pt. 3: the process
Updated: Jul 23, 2020
hello hello and welcome to pt. 3: the process.
this post is the second half of the f.a.q's (frequently asked questions) about my first book, light soup. you can read the first half of the questions here.
update: i've figured things out with the paperback. you can place an order here. unfortunately, amazon doesn't let me see who ordered so i can't thank folks personally but thank you so much to everyone who ordered before the change! you can also get a digital copy here.
poets you admire/whose work resonates with you?
right now they are: ijeoma umebinyuo, jasmine mans, saul williams, and pablo neruda
how long was the process?
the entire process took about two and a half years. the bulk of the writing happened from january 2018 through february 2020. i did most of the heavy editing from september 2019 through march 2020. full transparency: there were weeks during the editing process where i didn't even look at the manuscript. i was working two jobs, applying to grad schools, and readjusting to life in the states after being away for ~18 months. i originally planned to publish light soup sometime in march but pushed it to april for personal reasons (what better time to release a book of poetry than national poetry month, right?). april came and went and i was still working on the "minor details". as excited as i was to share light soup, it was also important for me to present it in a manner that was fitting.
what is your writing process?
india helped me develop skills that have been instrumental to my process. i intentionally went without a phone and got a flip phone when i got there (this is a story for another day). i still had an ipod so i used it to write down thoughts and experiences i wanted to explore further. sometimes i returned to them, other times i didn't. i continued this throughout my time in south africa and ghana. a few months after i returned to the u.s from ghana in 2019, i met up with one of my mentors, enmanuel (the same one who told me to add poems to my projects). my manuscript was a little over 180 pages at that point. i’d began editing but i was also adding material daily and wasn't sure when to stop.
"how will i know when it's done?" i asked him.
he answered, "when michelangelo was asked how he knew the statue of david was finished, he said he chipped away at everything that wasn't david."
before the fact-checkers come for my life, i know there isn't evidence to support that story. all the same, it was helpful in that it repositioned the way i looked a the creation process. i made a copy of the document and deleted anything i was not interested in developing. as i deleted, i began to recognize the stories i wanted to tell and the stories that needed to be told.
how did you push past writer's block?
i pushed past writer’s block by writing even when i did not want to. in august 2019, i challenged myself to restart writing three pages in the morning. no censoring, no editing, no going back to read it afterward (none of this writing made into light soup).
the only expectation i have for myself when i show up to the page is that i will write (and not judge myself) - no matter what comes out. this expectation takes away the pressure of writing something that sounds good (or even makes sense). the pages are like a morning shower for my brain.
what three words come to mind when you think of your book?
vulnerability, knowing, being. "playful" also comes to mind.
should we expect more books?
yes, in God's time.
thank you for your time, honest feedback, and thoughtful suggestions. i am so grateful to have a community of people that love and support me.
until next time,
esther
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