An Open Letter to My Future Writer Self

An Open Letter to My Future Writer Self,

First, congratulations, because if you’re reading this, you’ve survived quite a bit. Personal struggles and heartbreak and dismissal from those who thought your dream was not a worthy one. You’ve raised three amazing kids alongside a writing career, but only after years of child-raising alongside a demanding legal and corporate executive career. You’ve all grown up together. You’ve written at least five novels, and even though you often wave off that accomplishment, it IS a big deal, and it IS ok to own that.

If you have forgotten how hard you worked, and how uphill the climb was – if you are romanticizing your journey to this point, let me stop you. Right. There. Accept my congratulations graciously and enjoy a moment of earned pride.

Second, let me ask you a question. Are you still writing for the pure love of the thing? If so, fabulous! I’ll stop bothering you. I’ll let you get back to it.

But if you’re not, then hold on. Stop for a moment and take time to remember.

Remember when you wrote that first draft of Lemongrass Hope with absolutely no idea what a character arc was or what the stakes were or which point of view to commit to? You just knew there was a story inside you of a woman with regrets and fears and dreams. A woman the world had never seen and would never see if you didn’t put the words on paper. With the help of editor extraordinaire, Caroline Leavitt, you finessed the words into a piece of commercial fiction, but at its core, it was raw and honest. People read it, connected with it, and told you so. It was heady, that response to your debut novel.

And so you kept on writing for the love of the thing.

Your next novels were similarly honest, only now you had learned a thing or two about constructing a novel. But still, the stories arose from deep inside of you – survivors’ guilt, a warrior cry, a voice that wouldn’t be silenced, an owning of your truth.

You wrote your words on the page, and called them “Fiction,” and when asked which parts were “true,” you laughed and said “I’m not brave enough to write non-fiction. But just because it’s fiction, doesn’t mean it’s not true.” 

You didn’t stay inside a lane. You didn’t write only one kind of book. But still, your books have always had one thing in common. They came from a true emotion you actually felt – one that was tucked just underneath the surface, so close you were always afraid if someone got too close – if they scratched you, it would burst free. So you wrote about it instead.

You kept writing for the love of the thing. You kept writing to be heard. It’s important to remember these things. I’m convinced this is why you have always loved the gruesome, grueling process of writing. You always scratched your head in wonder and disbelief when writer friends would say, “I hate this part! I love having written. I don’t love the writing.” I hope you’re still scratching your head.

And so, dear future self, if for some reason, you’ve forgotten how much you love to write, make sure you’re telling the right story. Make sure it’s coming from the same well of emotion and honesty and raw truth that your earlier novels came from.

Even if it’s fiction. Make sure it’s true.

xo

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Amy Impellizzeri is a former corporate litigator, start-up executive, and award-winning author of fiction and non-fiction. Her debut novel, Lemongrass Hope (Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing 2014) was a 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Bronze Winner and a National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist. Amy’s newest novel, The Truth About Thea, (Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing 2017), is a National Indie Excellence Awards Winner for Legal Thriller, and has been called “clever, mind-bending and darkly original” (NYT Best-Selling Author Heather Gudenkauf) “thrilling and well-plotted” (NYT and USA TODAY Best-Selling Author Julie Cantrell) and a “perfectly compelling read all the way to the shocking end.” (USA TODAY AND WSJ Best-Selling Author Kimberly Belle).

Her newest two-book deal with Wyatt-MacKenzie Publishing has just been announced with WHY WE LIE – a contemporary thriller releasing in 2019, and a second title releasing in 2020.

Amy is a frequent invited speaker at Lawyers in Transition Meetings, annual Bar conferences, and creative writing workshops across the country. Amy is a member of the Tall Poppy Writers, the Past President of the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, and a 2018 Writer-In-Residence at Ms.JD.org.  Keep in touch at www.amyimpellizzeri.com.

Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/AmyImpellizzeri

Amy’s latest novel THE TRUTH ABOUT THEA

Will, a recovering heroin addict-turned-counselor for whom truth is a championed element to recovery, has a dark secret — shared with no one outside of his anonymous support meetings. Over twenty years ago, after an ultimatum from his pregnant ex-wife, Will was forced to assume a new identity and to fake his own death to get out from under his dealer and user-friends once and for all.

Now Will is counseling Thea, a young woman who has been diagnosed with a pathological addiction to creating fake social media identities, and who founded a start-up company (“Alibis”) that created false internet identities for clients, many with suspect pasts. Thea’s addiction has landed her in rehab as a condition of her parole — after a plea bargain cut short a court case that would have put both Thea and Alibis on trial for a very high-profile crime.

As Will works with Thea, the truth is put into motion on a collision course. Both Will’s, and his young client’s, secrets start to unravel … and reveal, at long last, the truth about Thea.

 

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing