende describes as “a journey into memory and the soul,” I wanted my writing to take me somewhere.



Where it might take me wasn’t important, but I did worry about casting aside 40 years of experience to write personal essays and memoirs. I pictured myself not being well-equipped, carrying an empty suitcase.



Three years now into my journey, I know my worry was unwarranted. Every day, these skills and strategies from my former work strengthen and propel my writing.



Strategic Planning




Craft a vision. This is more than “write a book by the time I’m 60” or “become a well-known essayist.” For me, it’s to excavate family memories that shed light on larger stories or themes, especially ones that are lesser known or even forgotten. Each time I contemplate an essay, I ask, “How will this advance my vision?”



Assess the environment. What’s involved to achieve your vision?(For fellow planning nerds, think of the old SWOT analysis: determine your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.) I spent some time frustrated that my literary magazine submissions were going begging. But once I realized the stories I want to explore, as well as my storytelling style, are more appropriate for commercial publications, writing and publishing have been less fraught.




Community Relations




Accept that no work is done in isolation. Build a community of fellow writers and be a good citizen. Congratulate their efforts, praise their successes, ask for advice, share tips. Recognize and stay in touch with stakeholders—editors, teachers, funders, PR advisors, teachers. For example, I read fellow essayists’ published work (Facebook groups for writers and editors enable this) and congratulate them; I notify well-known authors when their books and ideas influence my work, with a quick email or comment on social media.



Learn the lay of the land. Study how things work. Do you need an agent? How do you approach editors? What’s the difference between a big commercial publisher and a small indie? How do you manage a relationship with an agent? With an editor? The questions are endless; don’t be embarrassed to ask. Replay (and replay) helpful webinars.




Performance Tracking




Study best practices and set expectations. Whether you’re writing essays or a book-length memoir, ask yourself what successful pieces have in common. As an essayist, I examine personal stories in top-tier commercial publications by looking at style, content, tone, and length.



Hold yourself accountable. I keep a spreadsheet showing name and date of essay submissions and dates of acceptances or rejections, and I have a goal for number of submissions per quarter. For you it might number of words per day, or number of pages to an editor every month. Develop goals and ask someone to help you with monitoring them; my writing buddy asks for my spreadsheet if I don’t send it to her once a month.




Research, Research, Research  




Substantiate and fact check your work. Even fiction readers don’t like factual errors. If you don’t enjoy research (and have some budget), hire someone. Reliable websites list qualified freelance researchers, whether you need help for a week, or an entire project. Ask fellow writers for suggestions. If you live near a college or university, like I do, find a student.



Limit random rabbit holes. Loving to investigate back stories can be a problem. You deceive yourself that you’re not procrastinating because you’re doing research. But the person expecting that essay you pitched won’t be tickled pink to hear the fascinating story you learned when you miss their deadline.




Fund-raising




Learn how to pitch and do it often. This applies to grants, fellowships, residencies and publication. Rules of thumb are the same. Study the funder or the publication/publisher and show how what you do matches what they want. Shed your insecurities and pitch often. Rarely are you turned down because you stink—it’s often because there’s not a fit.




Overall, two mindsets served me well over the decades and still guide me now.




Embrace learning . Memoir writing isn’t a static brain dump of everything you want people to know about you. Commit to learning at least one thing from each book you read, each substantive conversation with a fellow writer, each webinar—even the disappointing ones. Use what you learn.



Be flexible. “Pivoting” isn’t just for pandemic-level crises. Have a backup plan, or two, when things don’t go as planned: your agent closes shop; a publisher reassigns your editor; the essay about your “great idea” bombs repeatedly. Be unafraid to reassess your ideas when circumstances change.




Remember: a “journey into the memory and soul” has no prescribed path. No specific steps. Prepare for the expected and the unexpected. It turns out my suitcase was full all along—I’d been packing it for years.



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Clorisa Phillips is a historian and essayist, retired from a long career in higher education. She explores family stories, aiming to reveal overlooked or commonly unknown facets of life. Her personal essays have appeared in The Christian Science Monitor , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , The New York Times and elsewhere. Clorisa holds a B.A. degree from William & Mary and M.Ed. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Virginia. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.