Absorbing Writing

Meet Your Writing Retreat Leaders: Joanna Young

Posted on 11. Mar, 2009 by Joanna in Sardinia

The writing retreats in Sardinia are run by myself, Joanna Young, and Emma Bird.  We also run this site and do all the admin and paperwork, and answer your emails and calls about the retreats.  We thought it would be a good idea to share a bit about ourselves to help you get to know us.  This post and the one that follows are based on interview questions that we put to each other.

Here are Emma’s questions to me, and my answers.

1. What made you give up your career in the civil service to become a writing coach?

It seems quite hard to believe now but I worked for 10 years in the UK civil service, in a senior management job.  I left the job a couple of years ago to travel, write, and work out what I wanted to do next.  It probably had a lot to do with turning 40 and thinking ‘I don’t want to spend the rest of my life like this!’

The writing dimension was also important: I got tired of writing other people’s words and itched to write some of my own.  Plus the busyness of the job meant I didn’t get the time for the kind of one to one coaching and mentoring that I enjoy, and am good at.

I did learn a lot about confident writing though in that job, because you had to craft words quickly, often under impossible deadlines, without room for excess words or phrases that weren’t absolutely right.  [I think Emma's journalistic experience might bring out a similar approach... watch this space to see if it features in her interview too!]

2. What are you most looking forward to during the Absorbing Writing retreat in May?

Sitting outside over dinner at the end of the day and watching people’s faces, listening to their voices as they share what they’ve done, how they’ve felt, and what they’ve written that day.  Listening to the words people are willing to share, and feeling the shot of recognition run through me – recognising their stories, their words, the truth of what they’re telling.

3. What’s the biggest influence on your writing?

That’s a surprisingly hard question.  I guess what I aspire to is powerful non-fiction – memoirs, essays, some travel writing.  I’m also heavily influenced by those who teach who to do it, like Stephen King’s ‘On Writing’ .

I write on a blog most days and the act of writing on the internet, getting feedback, and reading the works of other thinkers online has definitely shaped and influenced the way I write.

4. What writing projects are you currently working on?

I have a book coming out in the spring based on the teaching I’ve done on my Confident Writing blog.

There’s another book in the pipeline on non-fiction writing styles, and I’m doing some memoir based work as part of my learning to teach the art and craft of memoir writing.

I’ll probably be bringing that memoir work along with me to Sardinia – I have a feeling it’ll help me get into the flow…

5. How do you overcome writer’s block?

I change location in order to change state.  Sometimes going for a walk is enough, but I love journeys, especially trains and boats.  I always find new ideas and words when I go on those kind of journeys.

The other thing I do is write what I’m resisting in a journal.  All the reasons I can’t or don’t want to write.  Once you’ve got the gunk out there it’s much easier to look your fears or blocks in the face, and move on.

Do you have any other questions you’d like to ask me?

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Tags: Joanna Young, Sardinia, writing, writing retreat

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