Featured Writer: Kathryn Mockler
On creating space to write and writing advice.
Welcome to Women Writing!
and I are busy planning our 2025 Rekindle Creativity Women’s Writing Retreats. Lots of folks let us know they’d love a weekend getaway, so we’re doing it! We’re planning a retreat in beautiful French River, Ontario in the spring—and after this long winter we’ll be ready for it. The second will be our 5-day retreat in the fall. We have a few other ideas we’re playing with, too, but that’s for another day.I’m so grateful to have Dinah as a friend, co-host, and colleague. She’s an incredibly thoughtful, knowledgeable, and compassionate book coach. If you are thinking about writing non-fiction, check out her upcoming course Build Your Book in Six Weeks. In the meantime, let us know if you’re interested in a retreat with us!
About the author…
Kathryn Mockler (she/they) is the author of the story collection Anecdotes (Book*hug Press, 2023), which won the 2024 Victoria Butler Book Prize and was a finalist for the 2024 Trillium Book Award, 2023 Danuta Gleed Literary Award, 2024 Fred Kerner Award, and 2024 VMI Besty Warland Between Genres Award. She co-edited the print anthology Watch Your Head: Writers and Artists Respond to the Climate Crisis (Coach House Books, 2020) and runs the literary newsletter Send My Love to Anyone. She teaches screenwriting and fiction in the Writing Department at the University of Victoria located on unceded Lək̓ʷəŋən territory.
On a writing routine …
I don’t have a consistent writing routine—unless my routine is having ten projects going at a time and procrastinating on one by working on another less urgent project. When you do that, eventually you finish something.
I’m doing a new thing where I’m trying to write for ten minutes a day at least five days a week. Of course if I get into it, I write for longer than ten minutes. So far I like it, and it’s pretty manageable. We’ll see if I can keep it up.
I tried doing a daily word count last year and that failed spectacularly.
Sometimes I co-work with a friend over Zoom which is also helpful.
“My advice—tell the stories you want to tell not the stories you think you should tell.”
On writing spaces …
Most often I can be found writing on my couch with my laptop on a small laptop desk listening to ambient music and drinking coffee or green tea. I like to be comfortable. I can’t work sitting at a desk. Also napping is a big part of my writing process. So if I’m on the couch, I can take a quick nap if necessary. Ideas usually come to me before or after a nap.
On writing communities …
I don’t belong to a writing group. But I work in many genres and have made connections along the way—often through school or workshops I’ve attended. The best way I find community is by showing up at writing events, interacting with writers on social media, and working with writers through my newsletter or the literary journals I’ve published or edited in the past. I recently moved to Victoria, BC, and knew very few people so I started attending two reading series there—Planet Earth Poetry and Wild Prose Reading Series. After a few events, I began to make friends. People notice when you show up. It’s super awkward at first, especially if you don’t know anyone, but that’s how I got to know people in Toronto where I lived for 18 years.
On challenges …
I’m a compulsive but intermittent writer. I often don’t prioritize writing until I get obsessed with a project or have a deadline.
The writing gets done, but it’s not a simple or straight path.
On the best writing advice …
Recently a friend of mine wrote a draft of a novel very quickly. I asked him how he wrote it so fast, and he said, “I don’t worry if it’s good.”
I like that.
On the worst writing advice …
When people say write every day, it always makes me feel inadequate. I can’t write every day, and I don’t want to.
I do need to get inspired to write, and if I’m not feeling inspired then I have to do something to get me going like reading an author that I love or watching a film or going to an art show.
I also don’t like the show-don’t-tell advice for new writers. While new writers can overuse exposition and state things explicitly, it’s unhelpful to tell every writer to show and not tell. Restricting exposition should be a stylistic choice—not blanket advice for every writer or the only way to tell a story. Telling allows a writer to provide necessary context. Telling allows a writer to showcase their voice. It’s an important part of storytelling. To have “show don’t tell” repeated ad nauseam as some kind of writing rule does new writers a disservice.
On advice from personal experiences …
When I started writing as a young person, I was often told my stories were too small. For many years, this advice made me turn away from stories I wanted to write because I thought they weren’t important enough.
I called my debut story collection Anecdotes sort of as a rebuttal to that advice—not only am I going to have small stories, they’re going to be anecdotes!
My advice—tell the stories you want to tell not the stories you think you should tell.
On a recent publication …
My most recent publication is Anecdotes. It was published in 2023 by Book*hug Press. It’s a story collection in four parts that are in conversation with one another despite being distinct stylistically. The book contains flash fictions, one-liners, plays, autofiction, coming-of-age stories and deals with themes related to sexual violence, the climate crisis, oppression, and the absurdity of living in the world. There’s humour in there too. I’m currently working on a novel, and I’m also turning my first out-of-print book, Onion Man, into a podcast where I’m updating it with extras, behind-the-scene info, and playlists. It’s very fun. | Onion Man.
Kathryn’s online spaces …
📚 UPCOMING …
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Find the joy in your writing practice
Happy writing!
I like Kathryn Mockler's statement..tell the stories you want to tell not the stories you think you should tell. As a YA writer there is pressure to be trendy. I am and never have been trendy so I too believe you should write the story I think I should tell. I am happier for it. Another inspiring profile!!!!
Wonderful insights! Me too - setting a word count for myself creates instant panic and brain freeze! And YES to napping!! It's funny - the minute I start self-editing, I want to lie down! I give myself nap treats as goals! Thank you Kathryn (and you know I love your work so much!) and Liisa for another great post!