Practice Behind the Page, is component of our SHINE series, a monthly event discussions series that features luminary writers and wellness practitioners. This conversation series that focuses on what kinds of self care practices writers use to facilitate inspiration and creative flow. We are honored to kick off this series with one of our very own, Sarah Mandel workshopped parts of her beautiful forthcoming memoir with Lisa and in our NH Listening Circles and we’re thrilled to highlight her work and her forthcoming memoir Little Earthquakes (Harpercollins, 2023). Kindly hop over to our Instagram page to view our live conversation and read below for an original interview with Sarah about where she finds inspiration, her writing practice and more! Pre-order her book anywhere books are sold!
NH: Describe your writing practice? (ie: is movement or meditation a part of your writing?)
SM: Not surprisingly, my writing practice varies depending on where I am in a project. Right now, I’m working on the final edits and interior design of Little Earthquakes before it’s made into a galley, i.e., the early version of the book that’s sent out for reviews. When I edit my manuscript, I like to read it in as close to one or two sittings as possible so that I can experience the piece in its entirety and let it flow over me without interruption. This approach also helps me pick up on anything that may be repeated (I don’t want to use a juicy word more than a couple of times!) that I could miss if I edit over a series of days or weeks. It does require some late nights. Though I treasure those dark hours of being completely present with my words.
My writing practice incorporates movement. I used to be a runner, and now I’m a walker. If I’m feeling well enough, I try my best to walk in Central Park most days. I find that when I’m walking in nature my mind is especially receptive to creative inspiration. It’s in these moments that I’m most likely to encounter a story seemingly out of the blue.
Just a couple weeks ago, my mom accompanied me to my treatment infusion and brought along the book she was reading to share an excerpt with me. It was Virginia Woolf’s autobiography Moments of Being, and in it Woolf wrote about her own writing practice, “I almost always have to find a scene.” This concept of finding a scene resonated with my mother and me. The search for these scenes is mysterious – I don’t know when they will pop up. But when they do, often on those walks of mine, it’s as if they exclaim Here I am! Put brackets around me. I have a beginning, middle, and end. And then the demand – I am a story: write me down.
And so, I do. Into my Notes app the scenes go, like skeletal outlines of what will later be a fully formed essay or chapter. They will have life breathed into them after being allowed the space to expand onto the page.
I have accumulated a whole lot of scenes. They’re sitting in my Notes app, waiting, a little impatiently, for me to tend to them. I’m excited to start to delicately unfurl them into their whole stories.
NH: What surprised you most about the publishing process?
SM: Little Earthquakes is my first book, so everything about the process of bringing this baby into the world has been unchartered territory. Writing a book proposal and cover letters to agents is a very different kind of work than the creative process of writing a book.
What surprised me the most about the publishing process is that I landed an agent (and a phenomenal one, at that) and she found me my home at HarperCollins. I still pinch myself, remembering back to when I assumed I would self-publish my memoir. I am incredibly lucky!
NH: Where do you find inspiration?
SM: My children. Nature. My friends and family. Authenticity. Love. Vulnerability. Reading. Kindness. Yoga and breathing deeply (is this redundant?). Openness. Self-compassion.
NH: What are you reading?
SM: Girlhood by Melissa Febos. I read Febos’ books Body Work and then Abandon Me and I eagerly devour everything I can find by her. Febos’ memoirs are unapologetically authentic, lyrical, and educational masterpieces on feminism, patriarchy, and identity development.
To hear more, visit our Instagram to watch an intimate discussion with Lisa about Sarah’s powerful story and how narrative therapy helped her overcome a pivotal trauma.
About Sarah
Dr. Sarah Mandel is a licensed clinical psychologist. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and two daughters. Her memoir, Little Earthquakes, is her debut book.
