Unlock the Secret Writing Tips Jeannine Atkins Swears By—Are You Ready to Transform Your Words?

Who are you?

Jeannine Atkins, a writer in Massachusetts

What do you write?

For many years I wrote books about amazing but under-recognized women in history, such as Hidden Powers: Lise Meitner’s Call to Science. Most recently, with Knocking on Windows, I turned to memoir written in free verse.

I was once advised to compose poems like a letter, reader to reader, friend to friend. I strive for such intimacy and directness. It’s kind to shun what’s vague. I’ve been writing for most of my life and can’t think of anything else that would keep me as engaged. That doesn’t mean there aren’t moments when I want to tear out my hair. Writing is hard.

Where do you write?

I may take notes with paper and pen, but as my handwriting can often be difficult for even me to read, I mostly work on my laptop. I like writing on the porch, though there are lots of months in New England when that’s not going to happen. I’m lucky to have a big black dog nearby.

When do you write?

I like to start in the morning after breakfast and checking my laptop for a variety of news. Back in school, deadlines were often useful to nudge me to finish something, even if it wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be. It rarely is, but finishing a draft brings a small thrill. Now I give myself deadlines and also permission to break them. I like some structure, but writing has its own momentum I have to honor.

Why do you write?

Books have offered me company and strength through my life and I hope to give that back with my work.

How do you overcome writer’s block?

Writer’s blocks are awful, complicated and various. Like many who survived sexual assault, words felt frozen within me. I spent years in therapy, talked to friends, and wrote sloppy journals before I could begin writing something someone might want to read. I was advised to return to words slowly, writing just ten minutes a day. Then fifteen, then twenty. Gradually the desire to engage in all the messiness became stronger than the fear.

Bonus: What do you enjoy doing when not writing?

If I wasn’t so attached to the ways words can make beauty, I might have liked to be a painter. I like looking through art books and going to museums with friends or family. If that involves some traveling, so much the better!

My thanks to Jeannine Atkins for today’s interview.