Advice from the Archive: "Everything Ain't for Everybody"
Introducing Advice from the Archives, featuring Kidada Williams from Episode 25.
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I’m launching a new semi-regular feature in this issue, “Advice from the Archive.” Thanks to friend of the podcast Tracy Slater for suggesting that I dive into old episodes for nuggets of writing advice. We could all use reminders of some of the gems shared in the podcast over the past three years. And if you missed an episode the first time around, consider this your invitation to check out a great interview from the archive!
Advice from the Archive: "Everything Ain't for Everybody"
If you're anything like me, one of the dangers of listening to interviews with writers is that you can start to ping pong from one seemingly ideal approach to another. Should I write every day, or wait until I have a big chunk of time? Draft by hand, or in Google Docs? It's enough to give you a case of writer's paralysis. Fortunately for us, Kidada Williams spoke to exactly this problem in Episode 25.
Figure out what works for you. Everything ain’t for everybody. And that means everything. You know, the thing that works for one writer, writing every day for 15 minutes, may not work for you. And that’s okay. Whatever gets the job done. That’s what matters.
— Kidada Williams, Episode 25
I often tell people that if Drafting the Past has a thesis, it's this: there's no one way to write great history. This reminder from Dr. Williams is one we all need from time to time.
The rest of Episode 25, Kidada Williams Preaches the Gospel of Audience, is a banger. She covers reading as a writer, how historians can draw on fiction techniques to connect with readers, and hunting for descriptive details in archival research. Listen to the whole thing here: