Member Spotlight: Dana Miranda

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing is how I personally sort through ideas and process information. I struggle to digest new information from a reading or a lecture alone, but I was able to become an expert in the complexities of personal finance by writing about the subject for an audience. Writing is a vital medium for the world because it’s the basis of every medium. Even as our attention moves onto visual, audio and video media, our ability to communicate and compose in those environments still stems from our writing skills.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? Assignments and deadlines! Writer’s block disappears quickly when I know an editor is expecting something from me. That means I’m able to write, even without an editor, if I sit down and expect myself to write on a given topic. The more consistently I write, the easier it is to write well when I do this. A daily journaling practice (like Morning Pages) helps me exercise that muscle regardless of the projects I have in the works.

What is your favorite time to write? The time of day is less important to me than the conditions. I write more in the winter than summer, because the world around me is much dimmer and quieter. I write most creatively on holidays and weekends, when emails, podcasts and social media are slow. I’m most drawn to writing on rainy days, when I feel no pressure to get outside or do anything else that would pull me away from writing. I can only write well if I’m well fed and watered, so I don’t make myself start at any set time, just after I’ve gotten up and eaten.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Roy Peter Clark’s first “writing tool” is “Begin sentences with subjects and verbs.” It’s a great reminder to lead with the key elements of a sentence and to avoid space between the subject and the action. I find myself often putting down unwieldy sentences with lengthy introductory clauses, and my writing is clearer and stronger when I return to edit with this rule in mind.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? I’m excited by the ability to connect with other writers all over the world. Technology presents plenty of threats and drawbacks for writers, but one enormous benefit is the connection we can foster through platforms online — not just social media, but email, blogs, search discovery, everything. Globalized economies mean we have more in common than ever, so I can meet and connect with distant writers on our shared experience of forging lives as writers online. That’s opened the door to so much learning and cultural understanding I’m incredibly grateful for.

Dana Miranda’s You Don’t Need a Budget: Stop Worrying about Debt, Spend without Shame, and Manage Money with Ease is out December 24 with Little, Brown Spark.