Welcome to Who’s on Fourth where we interview one member of the YeahWrite community and the interview will publish the fourth Monday of each month. Next in the series features Arden Ruth interviewing our very own Natalie of The Cat Lady Sings.
YeahWrite on YeahWrite: Arden interviews Natalie
A while back, a young writer dipped her toe in to the YeahWrite challenge grids, and the rest was history. Natalie first came to us as a participant, but we were quick to pull her on to our editorial team.
The roster of participants on the grid was EXTREMELY intimidating for me, someone who had only been writing on my blog for about six months or so, but the rules did say that anyone could submit, so… I landed somewhere in the top row, but that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted an editors’ pick. I wanted to be acknowledged by writers I admired so much. That’s how I got hooked. Week after week I read posts, shared posts, and took advice. I tried new storytelling techniques, told smaller stories, didn’t try so hard. Once I got out of my head, the stories started reflecting more heart, and eventually I scored that editors’ pick. But there were plenty of weeks I hung out in the middle, or even the bottom row. It taught me to not take myself so seriously, to just have fun with it. When a spot opened up on the editorial team, I had just gotten laid off and was contemplating launching a freelancing career, so it seemed like fate. The idea of working with writers I respected so much was an opportunity I could not turn down
Since Natalie used to head up our Fiction|Poetry grid, you would assume that would be her favorite place to set up shop, but you’d be wrong.
It seems like I should say my favorite is the fiction and poetry grid, because fiction is my life and my profession, but I actually feel most at home on nonfiction. It’s the place where I found my voice, and it taught me to look more closely at the moments that make up my life, to cherish them individually rather than in a rambling narrative.
When interviewing our editors here at YeahWrite, I love to hear what advice they would give to the entire range of our participants, those that haven’t yet jumped in to one of our grids and the veterans who have been here for a while now. Our editors never disappoint.
For the YeahWrite virgins out there:
Don’t be intimidated. Okay, maybe be a little intimidated, but don’t let it stop you. Try it out—we may be the place for you. Then, keep trying, even if you’re disappointed with the results. Both growth and community take time, so be patient.
For the YeahWrite regulars, especially those who may find themselves frustrated at always hanging out in the middle or bottom of our grids:
First draft: have fun. Let loose. Write from the language your heart speaks. Try to write beyond your capabilities. Second draft: edit like a mofo. Be ruthless. If it doesn’t make the story fabulous, cut it. Not everything you write is genius, and that’s okay. Like they say in AA, keep coming back. It gets easier over time. ABOVE ALL: Show, don’t tell. That bears repeating with every new draft: show, don’t tell.
One of the hardest things for writers (at least for me) is learning to take constructive criticism in stride instead of turning into a towering inferno of rage. It’s tough to put yourself out there, but it’s what we have to do to grow in our craft. So how do we learn to take the bad with the good?
I tell my writing students that other people see things in our work that we don’t because we’re blind to them from familiarity, love, and pride. Be willing to see your work through another person’s eyes so you can grow. If your goal is to be a better writer, then you’re going to have to confront your shortcomings at some point—you may as well do so with friendly faces.
Have you heard about our new constructive criticism badge? It’s a great way to get more feedback on your work week after week. Check it out!
Natalie has been writing for as far back as she can remember. She wrote her first book at six years old!
The arc of my writing career is long and varied, starting with a children’s book I both wrote and illustrated as an ambitious six-year old. It was called The Giant Strawberry, in case it ever makes it to print. Haha. I was not an obsessive writer though, and wrote weird little short stories and even part of a novel up until college, when writing for fun stopped being fun in the shadow of so many research papers. When I started writing again in 2012, it was because ten years of academia had swallowed my voice, and I wanted to rediscover it.
So what does Natalie do in her spare time? Stop laughing, Natalie. I know. New mom with spare time? Hah. Moving on:
In my fantasy world, you can find me in a cozy chair reading an engrossing novel with a cup of coffee by my side. Or perhaps I’m hiking in the mountains, baking a loaf of Tuscan bread, or playing selections from Hamilton on the piano. In reality, you can probably find me trying to trick—er, I mean coax—my baby into sleeping and then frantically grading papers in my spare moments.
Natalie, thank you for letting our community get to know you a little better here at YeahWrite. We are so happy to have you on our team! Make sure you follow Natalie’s blog, The Cat Lady Sings. You can also follow her on Twitter.
Oh, you want more? Well here are five things you never knew about Natalie:
- Her most impressive skill is building a campfire. She is really good at it.
- She has named several pets Colonel Brandon. This involves a long and boring story about her Master’s thesis, Jane Austen, and film adaptations, which she will happily tell you all about if you ask, but she won’t make you suffer through it if you don’t.
- Her other hidden talent is coffee. She can make any kind of coffee, and it will always be the best cup you’ve ever had.
- Her fantasy career is being a spy, but she would seriously make the worst spy because she is incredibly unobservant.
- She is ticklish. So very ticklish.
Are you ready for the YeahWrite #315 Weekly Writing Challenges opening this week? We hope so! Your badges await in the sidebar. Grab the code, paste into the text or HTML view of your post, then submit your post to the grids for a little friendly competition. We’re glad you’re here.
Good luck to all our Super Challenge #4 contestants out there! Over the past weekend, they wrote pieces of fiction in just 48 hours. Their stories have now been handed over to our judges, and the results will be announced next week. If you missed out on registration, be sure to sign up for our email blast so you don’t miss out on any announcements for upcoming challenges!
About the author:
