Writer, author, both
...and the difference between the two
I’ve spent my whole life being a writer and the last month being an author, and let me tell you: there’s a difference!
I knew this in advance, in a theoretical way, and that’s part of why I put so much work and intention into preparing for my publication debut. But over the last month, I’ve lived that difference. Mostly elegantly, I would say, a couple of bumps notwithstanding.
There are some generalities here, but the difference I’m talking about:
A writer writes. An author has written, has published, and hopefully will continue to write and publish, but she is now the public face and voice of a finished book.
A writer is pretty darn invisible much of the time, sequestering herself inside a private world she is protecting. An author is visible (or trying to be), opening that private world up for anyone to enter.
A writer’s focus is often internal, inward-facing. An author’s focus is external, public-facing.
A writer’s primary relationship is with the page, with the creative process, with the characters and their unfolding story, and with her own internal being as she tries to get out of her own way long enough to receive, listen, dive deep, create. An author’s primary relationship is with other human beings: readers, prospective readers, booksellers, interviewers, industry professionals.
A writer’s primary responsibility is to the story and the work (and maybe to her own self?) An author’s primary responsibility is, arguably, to the reader (but also still her own self, I hope).
A writer spends a heck of a lot of time in quiet solitude and deep focus. An author spends a heck of a lot of time in front of an audience, virtual or actual, talking, sharing, engaging, inviting people in.
There’s been a growth edge for me along this writer-author divide, and I’ve bumped up against it a couple of times in the last month.
Like on the way to my event in Manhattan, when I lost my nerve and was gripped by anxiety—I can’t do this, it’s New York Freaking City, it’s too big. The whole way from Brooklyn to the Lower East Side on the subway, I practiced deep breathing and listened to meditations, and by the time I arrived at the bookstore I was ready to shine. And shine I did!
Like at the small-town bookstore where the vibe was friendly and intimate and it felt weird to me to hold forth, to take up big space, to be Heidi Reimer the Author of The Mother Act instead of just me, a person and a writer and a friend. I stumbled trying to find that line (not literally), and as a result I’m not sure I owned my Author-ity in the most effective way.
See that? Author? Authority? This is a whole other topic, but a lot of women and people with marginalized identities haven’t been conditioned toward or permitted to own or embody authority. It’s something we have to learn and claim.
On the whole, though, it has been a wonderful experience being an author out in the world with The Mother Act. I’ve been in Toronto, New Hampshire, New York, and Connecticut. I’m back home for a little while now, but with more events to come (see below).
It bears noting that I am not writing right now. But I will. It is, after all, the heart and soul of all of this. I left off in the middle of a big edit on the next novel, and I can only go so long without reentering that private creative space.
Or perhaps, more accurately, what I’ll be doing is straddling both identities and focuses for the foreseeable future.
Have you walked this experience? Please tell me about it!
Warmly,
Heidi
INTERVIEWS
Here are a few places on the internet where you can witness me walking that writer-author divide!
EVENTS
Come see me if you are in or near Prince Edward County in June:
Sat, June 22, 2:30pm: DimeStories at Blizzmax Art Gallery in South Bay, Prince Edward County, ON
Pairing art with story! I’ll be reading a 5-minute piece alongside writers Catherine Fitton, Sarah Henstra, Sarah Selecky, Peter Blendell, Jill Hill, Jane Macdonald, Stacey Michener, Dawn Miller, and Dorothy Speirs.
This event was dreamed up by Sarah Henstra, Sarah Selecky, and me as a way to explore our own preoccupations as creative women as well as the themes inside all of our new or forthcoming books: Sarah Henstra’s The Lost Tarot, Sarah Selecky’s Story Is a State of Mind: Writing and the Art of Creative Curiosity, and my The Mother Act. (It’s not up on the Books & Company website yet, but you can save the date.)