WIP as Teacher 🍎
Shelby Hinte shares lessons from working on her novel-in-progress
Hello Bleeders!
I did a (legal, “therapeutic”) ketamine journey on Sunday night — which was amazing 10/10 would recommend — and I’ve felt like a raw nerve this whole week. Monday was slightly off, and then Tuesday was a hurricane. It's probably unrelated, but my brain’s supposed to be “rewiring” this week… hopefully this isn’t permanent, lol.
Anyway, I’m working on an anthology episode featuring the best writing and publishing advice from The Bleeders thus far. Expect it by Monday, if not sooner.
In the meantime, you can snack on the latest episode wherein Shelby Hinte shares wisdom she’s gained working on her novel-in-progress.
I know Shelby because we took a Chloe Caldwell workshop together this spring (all roads lead back to Chloe on this podcast), and it was so cool getting to know her better through this interview. She explains her query experience for her work-in-progress, “Howling Women,” and gets super reflective about what she’s learned about her writing process and how she’s carried that self-knowledge through to her next project. There are so many priceless little takeaways from this interview — like the importance of interpreting notes through your own voice and, oh yeah, writing is supposed to be fun!
Plus, we end the episode with a new edition of Prompt Me, Daddy, so make sure you stick around to the end to get a lesson from Shelby.
Here’s a preview:
“So I did a whole rewrite of the book with that kind of in my head: sound like yourself — sound like your writing voice — and then fix these problems. And it was a really fun experience. It was really cool to go through it. So now I just finished a draft last week and I'm actually swapping with two other writers this week. The experience was so fun that I would like to think if you're having that much fun writing like it's not totally terrible.”
Where I write:
I'm asking each guest to give us a peek behind the scenes. And OMG, Shelby, this is so cute and cozy! That chair is giving me grandma chic… suddenly I feel calm and soothed. I might drive up to NorCal and squat in your office.
Episode links:
🏃♀️ Follow Shelby on Twitter @Shelbyhinte and Instagram @shelbyhinte.
💻 Check out Shelby’s website for more about her writing and teaching.
✍️ Sign up for her October Writing As Ritual: Building a Meaningful Daily Writing Practice class via Write or Die Tribe.
🎧 And, of course, pop in those earbuds and listen to Work in Progress: Shelby Hinte on "Howling Women" + Prompt Me, Daddy on your favorite podcast platform.
Online reading about writing:
On Writing and the Business of Writing - Carmen Maria Machado is at the Substack pulpit, and she’s preaching that your book is not done until it’s done, hunny!
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting a writing career—just like there’s nothing wrong with being ambitious, or on Twitter—but when it comes at the expense of the thing, the fucking thing you’re here to do, then you’ve gone about it all backwards. At some point, you have to ask where the question of survival ends and the question of ego begins.”
And if your ego just won’t get out of your way and allow you to really write your damn book, remember Machado’s erstwhile mantra (and now mine): “You only get to debut once.” Let that roll around in your mind until your ass is stapled to the chair for the long-haul — until that manuscript is not burnt, but well-done like a steak with no pink.
Sustaining Our Creative Practice: Shelby Hinte Interviews May-lee Chai - Our latest guest Shelby Hinte interviewed her former MFA professor May-lee Chai about her new book Tomorrow in Shanghai: Stories, a short story collection exploring cultural complexities in China, the Chinese diaspora in America, and the world at large for the The Rumpus.
Lit Mags Accepting Long Prose - Thank you for compiling, David McDannald!
What I’m reading:
The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang - I just finished this fascinating collection, and it was such a clear distillation of the disease. So eloquently composed and well-researched — and yet, Wang allows readers to feel some secondhand distortion. I’d love to know more about her process and how she manages writing in tandem with long episodes… guess I should invite her on the show.
Interesting book royalty breakdown by format:
Cool opportunity for fiction writers:
“We are seeking writers whose work speaks to issues and experiences related to inhabiting bodies of difference. This means writing that centers, celebrates, or reclaims being marginalized through the lens of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, religion, illness, disability, trauma, migration, displacement, dispossession, or imprisonment.”
We’re all Chris Pine (aka we’re very hot and love books).
Until next time, HAPPY BLEEDING!
So… ROLL CALL! 🗣️
Give this post a like if you made it this far. Let the algorithm know we vibe. xx
Let’s connect on social media! I’m at @courtneykocak on Twitter and Instagram. For more, check out my website courtneykocak.com.