That's author Felicia Sullivan reading from her new memoir, The Sky Isn't Visible from Here. While that spooky scene sounds perfectly rehearsed, Sullivan obsessed about the reading for days on her blog and in real life.
Most writers are shy, strange people, and fear of public speaking is built into our DNA. Today, this Columbia University MFA graduate and Pushcart Prize nominee explains how she combats anxiety in her daily life.
Sullivan is our special guest this week, discussing the fine art of memoir in my deceptively simple feature, Five Easy Questions. In the spirit of Jack Nicholson’s mad piano player, I run a weekly set of quality conversations with writing pioneers—delivering some practical, unexpected advice about web writing.
Jason Boog:
You gave a great reading at Barnes and Noble the other night, but you said in your blog that you were deathly nervous. How do you combat anxiety at readings? Generally, how do you control anxiety and fears in your writing life?
Felicia Sullivan:
Years ago a teacher of mine recounted her first Barnes and Noble reading where she ended up fainting on the way to the podium and woke to a sea of panicked faces. I nodded. Of course this would one day happen to me! How could it not?! Continue reading...
The fear of fainting, falling down and cracking my head open, or choking on bottled water, is a constant. I've read many times and the anxiety never goes away, however, I'm starting to realize that I operate well with it.
I always practice in advance of a reading and I always practice Tantric breathing (a three-part breath where you first breathe into your lower abdominals, then your lower chest, then your upper chest, holding each breath along the way), which tends to calm me down.
Although I've finally come to realize that the people in the audience are supportive, they came to hear me read, and will certainly scrape me off the floor should I indeed crack my head open. Now, wouldn't that be a story!
Looking for more advice? Follow these links to find out how Felicia Sullivan answers these questions...
Should You Get a Creative Writing MFA?
Can You Write Your Novel At Work?
» Felicia Sullivan Shows You How To Combat Writing Anxieties from ThePublishingSpot
That's author Felicia Sullivan reading from her new memoir, The Sky Isn't Visible from Here. While that spooky scene sounds perfectly rehearsed, Sullivan obsessed about the reading for days on her blog and in real life. Most writers are... [Read More]
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