Featured Writer: Margaret Nowaczyk
On creating space to write and writing advice.
Hello all,
Welcome to the 38th edition of Women Writing! I’m eight weeks into a 12-week group book coaching session with a small group of new(ish) writers. Recently, the writers submitted a short piece of writing to share with both me and each other, a new experience for most of them. I was reminded how much courage it takes to write something from one’s heart and then share it with someone else, allowing them to not only read it, but also comment on it. It’s an act of vulnerability and trust on the part of the writer and, when done well, a demonstration of how a reader’s insights can both bolster and propel the work. It was beautiful to see how the group members supported one another, sharing words and phrases they loved, and emotions they experienced, as well as gently pointing out issues that didn’t quite work.
These moments give me such joy as a book coach because I know these writers will move in the world valuing the work of others and lifting up their fellow writers instead of tearing them down. Critiquing is a skill that must be learned and fostered. At it’s heart it is the desire to make the work better and support the writer. In a world that just wants to criticize, learning to critique well is a fine art we should all learn.
I hope you find inspiration in the words of today’s author, Margaret Nowaczyk.
About the author…
Margaret Nowaczyk (MD, MFA) is a pediatrician and a clinical geneticist and a writer. Her short stories and essays have appeared in Prairie Fire, Geist, Examined Life Journal, Intima, Broken Pencil, The New Quarterly, The Antigonish Review, Grain, Litro US, and The Dalhousie Review, She co-edited Polish(ed), a Canadian-Polish diaspora short story anthology (Guernica Editions 2017). Her non-fiction has won the 2018 and 2020 Hamilton Short Works Prizes and the 2020 CNFC/Humber Literary Review contest, and was a finalist for the 2022 National Magazine Awards. Chasing Zebras, her memoir about clinical genetics, mental health, and writing, was published by Wolsak & Wynn in 2021 and won the Sarton Women’s Book Award for Memoir. Marrow Memory, a collection of essays, will be published in June 2024. She lives in Hamilton, ON with her husband, two sons, two cats, and a rescue greyhound.
“Write what you want to read. I have really taken this one to heart. It has sustained me every time my writing is rejected or when agents and publishers pass on my collection of short stories.”
On a writing routine …
I do not have a protected writing routine. My writing has to fit into my life as a doctor, mother, and wife. For a while, I used to get up early in the morning but that has fallen by the wayside. I find that the best time for me are evenings, especially in early November-December when dusk descends early and everything is quiet and seems asleep, cocooned in warmth and light, snug and safe, reflected against the opaque window panes. Now that the days are getting longer, I am having difficulty concentrating.
On writing spaces …
I am a peripatetic writer: I have no one special writing space where functional fixedness reduces distraction. Instead, I have several but they all resemble each other: all present a large surface—I’m an inveterate spreader-outer; piles of manuals, dictionaries, novels and research notebooks teeter around or fall off the edges; stacks of scrap paper curl as I write longhand; bookcases and a printer live nearby. My first published story was written on our dining room table with my sons playing noisy war games around my feet. I wrote my two books on a desk tucked into a corner of the same dining room. These days, I mostly write at that same dining room table now settled for his second incarnation in the corner of a room that overlooks the garden and a ravine with a Carolinian forest, north-exposure light streaming through three walls of windows, birds trilling on the deck or rain pecking at the skylight. When spring finally arrives (will it?), I will write on the rickety IKEA deck table. And when I have a moment to spare, I write at the meeting table in my office.
On writing communities …
I belong to the Writers Union of Canada and the CNF Collective. I also attend the local reading series (LitLIVE in Hamilton). I have made friends and maintained supportive relationships form my MFA.
On challenges …
I can't say that I have [any challenges]. I am quite selfish so I do what I think is right for me. I also have an extraordinarily supportive husband who has always encouraged my writing.
On the best writing advice …
Write what you want to read. I have really taken this one to heart. It has sustained me every time my writing is rejected or when agents and publishers pass on my collection of short stories. And I try to emulate Margaret Atwood—my heroine!—who said in an interview "I don't do despair" whenever my writing is rejected or when agents and publishers, etc.
On the worst writing advice …
I don't recall any bad advice. I might have received some but if it didn't apply I simply forgot it.
On advice from personal experiences …
Follow your dream. Marry a supportive person. :)
Margaret’s online spaces …
SUMMER BOOK COACHING
Here’s a few things I have in store for this summer. Contact me if you’re interested in any of my programs.
Spring into Memoir Writing Workshop: Thursday, June 4, 6:30-7:45, with co-host
at the South End Branch of the Greater Sudbury Public Library. Register here. It’s FREE!Summer Writing Camp: July 1-August 21, Mondays 9:00-10:30 am & Wednesdays 7:00-8:30 pm (8 weeks via Zoom). Schedule your writing time in a supportive and encouraging environment. $160+HST. Contact me here with “Summer Writing Camp” in the subject line.
Manuscript Evaluation: 1 spot left
Plan Your Story: 1 spot left
Write or Revise Your Story: 2 spots left
Teacher Workbook
Prime summer writing time is just around the corner. If you have a work-in-progress or an idea for a novel, download a free copy of my workbook, Beyond the Blackboard: Empowering Teachers to Write Fiction.
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 Sisu’s Winter War (Latitude 46, 2022) and 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.
