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Member Spotlights

Member Spotlight: Emily Greenberg

author Emily Greenberg and her book Alternative Facts

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing allows me to refine and clarify what I’m thinking. When I speak, I’m forming words and sentences in the moment and am rarely able to fully articulate what I mean with complexity and nuance. Writing forces me to stick with my thoughts for longer, to think slowly and deeply, to communicate intentionally. We could use more of that in our world!

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? For writer’s block, I’ve found it’s helpful to take a break from the page and return later with fresh eyes. I’ll try getting out of my head by going on a walk, or I’ll read other books to see if they help me find a new approach. I’ll also share what I’ve written with someone else and talk through the difficulties I’m having with it.

What is your favorite time to write? I’m a big believer in morning pages. I write best when my mind is fresh, and I’ve just had my morning coffee.

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? One of my former writing professors, the longtime editor of Epoch, Michael Koch, impressed on me that “a writer is just someone who writes.” When he said this to me, I hadn’t published anything and was very insecure about my writing. I didn’t consider myself a “real writer,” but Michael told me I already was. To have another person acknowledge me as a writer—that meant the world to me. As advice for other writers, I’d like to add that there’s no credential that makes one a writer. A writer is someone who writes regardless of whether they’ve been published or paid for their writing or completed a writing degree.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? We live in an age where we’re encouraged to constantly share our thoughts and personal lives on social media, where outrage reigns supreme. In contrast, reading and writing force me to slow down and to think more deeply and deliberately. It’s a way of resisting the chaos and cruelty.

Emily Greenberg’s Alternative Facts is out Tuesday, January 28 with Kallisto Gaia Press.