A Roomish of One’s Own: A word or two on time and space

Possibly one of the most famous quotes on writing comes from an extended essay written by Virginia Woolf and delivered to the Women’s College at the University of Cambridge. It’s instantly recognizable, and rarely misattributed.

“A woman must have money and room of her own if she is to write fiction.”

Truer words have rarely been spoken, but it applies to all genders. One needs space and time to write in order to become the writers we all want to be. Space and time are relative, of course, but they are nonetheless important.

I’ve written in a tiny trailer, a closet, a 26-foot land yacht Airstream, a gazebo (summer only), my bedroom, an attic, my living room, and my kitchen table. I wrote my breakout novel, A Dry Spell, in a garage, in the winter on Manitoulin Island. I had a space heater at my feet and when January rolled around along with the wind off the lake, I had a woodstove installed. It was the only space I could use, as my house at the time was just 625 square feet and there was an infant, a teenager, and a husband in there. And a dog and a cat. It was a rough time for all of us, because money was really tight, I could only find part-time work, I was using cloth diapers, and still breastfeeding. But I had space. And because someone believed in me, I had time.

Time and space are relative. When my oldest son was little, I wrote after he went to bed at 8:30 pm. I wrote from 8:30-10:30 pm. Officially. In reality I often wrote until midnight, 1 am, whatever it took to get myself to that sweet spot where I was done for the night and feeling good about it. I worked or went to school in the morning so those late nights were tough. But I wanted to write and I had time and space, relatively.

What’s your space? What’s your time?

The greatest piece of advice I give to writers who ask is, “read read read, write write write.” The second greatest piece of advice I give to writers who ask is, have a writing practice.

A writing practice is simply, time and space daily.

I know someone who works at 7 am and so they get up at 5 am to write – like I did many years ago – in a quiet closet. My husband writes in bed. Joseph Mankiewicz famously wrote in the bathtub. Stephen King has a top floor office and a giant oak desk, I believe, but we also all know that he too wrote in a closet at one time. J.K. Rowling wrote in coffee shops. We all have our ways.

The important thing is to make and have a way. Invest in yourself by allowing a space and time that might be taken from someone else: our children, our partners, our employers. I’m here to tell you that it’s okay. In fact, it’s good and right because writing is as important an art form as there ever has been and ever will be.

Find your attic, your trailer, your coffee shop, your desk. Book your time. Write your novel, essay, exposé, journal, poem, screenplay. Put your voice on paper, literally or figuratively. Write that sh*t.

If anyone complains tell them I said it’s okay. I got you.

What’s the deal with closets?

-Susie Moloney, Winnipeg Public Library Writer-in-Residence, 2023-24

Author of: Bastion Falls, A Dry Spell, The Dwelling, The Thirteen, Things Withered: stories

Screenwriter of: The Suburbanight, ROMI, Bright Hill Road, ROMI the feature, Penny Whistle

And more to come …

Books for Aspiring Writers

This year I have been working with our new Writer-in-Residence, Susie Moloney, to put on some workshops aimed at helping writers improve on their craft. Every year there is a “Writers’ Circle” to provide community and feedback for emerging and established writers, as well as a number of workshops and Susie will also review manuscripts and provide feedback on them. It is a popular program and it is always exciting to work alongside the writer to make these workshops happen!

This got me to thinking about some of the great books that writers have written about the art of writing and there are many. 

Steering the Craft: A 21^st-Century guide for Sailing the Sea of Story by Ursula K Le Guin. A practical guide on the essentials of the craft of writing from this celebrated and incomparable writer. 

Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami. The best-selling author shares thoughts on his life working as a full-time writer.

Gather: Richard Van Camp on the Joy of Storytelling by Richard Van Camp. If you want to be a writer you have to know how stories are truly healing. Van Camp shares what he knows about the power of storytelling.

Elements of Fiction by Walter Mosley. Another accomplished writer has a book telling the reader how to do it themselves. It is accessible and inspiring with lots of tools and advice. 

The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. A delightful look into Dillard’s experiences and struggles with the craft of writing.

For more information on the Writer-in-Residence program visit our website. Happy writing!

-Kim

2020-2021 Writer-in-Residence

The Library is pleased to announce that Lauren Carter is our Writer-in-Residence for 2020-2021.

Lauren will be available for consultations starting October 1. She is a multi-genre writer of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction who has published two poetry collections and two novels, including This Has Nothing to Do With You, which won the 2020 Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction at the Manitoba Book Awards. She has taught multiple online writing courses and mentored writers both in-person and remotely.

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We are living in extraordinary times.

With the news bleating seemingly constant miseries, it can be easy, as artists, to give up. After all, when the happenings of the world are stranger than fiction, what on earth do we write?

This, I’ve come to realize over the past several months (seven or so since our reality utterly shifted) is the wrong question. The question we should be asking is: why wouldn’t we write?

For me, writing has always been a process of finding equilibrium. Even while immersed in the exploration of a fictional world, I’m somehow getting grounded. Maybe it’s the same for you. Through words, I figure out – to paraphrase Joan Didion – what I’m thinking, what I’m feeling, what stories need to press through my skin to be shared with others. So, I find balance but – perhaps more importantly – I also reach out.

No matter where we are in history, no matter what is happening around us, our stories matter. The deeper the reach, the more sincere and specific the expression (whether told in memoir or fiction or poetry), the more they will resonate on a universal level, creating compassion, empathy, and learning within our readers. During desperate times, we need stories – your stories – more than ever. 

Wrote the late, great Toni Morrison: “We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

Join me as we write our way through these strange days and coming months. Masked but not silenced. We have a job to do.

-Lauren