Everyone Has What it Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt.
by Bill Kenower
Interview by Ellen Birkett Morris
There are all kinds of books on writing from detailed manuals of craft to deep dives into what it takes to face the page. Author, editor and interviewer Bill Kenower has focused his energy on contemplating what means to write and how to do it in four books, his latest is titled Everyone Has What it Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt. He shares his thoughts here:
AUTHORLINK: What drew you to writing? Even more important, why do you continue to write?
KENOWER: I was drawn to writing as a boy because I loved a lot of the arts, including music, drawing, acting, and comedy. I settled on writing because I loved stories and because I was comfortable being alone. I craved it really. Like a lot of artists, I wanted attention, but writing required me to forget about the outside world, what other people like and don’t like, and just focus on what I wanted to see on the blank page.
I continue to write now because it’s the best and quickest way to connect to that which I am always seeking connection. Writers will talk about listening to their muse or getting in the flow or in the zone, all of which describe feeling in relation to something beyond themselves. When I’m really tapped into that, there’s simply nothing better in life – nothing.
AUTHORLINK: You have done a lot of different kinds of writing – journalistic, personal/opinion, instructional, musical. What do these forms share? Do these different forms feed each other, if so how?
KENOWER: All creativity requires a form of active, curious, listening. In fact, it was when I really started writing music that my prose writing improved the most. The music absolutely required I listen. There was nothing logical about what would come next, there was only what wanted to come next, what felt cool to me when it did come. I realized that my stories had not felt that way to me in a while, and I wanted to start listening again when I wrote, to stop thinking.
There’s really nothing to think about, anyway. We look like we’re thinking, but we’re not. We ask a question, and wait for the answer. That’s all there is to do. This isn’t math. There’s nothing to figure out. There’s just waiting with as much patience as possible.
AUTHORLINK: Your book Fearless Writing is centered on navigating the emotional aspects of being a writer. Why did you choose this as a focus rather than craft?
KENOWER: I never wanted to focus on the craft of writing. In fact, I didn’t even want to write about writing. I wanted to write about life. I saw, however, that there was something universal about the writing experienced that translated to all parts of life. When I view my life as something creative, I like it and it makes sense to me. When I don’t see it that way, it just feels like something that’s happening to me, and I couldn’t care less about it.
What’s more, I’ve come to believe that all the craft in world is useless to me if I think I’m no good, or I’m wondering what people will think of my stuff, or I’m worried there isn’t a market for my stuff. The real mastery needed to write regularly and in a way that enlivens us is entirely psychological and emotional. If you can that mind right, the writing gets way easier.
AUTHORLINK: You write about flow. Describe what flow is how and how it can be cultivated
KENOWER: Flow is that state of entering the story fully, when you feel wholly a part of something for which you know you are not wholly responsible. In flow, ideas come to you, characters act independently, and you’re surprised by what you’ve written. It’s like going into a dream state and then awakening. It’s fantastic.
How do get into it? First, never ask yourself what other people will think of what you’re writing. Only ask yourself what should come next, for instance. Then – and this is very important – be open to any answer. You can’t be in flow if you require a certain answer. Be open to anything, always. The Muse will not disappoint.
Lastly, be aware that the writing frame of mind is different from what I call your “domestic” frame of mind, the one you occupy most of your days. When you write, unlike when you’re getting about in the world, there’s nothing to respond to, nothing to interact with. Everything has to come from within. You can’t expect yourself to just leap into that frame of mind. Give yourself time whenever you sit at your desk. It’s a process. Learn to take shifting from one frame of mind to the other as seriously as you take the craft of writing itself.
AUTHORLINK: Your book brings together a wonderful array of thinkers, some writers, some from other fields. Talk about the process of bringing together different fields of thought to bear on the act of writing fearlessly.
KENOWER: To me, everyone’s creative. Everything everyone is doing is creative. I feel like it’s easier to understand the specific discipline of writing if I can see what I’m doing in what the painter or the composer or the architect is doing. If I can remember I’m tapping into my inherent creativity and giving it form through the written word, the work is a little less intimidating. Also, I’m less inclined to see what I do as special in the worst sense. I can’t get too precious about it, make it too holy. At the end of the day, I’m just a person, and I know that, and I can’t overcome that. Writing something that moves or inspires or entertains someone else has to be something an ordinary person can do.
AUTHORLINK: You interview lots of authors. What is the thing you are most interested in exploring with them?
KENOWER: What it means to create something on purpose. What does it feel like to get excited about something, to overcome doubt, to write simply because you want the story to be told? I feel like when I’m talking to another writer about writing we’re just talking about life, about what it is to live, and what matters and what doesn’t matter. To me it’s the most joyous, meaningful conversation I can have.
AUTHORLINK: What is your nutshell advice to writers who are just starting or feeling discouraged?
KENOWER: Find out what you’re interested in and pursue passionately. That means not caring what anyone else thinks about it, or what anyone else is writing or reading. All that matters is what you’re interested in, what you think is cool or funny or sexy or profound. The moment you start wondering other people will think of it, you’re lost. It’s hard, I know, since you’re one day going to share this work with other people who will absolutely tell you what they think about it, and on some days, it can seem like your entire career hinges on whether someone likes it or not – but it doesn’t matter. You can’t change what you love. You can’t change what you’re curious about. All you can do is pursue it.
AUTHORLINK: What are you working on next?
KENOWER: I just finished a memoir called The End of The World and Other Miscalculations. It’s a collection of short pieces, a form I absolutely love, that each look at the ways in which our world can seem to “end” from something as big as cancer or 9/11, or as small as a lonely night in a hotel.
About the author:
William Kenower is the author of Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write With Confidence, Write Within Yourself: An Author’s Companion and Everyone Has What it Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Author magazine. His work has appeared in The New York Times and Edible Seattle, Writer’s Digest, Parent Map, Tiferet Journal, and the Huffington Post. He also hosts the online radio program Author2Author where every week he and a different guest discuss the books they write and the lives they lead.
