Featured Writer: Miranda Schreiber
On creating space to write and writing advice.
Welcome to Women Writing, a biweekly interview series about creative practices. Miranda shares about her close knit writing community in this week’s feature. Do you belong to a writing community? Is it organized, or a group of friends who meet casually? Please share in the comments below.
About the author…
Miranda Schreiber is a Toronto-based writer and researcher. Her work has appeared in places like the Toronto Star, the Walrus, the Globe and Mail, BBC, and the National Post. She has been nominated for a digital publishing award by the National Media Foundation and was the recipient of the Solidarity and Pride Champion Award from the Ontario Federation of Labour. Iris and the Dead is her debut book.
On a writing routine …
I find that it's easiest for me to write often if I'm obsessed with the project, either from a personal or political perspective. As long as I feel extremely compelled to say what I am working on, I can make time for it every day or every few days. For this book I worked on it every Sunday.
On writing spaces …
I usually just write on the couch in the living room. I try to remain a bit oblivious to the immediate environment so I can get as caught up as possible in what I am working on, and I think I want to feel like I could work anywhere if I had to. I definitely want to feel like it is a transferrable, mobile practice. I do find I need to be by myself so I can follow a train of thought to its endpoint.
On writing communities …
I have close friends who are writers and I trust the taste and sensibilities of all my friends very deeply. I think having friends who write allows me to keep perspective, to be sure there is someone nearby who can tell me what I do is good and what I do is bad. I also take the impressions of my work on my friends who aren't writers very seriously, particularly if I'm worried what I'm working on is getting too indulgent or just detached from reality.
“The best piece of writing advice I ever received was to read widely from weird material so you develop a unique perspective, both ideologically and stylistically. I took that very seriously.”
On challenges …
It can be hard to know when the right moment to work is. I think it often comes at a cost, to the exclusion of everything else, particularly if it's something that feels important, even more so if it feels personally important.
On the best writing advice …
The best piece of writing advice I ever received was to read widely from weird material so you develop a unique perspective, both ideologically and stylistically. I took that very seriously.
On the worst writing advice …
I don't love the advice that art should be separate from politics. I don't think it is and I think aiming for something that isn't political can cultivate a cultural nihilism that actually serves powerful actors very effectively. I think there is a middle zone that isn't overtly propagandizing but has an objective intention and perspective on the tangibility of harm.
On advice from personal experiences …
When women depict men in art it is usually read as degrading or objectifying to the man. When women are depicted, however, it is usually interpreted as elevating. I think it's important for women to claim entitlement to basic freedom of expression, because often our work is perceived as fundamentally discourteous, or invasive.
On rekindling creativity …
I really, really love the sublime: nature, music, and travel all have creative consequences for me, especially music that doesn't have lyrics.
On a recent publication …
I've been working on journalistic writing lately, specifically regarding patient consent. I'm working on an article right now for the Walrus about controversies around patient consent for physician-assisted suicide.
Miranda’s online spaces …
Upgrade to paid to schedule regular writing time for yourself. The Women Writing Circle meets biweekly for 90-minutes to set goals, write pages, and inspire each other.
Happy writing!
