Member Spotlight: Carol Fisher Saller

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing is a fundamental signal of our humanity. Writing records the past, projects the future, and allows communication with others who aren’t reachable any other way. Sometimes, though, I think we overly fetishize reading and writing. The ancients managed to pass down intricate, elaborate cultures without writing. People who say that listening to audiobooks isn’t really reading? Plato would have said that writing things down endangers our ability to remember and learn! That said, writing is awfully convenient and efficient, so I’m a big fan. Over the years my own writing has taken three main forms: Diaries, advice and instruction, and storytelling. All three forms have immense power, both personal and political.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? We’re lucky to live in an age where inspirations are everywhere. You google something, or take a walk, or ask your friendly AI. Lying down and staring at the ceiling is good, if you have a half hour or so. Something will pop into your head, I promise!

What is your favorite time to write? Morning. Before coffee, even. That’s probably a little weird.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Read! If you haven’t read the classics in your genre, and some of the best new work, and a few of the offbeat dregs, you literally have no idea what you’re doing. When you read widely in your genre – let’s start with 100 books – the tropes and rhythms get into your head. You become a reader and consumer of the genre. You start out writing with a fantastic intuitional toolbox.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? I’m beside myself when I learn that someone discovered my work and read it and enjoyed it without me having to tell them about it. It’s like a miracle. Discoverability (for a relatively unknown author) is a huge challenge. It’s like we’re all just screaming into the noise and no one is listening.

Carol Fisher Saller’s The Time-Jinx Twins is out now with Duckweed Books.