Featured Writer: Ariel Gordon
On creating space to write and writing advice.
Hello all,
Welcome to the 31st edition of Women Writing! I hope you got a glimpse of the eclipse from your part of the world. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day in Northern Ontario, but I did catch NASA’s coverage, so I felt like I was part of it in some small way. The last total solar eclipse viewed from Northern Ontario was on February 26, 1979. I was six years old. Ester Road Public School no longer exists, but in those days it was a little community school, close enough that I could walk home for lunch. On the day of the eclipse, we were shepherded into a large classroom (maybe an auditorium?) and told not to go outside or peak behind the curtains that covered all the windows. It was so eerie. It must have made an impression because I remember very little about my experiences at that school, but that day stands out for me. The next totality event in will happen in 2099. I guess I won’t hold my breath for that one.
I hope you found inspiration in the eclipse, but I know you will be inspired by this week’s featured author, Ariel Gordon.
About the author…
Ariel Gordon (she/her) is a Winnipeg/Treaty 1 Territory-based writer, editor, and enthusiast. In 2019, Treed: Walking in Canada’s Urban Forests, a collection of essays that combines science writing and the personal essay, was published by Hamilton’s Wolsak & Wynn. It received a honourable mention for 2020 Alanna Bondar Memorial Book Prize for Environmental Humanities and Creative Writing from ALECC. Ariel’s essays have recently appeared in Canadian Notes and Queries, FreeFall, Canthius, and the Winnipeg Free Press. In spring 2024, her second book of CNF, Fungal: Foraging in the Urban Forest, will be released by W&W.
“Every writer has to make time and place for their writing, if they want to keep writing. The trick is that 'time and place' changes as your life changes, so you always have to find new and inventive ways to steal from your life.”
On a writing routine …
My best writing hours, given a night owl-y disposition, is from about 1 to 8 pm. But I often find myself writing whenever there's a chunk of time available to me — earlier in the morning or later at night. My life doesn't always obey the edicts of my writing life, which is to say: regularly-scheduled, consistent bum-in-chair time. But I'm flexible and I'm glad I can consistently make time to write. It mostly seems to work!
On writing spaces …
I write in several places in my home: the kitchen table (it is nearest to the tea things...), the lockdown work-from-home desk we set up in the bedroom, my bed, the couch. While I'm not a café writer, I have had great success in libraries and, specifically, the Buller Greenhouse at the University of Manitoba, which for a time was open to people who wanted to work amidst tropical blooms. I love going to writing retreats like The Al Purdy House and Doris McCarthy Artist in Residence Centre and the dedicated time they provide, but I probably get most of my writing done in the edges of my every day. While I don’t haul around a notebook unless I’m planning to write, I scribble in my notebook wherever and whenever I need to and I always have a notebook on my person. I can sometimes listen to music while writing, but if I really need to concentrate, I need silence. Silence and focus: I sometimes use Forest, a pomodoro-based app that plants a virtual tree for every chunk of time I don’t look at my phone. It also uses insults to keep me from being tempted, which I think is funny.
On writing communities …
I really believe in community. I like the idea that we are all working in parallel, each of us from our own desks, separate but together. It’s like how all the apple trees in all the different backyards in a city collectively add up to an orchard. I like the idea that we can help each other, that we are better and stronger together. Also, no one understands what it's like to be a writer – the euphoria and the crushing rejection — like other writers. I have been in a writing group consistently since I was in my twenties. I always try to recruit people who are better and smarter than me for these groups, because that's the best way for me to learn and grow. They often point out problems to problems I was only beginning to sense in my poems or essays and often they have great suggestions for how to fix those problems. I find it helps me reduce the number of drafts I have to do. And hopefully my feedback to them is useful too: it has to be an exchange. You have to commit to each other. I also belong to TWUC and the LCP, but I rely on workshops and book tours to build community for myself.
On challenges …
I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was 13, working on a fantasy novel on my dad's computer in the basement. I thought I'd have no problem having a book out by the time I was 21; that seemed like more than enough time. Though I published several chapbooks beforehand, my first trade collection didn't come out until I was 36. I have mostly worked part time over the past two decades, which has been good for my writing but bad for my financial outlook. Still, I wouldn't change it for the goddamn world!
On the best writing advice …
"First draft writing is playing. Editing is where the real writing happens" is what I tell people in creative writing workshops. What do I tell myself? Mostly, keep going. Even if what you wind up writing, wind up finishing, isn't what you said you were going to do in a grant application or even just to yourself, any piece of writing you finish is an accomplishment. And there are so many 'finishes': when you complete a big first draft; when you come back to it a month later and see what it really needs; when you polish and polish until you realize that it's as finished as you can make it; when you get notes on the piece from someone who is smarter and better than you and realize that another draft is warranted; when you feel like it is sparkly enough send it off to a journal; when you bundle it into a manuscript and see the resonances between all the pieces instead of it being stand-alone.
On the worst writing advice …
"You must write every day or you're not a REAL WRITER." To which I say: bah humbug! There are as many ways of being a writer as there are people. And there are endless ways to feel bad about yourself and your career as a writer. Late-stage capitalism sometimes makes me fret about not being as productive as I think I "should" be, but most of the time, as long as I'm making something on the semi-regular, as long as I'm pushing at the edges of what I'm capable of, I'm happy. Also, I've tried to teach myself to love all the phases of writing: from the blissed-out first drafts to the grind of edits. My advice is: learn to love launching your own books but also attending the launches of others. Learn to look forward to workshops, no matter what level you're at. Learn to lean into community, for support and for solace. Also, writers are generally great conversationalists. Just ask one what they're working on!
On advice from personal experiences …
Every writer has to make time and place for their writing, if they want to keep writing. The trick is that 'time and place' changes as your life changes, so you always have to find new and inventive ways to steal from your life. That's harder for women, who still find themselves doing more of the childcare and householding. So: be prepared to fight for your writing time but give yourself permission to stop writing if you just can't do it. There's no point in punishing yourself for not-writing when you absolutely have no time for writing. You can always re-build a writing practice!
Ariel’s online spaces …
I believe the world needs more women’s stories. Are you ready to write yours?
I believe we all have a story to tell and I also believe we can learn how to write them. You can write that novel or memoir you’ve been dreaming about. And, I can help you believe in you, too. As an Author Accelerator Book Coach, I work 1:1 with clients to develop a blueprint for their story, draft a novel, or revise an existing manuscript. I also host group book coaching sessions, and present workshops in person and online on a variety of craft topics.
We all have a story within us, waiting to be shared. I can help you tell yours. Let me show you how.
Happy writing!
Women Writing is a weekly newsletter featuring women who are doing the difficult work of writing. If you enjoyed reading the newsletter, please share it with a fellow writer. Let’s inspire each other!
Liisa Kovala is an Author Accelerator certified book coach. She is the author of a historical novel, Sisu’s Winter War (Latitude 46, 2022), and a creative non-fiction, Surviving Stutthof: My Father’s Memories Behind the Death Gate (Latitude 46, 2017). Her short stories and creative non-fiction have been published in a variety of anthologies and literary magazines. Liisa is a member of The Writers’ Union of Canada, Canadian Authors Association, and past-president of Sudbury Writers’ Guild. Visit liisakovala.com and liisakovalabookcoach.com.
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I love to hear other women say that the real work comes after the first draft. I keep thinking that if I have to revise, I’ve done it wrong even though I know better!!