Featured Writer: Susan E Wadds
On creating space to write and writing advice.
Welcome to Women Writing! Happy New Year! I’ve often heard that as you age the days slow down and the years fly by. Where did 2024 go? It feels like only yesterday I was thinking about what the year would look like, what I wanted to accomplish, and now it’s over. This has been a month of reflection and planning for me. I don’t really do resolutions, perhaps because I’ve failed so often in the past. Instead, I continually create smaller, more achievable goals that change as the year progresses. They keep me motivated. Small wins signal progress to me. Besides, the bigger goals can only be achieved by incremental steps. Some of my accomplishments this year weren’t even on my radar at this time last year. Here’s a little rundown:
Finished a first draft of my Sointula novel
Co-hosted 2 Rekindle Creativity Writing Retreats
Moderated 3 author events
Many author/book coaching presentations (lost count!)
Facilitated 5 Group Book Coaching classes online
Worked with 7 one-to-one clients
Wrote 8 Book Coach Writes a Book newsletters
Published 52 Women Writing features
Started a podcast!
This coming year, I’ll keep better track, but glancing at this list reminds me when you focus on the work you love, good things happen. Thank you to all the readers (and listeners) of Women Writing, my wonderful and inspiring clients, and all the authors and others who generously shared their words and time with me this year. You are valued and your work matters. Cheers to a wonderful 2025!
About the author…
Finalist for the 2024 Canadian Book Club Awards and Winner of The 2016 Writer’s Union of Canada’s Prose Contest, Susan Wadds’ work has appeared in carteblanche, The Blood Pudding, Room, Waterwheel Review, and many more. The first two chapters of her debut novel, What The Living Do, (Regal House Publishing, 2024), won the Lazuli Group’s Prose Contest, and were published in Azure Magazine. A graduate of the Humber School for Writers and a proud member of The Writers Union of Canada, Susan is a certified Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) workshop facilitator. She lives on a quiet river on Williams Treaty land in traditional Anishinaabe territory with an odd assortment of humans and cats.
On a writing routine …
Writing is my life. I like to start every weekday morning with Sue Reynolds and a gang of about 30 writers online for Pyjama Writing. From 7:30 to 8:30 we write in companionable silence on whatever project we happen to be working on. A little sharing, a little feedback gets the juices flowing for the day. I lead five 2-hour online workshops every week, and as an Amherst Writers & Artists' facilitator, I'm required to take the same risks as the participants, so even if I'm not "feeling it" I have to write along with them and share what I've written. That keeps me honest! I'm essentially lazy, so accountability is crucial. As far as the revision process goes, that requires dedicated alone time. Mornings are good, afternoons also good, evenings--no way.
“Write because you have to. Your ideal reader is YOU. Unless you write genre fiction, don't expect to get rich from your writing. Enjoy the ride.”
On writing spaces …
I need silence when I write. Music is too distracting. Because one of my protagonists in my current project is an aspiring opera singer, I tried listening to opera while writing her. That did not work. I write at my desk for the most part. My office doubles as a massage room, so I have to shove the table to the back of the room. But it works! First flush is in cursive with my beloved Lamy pen, then on to transcribing into Word, then transporting scenes into Scrivener...
On writing communities …
After several years hiatus from writing seriously while raising a family and setting up a ceremonial retreat for my then husband, I needed to return to the page but I'd lost my confidence. It was the AWA (Amherst Writers & Artists) method that handed it back to me. Writing in community keeps the energy flowing. I belong to several organizations. Writers Union of Canada, Canadian Authors Association, Women Fiction Writers Association, and AWA. It's the AWA community that feeds my soul the most.
On challenges …
My only challenge is keeping my bum in the chair. I'm so easily distracted. The hardest part is putting all the scenes together in a satisfying way—one that makes sense. That takes time away from everything. Whenever I'm able, I book something away from home. You'd think it wouldn't be that hard. My son is grown. I'm semi retired ... so I generally have to sign up and go away to finish a project.
On the best writing advice …
Barbara Turner-Vesselago in her Freefall Writing book, Writing Without a Parachute, and in her retreats, she advises writers to "write fearward." To write what you don't want to write because that's where the gold is. Robert Wiersema out it this way: Don't flinch.
On the worst writing advice …
A well-know, well-respected agent rejected a novel I submitted and signed off by wishing me "happier stories." That was a head-scratcher. I don't read "happy stories" nor do I write them. But we like to see our heroes triumph—however modestly. And once, a well-respected Canadian author told me not to start my novel with the lines I'd chosen, so I changed them—put that paragraph several paragraphs down. When Regal House did the final edits on the novel, one of the only suggestions they had was to open the novel with that same paragraph!
On advice from personal experiences …
Write because you have to. Your ideal reader is YOU. Unless you write genre fiction, don't expect to get rich from your writing. Enjoy the ride.
On a recent publication …
What the Living Do (Regal House Publishing, 2024) My second novel, The Performance is out on submission and I'm working on a speculative dual-POV novel about organ transplants—donors and recipients.
Susan’s online spaces …
📚 Upcoming Offerings …
Women Writing Circle
The Women Writing Circle will meet on the second and last Monday of the month from 6:30-8:00 PM EST starting January 13, 2025. This offering is for paid subscribers. You can learn more about the benefits of subscribing here. I’m looking forward to creating a magical writing community with you, and getting some pages written in 2025.
8-Week Winter Group Book Coaching
Only ONE spot left in the Winter Group Book Coaching sessions and it can be yours. Please contact me at liisabookcoach@gmail.com if you have any questions or to register. We start on January 5!
Happy writing!
Great profile! I love the quote "write fearward...". That really nails the writer's journey...