Member Spotlight: Elle Jauffret

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? For me, writing is a way to put my thoughts down and examine them through the filter of reason, with distance from myself. It leaves a print, a proof of who I was in a moment and a place: what I feared, what I believed, what I want. Growing up in France and then moving around as a U.S. military spouse, I’ve always been the outsider looking in various systems and societies, all with a specific, not always fair, hierarchy. Writing became the place where I could actually talk about my vantage point and share it with people who couldn’t see what was really going on. Writing gives people access to voices, takes, and experiences on the world that aren’t their own. It lets readers travel, across geopolitical borders, religious lines, and cultures, without ever leaving their chair. It hands a mirror to readers who’ve never seen themselves on the page or never felt understood. Writing/reading is a powerful empathy-builder. Writing is also a force for change: fiction and nonfiction alike can seed ideas for a better world and actually show people what that a better world could look like. That belief is at the core of why I write stories that look like entertainment on the surface but are really asking questions about perception, power, and who gets to be believed.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? Writing long-hand in a notebook to summarize every event and development that led up to the specific blocked scene. Walking back through the chain of cause and effect shows me why the scene is stuck: usually something earlier is missing, wrong, or a missing beat. If that doesn’t work, taking an evening walk does the trick.

What is your favorite time to write? Early morning, while the world is still asleep, or late at night. When there’s no noise, or work and family demands, competing for my attention.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? “Write with the door closed, edit with the door open.” Write your first draft as if no one will ever read it, so no self-censoring, no worrying about judgment. That’s when authenticity really flows. Then, open the door to edit: think about your actual audience and adjust content, tone, and vocabulary accordingly (Will they mind cursing? Do they need more context? Less?). First drafts are for honesty; revisions are for the reader.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? The direct line to readers. They message me, we talk, sometimes we meet in person. Social media allows us to connect easily, even if they’re on the other side of the world. I can join a book club discussion over Zoom, or sit in on a writers’ conference panel remotely instead of needing to travel. And the same goes for connecting with other writers. Some of my writing friendships started online, through groups like Sisters in Crime before ever meeting in person. Technology hasn’t replaced the community, but it’s widened it.

Elle Jauffret’s Spirits of the Law is out November 10 with ‎Level Best Books.