RoguesAngels: The Write Balance by Bonni Goldberg

Please welcome Bonni Goldberg author of The Write Balance

Bonni Goldberg will be awarding a prize to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, the winner can choose between a 30 minute coaching call, a Q&A Zoom with their group, or feedback on 3 double spaced pages of their work (via email). In addition, a free ebook about balancing writing & marketing will be given to everyone who enters the raffle. Bonni Goldberg will also award a prize to a randomly drawn host.

The Write Balance

by Bonni Goldberg

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GENRE: Non-fiction, Writing Advice

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INTERVIEW:

What elements are necessary components for this genre?

Writing advice books are most valuable when they’re generous and supportive. A balance between ideas and practical action is essential. Since every writer’s style and temperament is different, it’s important to offer more than one way to accomplish the same thing. And finally, I appreciate writing books that challenge my way of seeing or doing aspects of my writing. Techniques and exercises are critical, but I also want my understanding to shift, to learn something new about myself as a writer.

What expertise did you bring to your writing?

Expertise is a tricky concept. It comes in many forms that aren’t acknowledged or appreciated. As an example, I have a master’s degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University. But that’s only a credential. It proves nothing about what I’m especially knowledgeable about or intuitively good at doing. I could point out my years of success as a writing teacher. I just did. So those are traditional or mainstream responses. But they don’t truly capture my expertise. Expertise comes from the word expert. Expert is from the Latin, experir, excpertusmeaning try.

What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

Full disclosure, I had to go back and read my bio. There is a lot about me that isn't in my bio. I’m neuro diverse, I’m an abuse survivor. I curse. My husband once threatened to put on my gravestone, “I have one more question…” I write about many topics, including death and belonging. I believe everyone has something important to say and to do to help repair the world.

As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

To keep on writing. I only write about what compels me. I don’t always know exactly what pulls me towards a topic or a story. Writing is how I learn whatever insight or lesson I need from it first. Then I work to turn the manuscript into something that speaks to others.

Do you belong to a critique group? If so, how does this help or hinder your writing?

No. I belong to three critique groups. I would be lost without them. There’s this myth that writing is a solitary process. It’s nonsense. Writing is a collaborative endeavor. Even writers who don’t have critique groups and who never show their work to anyone but their publisher collaborate through reading, having conversations and being affected by their world.

When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

I honestly don’t remember the first time. It was poetry, and I sent it to a literary magazine. I’d already heard to expect 100 rejections or to paper a wall with them. So I didn’t have high expectations. And I didn’t need any special encouragement to submit my work. That’s just what writers did if they wanted readers.

What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)

The worst advice was to measure success by money, accepted manuscripts, prizes, excellent reviews and the size of your audience. No one person gave that terrible advice to me. It permeated the writing communities I was part of. The best advice was from a poem by Marge Piercy. She was referring to writing, and the line is, you have to like it more than being loved.

Do you outline your books or just start writing?

It depends on the project. I write in multiple genres so it’s different for each one. What’s consistent overall is that I start by writing notes using pen and paper. When I use an outline, it’s rarely a traditional one. I don’t create an outline until I’ve already done a fair amount of writing. I need to see how ideas, characters, or scenes come out of me before I can see structure.

How do you maintain your creativity?

I nourish it through multiple activities like reading, dancing, spending time among trees and by the ocean, having meaningful conversations, attending talks and theatre. Really, most of what I do away from my day job and life chores (bills, house cleaning, etc.) fuels my creativity. And sometimes I get inspired by something I overhear or observe in the grocery store.

Anything else you might want to add?

Thank you for having me. I enjoyed answering your questions. I can’t wait to see what your readers ask.

BLURB:

In The Write Balance, the companion book to the beloved bestseller, Room to Write, Bonni Goldberg demonstrates how to find fulfillment as a writer by embracing three key aspects of writing: 1) Percolation: what takes place before a first draft is written; 2) Revision: the writer's role after the initial draft; and 3) Going Public: the writer's mission once the writing is done. Filled with tools, examples and exercises, Bonni’s guide offers motives, choices, and encouragement for writers to appreciate and to be creative in the phases before and beyond a first draft. Whether you’re new to writing or a pro, become more passionate and balanced in your writing life.

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EXCERPT:

I wrote my first writing book. Room to Write, to invite people to enter writing creatively, to trust their intuition and discover and use their tendencies, passions, and resistances as fodder for more writing. At that time people seemed to need to free up their innate creative juices and get the words flowing. Since then, at book appearances and during my workshops and writing courses, I’ve repeatedly had this experience: People thank me for helping them to trust themselves as writers and then ask me how to take the next step. What do you see as the next step? I ask.

Whether the answer had to do with getting an agent, writing longer works, feeling legitimate, or any of the many other facets of creative writing, the undertone was the same: a sense of longing or unrest about writing. It felt as if each person was saying to me, “Okay, I get the words out, I even trust them sometimes; now what?” This book is my answer…

The writers I know who are passionate and grounded, who truly love and respect their writing life, consciously attend to three aspects of writing that often get short shrift in the heat and excitement of raw creation: 1. Percolation—the process that takes place before a first draft takes shape 2. Revision—the writer’s role after the initial draft 3. Going Public—a writer’s mission once the writing is done.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Bonni Goldberg is the author of The Write Balance: How to Embrace Percolation, Revision & Going Public, the companion book to the best-seller Room to Write: Daily Invitations to a Writer’s Life. Bonni is an award-winning poet and writer. She is the creator of the 2 Minute Journals™ series. Both traditionally and indie published, her books include non-fiction for adults and fiction and non-fiction for young readers. Her essays and blog posts can be found in numerous print and online publications.

Bonni teaches creative writing at colleges and leads writing workshops internationally for all ages. She knows everyone is creative, and she supports people to discover and share their authentic, meaningful and imaginative experiences through words.

Whether through her writings or through teaching, her methods and perspectives continue to empower thousands of adults, families, and children.

Bonni is also a Jewish educator. She speaks, writes, and leads workshops on Jewish topics such as Jewish identity, rituals and antisemitism at Jewish women’s events, JCCs, and conferences.

Bonni Goldberg lives in Portland, Oregon with her partner in life, and some creative projects, artist Geo Kendall.

www.bonnigoldberg.com

www.facebook.com/bonnigoldbergbooks

www.twitter.com/bonnigoldberg

www.instagram.com/goldbergbonni

Get your FREE copy of “Writing & Marketing: 8 Authors Reveal Their Secrets” here: https://bookhip.com/PASGHHQ

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

RAFFLECOPTER:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f4100"