Author Interview: Monica Wood

Monica, thank you for joining us on Henlit Central.  It was my husband who found your book, read it and loved it! And after reading your book, I fell in love with it too.  Your writing had me hooked after the first page!

Can you please tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started as a writer. 

I started writing a soon as I could hold a pencil, but my career came to me late. I went to college (theology, English, French) and graduated into a dreadful job market. My first job out of college, with my fancy degree, was as a CNA in a nursing home. Eventually I got a graduate degree in counseling, working as a guidance counselor for eight years. I was writing most of that time, mainly short stories. No formal training, just a ton of reading and a couple of writing workshops. “A couple” meaning exactly two. My first published story appeared when I was in my mid-30s, my first novel when I was 40. My second novel didn’t appear for seven more years. After that, I hit my stride. I’m now 72, with six novels behind me, plus a memoir, a few books for aspiring writers, and three published (and produced) plays. And I have plenty more ahead; writing still makes me happy. 

How to Read a Book clearly resonates on such a deep emotional level. What first sparked the idea for this story? 

A character named Violet Powell woke me in the middle of the night. It’s never happened before and will likely never happen again, but I’m grateful for that little miracle. She came fully formed; from where, I don’t know. A place of mystery. The other characters grew up around her.

How to Read a Book explores connection, redemption, and unexpected friendship in such a moving way. What themes felt most important for you to explore while writing it? 

I don’t begin with theme, or even think about theme. I begin with a character or two, burden them with some trouble, and a story commences. Theme bubbles up from the story; it’s a bottom-up process, not a top-down. Woe unto those who start with a theme, for they’ll be writing about abstractions, and nobody wants to read about abstractions. I trust the allure of the characters’ wants and needs; the rest, including the overall themes, will surely follow.

Your writing has a quiet, immersive quality that draws readers in so effortlessly. How would you describe your voice, and has it evolved over time? 

Oh, thank you. I don’t think my voice has evolved over time—I think you can tell that the writer of, say, Ernie’s Ark (2002) and The One-in-a-Million Boy (2012) is the same person. But I do believe I’m a better writer than I used to be. Experience, you know? I think I handle metaphor more subtly, for one example. I’ve gotten better at embedding backstory less visibly. We do learn by doing. I don’t regret any past writing, though, or dismiss it as lesser; I just wish it well and keep moving. I have always done the best I could with what I had at the time. 

When you begin a new project, do you start with a character, story, or a feeling you want to capture? 

I don’t know how to describe my process except to say that I love sentences. I have loved sentences since I was old enough to spell n-o-u-n. Few things please me more than writing a sentence that contains both nuance and clarity. But what does a good sentence look like? All those delectable choices! Looping or staccato? Simple or compound? Declarative or imperative? Short or long? Each choice takes the reader to a slightly different place. Just as a guitar chord creates a single sound with a blend of notes, a sentence offers a single thought with its own note-like components. In a novel, a sentence should move the story ahead, if only incrementally, while also illuminating the character in the story, if only incrementally. When sentences perform more than one task, over and over, they build a deeper, bigger, more layered book as you go. Sentence by sentence. It’s so gloriously hard! My favorite sentence out of my entire body of work is this, from my memoir, When We Were the Kennedys: “The Vaillancourts were catless but otherwise without flaw.” 

What does a typical writing day look like for you and what helps you stay focused and inspired? 

Like my neighbor’s black lab, I’m highly food-motivated. One page, one bonbon. That’s the trick.

Every writer faces moments of doubt. How do you navigate creative blocks or periods when the writing isn’t flowing? 

You know, there’s a lot to be said for late-blooming success. One, when you’re older you have a far better perspective about what success means; two, over time you accept writing droughts as part of your process; three, you lose your fear of being bad because you no longer have time for self-indulgence; four, building a readership slowly, over a long time, teaches you that readers will wait. I’m sincerely glad I didn’t “hit it” out of the gate. I’m the tortoise in this race, not the hare. Tortoise types are suited to the business: hard shells, soft centers, steady pace. 

You’ve written across novels, memoir, and essays. How does your approach shift depending on the form? 

My approach doesn’t shift in the slightest in regard to my habits. I’m really disciplined. But I have to admit that playwriting is the most fun. I love writing dialogue, and plays are all dialogue. Of course, having that one tool is both blessing and curse, but I do love throwing a bunch of characters together and giving them things to say.

Over the course of your career, what has been the most surprising or unexpected part of being a published author? 

I’ve been not just surprised, but occasionally overwhelmed by the depth of affection and trust my readers have shown me. I get the most profound letters. A woman who had just finished How to Read a Book sent me a gorgeous letter about her incarcerated brother. She included his photo. I felt such empathy and gratitude I could barely breathe. When I was on the road for When We Were the Kennedys, which is in part about my father’s sudden death when I was nine, people stood in line to tell me who they had lost. It’s an enormous privilege to connect with readers in these ways.

If you could give one piece of advice to women, especially in midlife who are thinking about writing their own stories, what would it be? 

For crying out loud, girl! Clear a space, take a breath, and do it! Be the tortoise; keep trudging! Write the first word, keeping writing, and eventually, one word at a time, you’ll reach the last word. If (when) you get a case of the yips, write another word. Just one. Then another one. Oh, and then another one.

For your loyal fans, is there anything in the pipeline you can tell us about? 

The success of How to Read a Book (21 foreign editions and counting) has been such a huge distraction that I haven’t written much of anything in two solid years. I’ve met hundreds of readers though, over 130+ book events, both in person and virtual. I just recently lighted, cleared my calendar (mostly) for the summer, and a new play has come pouring out of me, a miracle! I think I have a novel-in-waiting, too, though it’s nothing but air right now.to