Discovering Your Creative Journey Again
“There’s just no path. You just have to kind of worm your way around and just hold on to whatever that creative impulse is and just know it’s not going to leave you.” — Daisy Alpert Florin
Daisy Alpert Florin has a degree in history but never became a history professor or researcher. While getting her degree, she found a love for writing but never believed she could actually make a living as a writer. She ended up in careers that were in tangential fields to writing, such as an editor’s assistant and a daily journalist.
In this episode of “Authors Who Lead,” I talk with Daisy Alpert Florin about her meandering journey to finally writing her novel, My Last Innocent Year: A Novel, and what inspiring writers need to know.
The Not-So-Straight Path
Daisy didn’t write her novel until she was in her forties, and it took her several years. She tells aspiring writers that if they’re told there is no way they could be successful as a writer, to tell those people that they’re wrong. Because, even though writing a novel is a long, hard task, it can be done in small steps.
Learn As You Go
Daisy found out through the process of editing her book that there were many chapters that she ended up having to cut. Although “deeply frustrating,” to have to throw away those words, she became a better writer. She tells us that “frustration is not an interruption of the process, it is the process.” As writers we learn as we go.
In this podcast, Daisy also shares with us:
- The difference between a “pantser” and a writer who outlines
- About the Gateless Method of writing and the benefits of using it
- How important it is to get words down on the page, then do your edits
- Listening to others’ work helps your own writing get better
- To let go of the idea of time when writing: take small steps toward finishing
- That you don’t have to be good at everything
What was your biggest takeaway from this episode? Do you have an idea for a book but feel it’s too late in your life to begin? Share in the comments below!
That’s all for this week. If you have a message inside of you that needs to be written, today is the day to start. Don’t delay — take action.
Episode Resource:
Connect with Daisy here:
Twitter
Instagram
Get a copy of Daisy’s book here:
My Last Innocent Year: A Novel
Listen on:
