Every month, I interview an author I admire on her literary firsts.
Give your friends pseudonyms. That’s one piece of simple, concrete, and practical advice Chloe Caldwell gives to budding personal essay writers.
It makes sense, given the intimacy and detail of Chloe’s poignant and hilarious work. I love her collection I’ll Tell You in Person — and got to pick her brain this month about essay writing, teaching, working with indie presses, and a lot more.
Read on for more great essay writing advice —
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Siel: You teach writing workshops with Catapult and other organizations. What advice do you give students who are brand new to personal essay writing?
Chloe: Take your time. Personal essays grow and evolve the longer you sit with them. The time before you publish your work is sacred—enjoy it. Give your friends pseudonyms, and always write with love and compassion, for yourself and those you write about.
Do you find that teaching writing affects your own writing in any way?
I know it affects the way I read books now—looking for things I would edit or advise on, how I would critique the piece if it were workshopped in my class. As for writing, I wish I took more of my own advice that I dish out to students, and I also wish I had the balls to attempt the (sometimes) challenging writing prompts I give my students.
Elizabeth Ellen‘s small indie press Short Flight / Long Drive Books, published your first two books — then this latest collection came out from Emily Books, an imprint of Coffee House Press — which is a bigger indie press. How were the two experiences similar and different? And is your decision to publish with indie presses a deliberate one?
Indie presses were one of my first loves when I started reading and writing nonfiction. I loved finding unique and obscure books; it was inspiring to see other women writers publishing work about their lives. SF/LD and Coffee House were both incredible to work with—I got to have say on the titles, the covers, the publicity outreach. With SF/LD, Elizabeth Ellen (the editor & publisher there), would do DIY book tours—she’d rent a van and we’d tour around with other women writers, which was an incredible experience. I’m sure I will continue to publish with indie publishers as long as I’m writing.
If you had the whole first book experience to do over again, is there anything you’d do differently?
No way! I think my life has played out exactly as it should, and if I changed one thing, I might not be where I am today, and I’m really loving my life lately.
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Photo by Anna Ty Bergman