Member Spotlight: Valerie Schultz

Why is writing important to you and why do you think it’s an important medium for the world? Writing for me feels like a physical necessity. It’s also a way for an introvert to speak freely. Writing is half the action; reaching a reader completes the circle. Connecting with a reader forms a holy conversation. The world benefits from every single person’s artistic expression, whatever it may be.

What are your tried and tested remedies to cure writer’s block? If I’m stuck on one project, I put it aside and move on to another. In my early years as a writer, I was raising 4 kids and my writing time was so limited that I didn’t have the luxury of writer’s block! Writing in 15-20 minute spurts was good training.

What is your favorite time to write? Mid-morning after breakfast. (The gift of retirement from my day job.)

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received and would like to impart to other writers? Just keep submitting your work. Polish your work after every rejection, and then send it right back out into the cruel world. The rejections will harden you, but hold onto that deepest inner softness of heart. Also, find a writers group that nourishes you.

What excites you most about being a writer in today’s age? The internet has made research a breeze. We’re no longer dependent on the library’s hours of operation. And without the physical mail, answers arrive more quickly.

Valerie Schultz’s A Hill of Beans: The Grace of Everyday Troubles is out now with Liturgical Press.