Open Draft - with Fabio Cerpelloni What I Learned about Writing from a Suicidal Writer
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Dec 27, 2023 Jennifer Walker, a suicidal physicist turned professional art, travel, and culture writer, shares her personal journey of finding solace in writing. She discusses embracing the identity of a writer, the importance of background in writing, leveraging a language education background, and the significance of finding a niche in writing.
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How Writing Saved Jennifer Walker
- Jennifer attempted suicide in her 20s during a PhD in physics and then found writing as the thing that made her want to live again.
- After a Swiss entrepreneur asked how often she wrote and thought about writing, she accepted the identity and deliberately pursued writing jobs and internships until her career changed.
Adopt The Writer Identity To Change Behavior
- Believing you are a writer is the critical mindset shift that unlocks action, confidence, and opportunities to pitch editors.
- Jennifer and Fabio both changed self-identity after accepting they wrote almost constantly, which led them to seek paid and unpaid writing work.
Turn Your Background Into A Writing Advantage
- Your previous background can be an asset, not a limitation, because editors sometimes want non-literature perspectives like analytical scientific thinking.
- Jennifer's physics/PhD background landed gigs because an editor valued her analytical approach for travel and culture pieces.