Ask the Author: Stephanie Polsky
Answered Questions (6)
Stephanie Polsky
We all have days when we write that I refer to as throwaway days. Days where my prose is not flowing in the way I would wish or my research has yielded nothing despite the hours I spent looking for something. Sometimes you have to admit what you started doesn't work and have the courage to leave it behind and start again. In terms of writer's block it always effects me at the very start of a new work, I do okay as long as I am in the middle of a piece with threads to pick up. So when that happens I usually walk away from the screen and start to write a list of things I want to cover overall in the piece or I diagram it in terms of how it might be laid out. I find that a lot of times I change my introductory paragraphs so that helps as well, to know that what I am writing to start is likely to be changed, that way its not so serious. If you are really stuck just imagine in your mind what you would tell a friend about what you are about to write, if they suddenly called you when you felt blocked. Writing a pseudo response if you like to them usually gets the ball rolling. Lastly, always have notes before you sit down to write. I do a lot of notes around my research and that means their is always something already started beside me, I am not alone with the blank screen, I have my cheat sheet with me!
Stephanie Polsky
The best thing is getting to engage with my imagination on a regular basis, to be taken by ideas and to find the way forwards through thorny territory using my wits. I would say that writing is the thing that brings me the most happiness in my life and being in the midst of formulating an idea on paper one of the most absorbing ways to spend my time. The days I write are usually one's I recall as the best ones. Writing is addictive in that way for me, because I notice if I am feeling off, or frustrated its usually the best remedy to get stuck into a new piece of writing to lift my spirits. Writing transports you beyond yourself, and takes you on an unknown journey, so that in itself makes it incredible.
Stephanie Polsky
Never give up if you have a dream to produce a particular work. I was rejected many times over before I was able to publish my first book and indeed it took five years to write it and secure a publisher who understood my vision. This one took a bit less time about a year or so. But the first publisher I had secured decided after several months the book was ultimately not right for his press's audience. I felt devastated. Still I felt this was a story worth telling so I persevered to find another publisher, which thankfully took only months. It still took a year for it to come to print. Expect to do a lot of revision on your manuscript that is time consuming after its first iteration and acquire a thick skin for receiving early reader's reports. They can be a bit of a shock in their frankness, but if you look past that their is usually some very constructive things to be gleaned from them and it can definitely improve your work to be open to such criticism. Its hard to be a writer, its isolating work, many people you know may not be versed in your subject, or interested in hearing about every step you take along the way to getting to your goals, so my advice is spend time cultivating friendships with other writers who understand the process.
Stephanie Polsky
I am currently writing some articles around the housing crisis in London and its relationship to global currency speculation. It relates in some ways to the book, but this work does not reference literature, but rather historical trends in housing policy that have allowed contemporary London to emerge as a very class divided terrain. I am also thinking in the back of my mind of course about the next book, but I find that the answer to what that should be on arises organically in the course of writing these smaller pieces.
Stephanie Polsky
Firstly I believe you have to have a passion for your subject matter. With Dickens it was easy in a way because his writing is so evocative. The harder part was finding a way to discuss him that resonated with recent intellectual discourses around neoliberalism, neocolonialism and globalisation. I think one key is to have some writing superstars in your field in the back of your mind, and try to aspire to create writing that matches their standard. I also think of myself as in conservation with these folks, with my potential readers and with a story bigger than myself that I feel sure needs to be told. It then becomes my responsibility to get to work everyday to meet the demands of that important dialogue. I also meditate every morning before I hit my writing desk and establish goals for the day. I meditate at the end of my writing day to reflect on what I have accomplished and to make determinations for what comes next. This is a wonderful way to make sure you are writing consistently and also that you are aware of your goals and progress. Its a very balancing activity that allows one to find a way to mentally prepare for and reflect on one's progress.
Stephanie Polsky
My grandfather read Dickens to us as children and also was an avid socialist. I wanted to write a book that would honour him by combining a study of Dickens's novels with a critical reading of the recent global financial crisis. In re-reading Dickens's novels as an adult I realised they are all in one way or another about the rise of banking and finance capitalism in nineteenth century Britain and how it crucially intersects intimately with the lives of his characters. Banking crucially orders all our lives to this day as ordinary people so there was a resonant tale to tell between that era and our own. In the book I specifically chose to explore certain of Dickens's novels that would most significantly highlight that type of relationship.
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