Susan Orlean has an enviable writing career as a prominent narrative nonfiction writer who’s able to pursue the far-flung, exotic—even eccentric—stories that catch her interest. She’s a frequent writer for the New Yorker, and author of praised works of narrative nonfiction including The Orchid Thief. Meryl Streep played Orlean in a film adaptation of The Orchid Thief.
Still, she remains one of the most accessible authors online, maintaining a very active presence on Twitter. I recommend following her for an entertaining and up-close-and-personal view of the daily life of a working writer.
In this interview, Orlean reveals how she chooses her subjects, whether writing in 140 character spurts is changing the way she writes and how she sees reading habits evolving.
Your interests seem so far-flung: Rin Tin Tin, the donkeys of a small middle eastern village, orchid poachers, and so on. How do you go about choosing your subjects?
I’m very selfish, in the sense that I write about things that I really want to learn about—coupled with an instinct for what might also surprise and intrigue readers. I usually stumble across a story idea and if it sticks in my head, nagging at me to follow it, I do. I discard a lot of ideas that come up and then just don’t nag at me hard enough.
What’s next up for you in terms of book projects and feature stories?
I’m finishing my book about Rin Tin Tin; writing a story about backyard chickens for the New Yorker, and doing a little travel piece for a new magazine called Afar. And then who knows?
You’re known as one of the great narrative nonfiction writers. What motivates you to write in this genre?
I love real life. I love finding and telling stories, with the deep hope that it will somehow change the reader. Fiction can do that too, of course, but I have always wanted to find real stories and draw people to them, reveal something of life to them that they might not otherwise have a chance to see.
And how do you make yourself sit down and get some writing done when you’re not in the mood?
DEADLINES! Honestly, the concrete fact of a story being due has a galvanizing effect. Otherwise, I try to just be around my notes, in front of my computer, trying to relax and get in the mood.
It’s a little like a tip I was given once when training to run a marathon: If you’re not in the mood for your run, at least put on your running clothes and sneakers. You might find that you end up running after all.
You’re one of the most prolific authors on Twitter. Any tips for other writers on how you fit social networking into your schedule?
I guess I fit it in where office workers fit in their visit to the water cooler—it’s a quick, momentary diversion, to break up the solitary time of writing. When I feel I’m spending too much time on it, being distracted, I log off so I can’t even hear the little “tweet” when something comes up on Tweetdeck … too tempting!
Do you think that all of the emphasis on writers to get heavily involved with social media is helping them? Have you noticed any impact on your writing from Twitter, etc. either positive or negative?
I don’t think you “need” to get involved; I did it at the encouragement of my assistant, who is a lot younger and more Web-savvy than I am, and she thought it would be a useful way to stay in touch with my readers between projects. I think she was absolutely right, and since then I think it has perhaps connected me with people who hadn’t yet read my work and now might be interested.
When I have something published, it’s nice to be able to alert people to it. I also think writing is just a good thing for writers to do, even if it’s only 140 characters. It’s a great exercise to try to develop voice and tone in such a short space.
What are your thoughts about the future of print and whether or not ebooks are going to become more dominant?
I think it’s inevitable that the way we read things will change—it’s obviously underway already. I don’t really care what the form is— frankly, I’m enjoying reading books electronically and don’t mind not having the physical object to shelve and dust.
What I wonder about is the business of it—namely, the form doesn’t matter since we will always want to read news, stories, books, etc., but there isn’t yet a workable system for raising money to support reporters and writers who do it. (There is for ebooks, but I mean web-only magazines and newspapers, since advertising isn’t working). So I don’t know where it will end up. There have been professional writers since the beginning of time, so it won’t disappear, but I can’t figure out quite how it will look as a business.
What’s the single best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten about being a writer?
Write what you love, and love to write. Honestly, I can think of nothing more important and more true.
You can follow Susan Orlean’s writing adventures on her website and Twitter.
-Maria Schneider
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You’re right, Maria, Susan Orlean is very entertaining, informative and accessible on Twitter. I love following her tales of hen-happenings. Without Twitter, I wouldn’t have been aware of her recent article concerning donkeys. It was a fabulous piece.
Great article and advice. I found myself wanting to copy-paste some of the lines here to print out and put above my desk.