We recently connected with Joselin Linder and have shared our conversation below.
Joselin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
I have a friend who used to always say, “My shit’s about to blow up,” after every hit he got with his art. But the truth is, “shit” doesn’t usually blow up. Instead, it sort of simmers, sometimes flames up. Also, this is a gross metaphor.
I realized early on that the trick to being a professional writer was-WRITE. Like never stop. Always be working on your next thing. Always be working on multiple next things. Another great piece of advice came from writer, Sue Shapiro. She pointed out that plumbers don’t get “plumber’s block”. Why should writers claim, “writer’s block?”
After my memoir, The Family Gene came out, I think I thought the project would carry me like a sled to the “next thing”. When it didn’t, I found myself eating through my royalty checks and discovering that I was going to have to actually DO something. Had I been ready to publish something else in the early days of my memoir’s success, I think I might have had an easier time.
So I had to find new writing avenues after my memoir. My work pivoted to ghost writing, writing instructing at ProsePlayground.com, and publishing shorter pieces in places like the New.York Times and the New York Post.
Officially no shit ever blew up or really even simmered. But now I have a career I really enjoy and it smells better.
Joselin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
If I came across a person bleeding out on the sidewalk, it would be super weird if I broke out my latest book about a drone war and started reading to them. No one needs my book. For creative people, it can be hard to sell ourselves and our work for this very reason. It isn’t like a brain surgeon selling brain surgery.
But I do happen to believe that we need each other’s voices. We also need to tell our own stories. It can be therapeutic. It can forge connections. it can be like Zoloft without the side effects.
For this reason, I have built a writing community called ProsePlayground.com where you can be a part of a writing community. Or you can join the Writing Group and have a stable, safe, regular writing group that meets weekly and critiques and discusses work. Or you can take writing classes that can help you motivate a regular writing practice; find accountability while trying to carve out time to write.
I have been writing for years. I was on staff at the New York Post. I have published in the New York Times, NPR’s Morning Edition, Elle Magazine, and others. I have published 10 books with almost all of the big five publishing houses. My memoir, The Family Gene (HarperCollins) was New York Times reviewed and was turned into a one hour documentary on CNN. I have experienced all the ups and downs of writing professionally. But my favorite thing has been getting to read the unpublished work of my peers.
I think the best thing about creating art is the creation itself. We are a consumer culture. But creation is what makes us human.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I love writing groups. I BELIEVE in the power of writing groups.
When I moved to New York City, I took a writing class on a whim. I was working for an indy production company at the time, and really my goal was to make some friends. As the ten week class ended, I knew I wanted to keep going, so I asked a few people to keep meeting me at a nearby bar. That became a writing group. Eight of us continued to meet. As people invariably left, we brought in others to take their places.
The group was life changing. Not only for me but for all of us. A group of people working in all different professional capacities slowly morphed into professional writers. One became an editor at Vogue. Another completed an MFA and is a writing instructor and writer at UMass Amherst. Someone else became the lead writer at their non-profit. I sold several books and I wasn’t alone. Of the members of that writing group, seven people have published books.
I think it’s something like the idea in skiing where if you turn your head in a given direction, you will go that direction (says the girl from Ohio who doesn’t ski). I think writing groups can be the same way.
I think my writing group directly led to every book I sold thereafter. And my writing group today continues to keep me on track.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
It feels good to create. Now that we are facing down competition from A.I., I think more than ever, our humanity matters. I want all of us to tell our stories. But writing in a vacuum isn’t enough. Engagement from an audience matters. Being heard matters. It’s transformative.
I love the idea of a thriving writing community filled with engaged participants writing for each other and then hopefully even the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://proseplayground.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joselinder/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joselin.linder/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joselin-linder-59b6202/
- Twitter: @joselinder22
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@joselin222
Image Credits
-New York Times Image for Dancing With My Mortality, Charlotte Ager
-The rest by permission of Joselin Linder