Off Kilter: Interview with Linda C. Wisniewski

Linda C. Wisniewski is the author of Off Kilter: A Woman’s Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, & Her Polish Heritage, published by Pearlsong Press this year. Linda writes for the Bucks County Herald and teaches memoir classes for Bucks County Community College.

I’m giving away a copy of the this book; just post a comment below the interview, and your name will be entered in a random prize draw. Read on to find out more about the challenges Linda faced in writing her memoir, and her tips for beginning memoir writers…

What inspired you to write Off Kilter?

My essay called My Body, My Self was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2003 by Mindprints literary magazine. One of my teachers recommended I expand it into a book, which at the time was too daunting. I just couldn’t figure out how to do that, so I kept on writing essays and memoir pieces for a couple of years. When I felt ready to try the book, I looked for a theme, and decided to use my scoliosis as a metaphor for my life: twists and curves and sometimes painful readjustments!

What was the writing process like?

When I decided to do a book, I pulled together stories I’d already written, and wrote additional pages and chapters to link them together into the “off kilter” theme. So, overall, the process took me about three years (2003 to 2006) but about half of the book was written before then. My ‘outline’ strategy: I wrote the title of each essay on a post-it note and arranged them on a posterboard, switching them around until I liked the order.

What was the hardest part of writing Off Kilter?

It was emotionally difficult, in the very beginning, to revisit some of the incidents in my childhood having to do with emotional abuse. But by the time I knew I was writing a book, much of the pain was gone: I had already shed the tears. That’s what I love about memoir writing; reflecting on the past and finding meaning there turns it into a story, something outside myself.
But the very hardest part, for me, was getting my seat into the chair and my hands on the keyboard over and over again. Life has so many other temptations, does it not? Writing is hard work! To keep going, I had to keep reminding myself how good it feels when I ‘get it right.’

Your memoir struck me as refreshingly honest and straightforward (compared to some memoirs out there) as well as inspirational. Something I’ve always wondered about memoir-writing, though — was it difficult to write about the people who are still alive and might read your book? Did any of them get upset with you?

I find it’s best with emotionally charged memories to first write the story and then revise to make it balanced. I didn’t allow myself to worry about what people would think until I was sure I wanted it to BE a book. I then changed some names to protect privacy and deleted some passages that might have hurt them. Still, a couple of folks were upset, not at what I’d written about them, but because I chose to write about the effects of emotional abuse on my mother and myself. My extended family all lives far away, and we don’t see each other often. I wish it were different, that more people would talk about these things publicly and work to prevent domestic abuse.

How did you find Pearlsong Press? Do you have an agent?

No, I don’t have an agent. I did talk to a few, and they weren’t ready to represent me but they gave me some great feedback. I found Pearlsong through trolling the internet for publishers of books with similar themes to mine. Each time I found one, I sent out a proposal the following Wednesday with everything they asked for in their guidelines. Some of them replied with excellent feedback as well, and Pearlsong was lucky number thirteen on my list.

I notice you’re a regional rep of the International Women’s Writing Guild. Could you please tell us a bit about that organization?

Yes, the IWWG has a weeklong conference every June at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, where I met wonderful teachers and mentors. It’s empowering and supportive to spend a week (or even just a weekend) with hundreds of women writers of all ages, genres and levels of expertise. Additionally, IWWG hosts a Big Apple conference in Manhattan every spring and fall, where I met the agents I mentioned above. The organization encourages local groups or clusters of women to meet and share their writing, and there are many throughout the U.S. and even overseas. It’s a wonderful organization that’s been in existence for 32 years, and I recommend it to all the women writers I meet.

What’s the main piece of advice you would offer someone who is thinking of writing a memoir for publication?

Well, you’ve heard it before, but I’ll say it again: Just do it. Put the words on the page, don’t censor yourself, and for heaven’s sake, don’t even think about what other people will think of you! No matter how good a book you write, someone important to you won’t like something in it. But if you write the story that wants to be told, the story that only you can write, you’ll gain insight into yourself and your choices, you’ll see your mistakes and triumphs in perspective, and whether or not it’s published, you’ll have created a work of art from your one ordinary life. What could be better than that?

Thanks for sharing your outlining strategy. Do you prefer outlining with post-it notes rather than on the computer?

Oh, yes! LOL What can I say? I like the three-dimensional quality of post-its as opposed to the flat computer screen, and I need to step away from the computer once in awhile! I’m not a big fan of outlines. I tend to write as much as I can first, and then go back to see what I want the big picture to look like. That’s when an outline is helpful to me – to organize subsequent drafts.

I see that you teach memoir writing classes. In your experience, what’s the biggest mistake that beginning memoir writers tend to make?

Being too general, trying to write a memoir without putting yourself into the story. Many people write the newspaper version – just the facts – and it quickly gets boring, even for the writer. Personal details make your story unique and enjoyable to write. For example, if you lived during the Vietnam War era, write about the letters you mailed to your boyfriend in the service, or the protest you marched in, or the day your draft number was called. Tell us what you saw, heard and felt.

What are your favourite memoirs?

I love everything Louise De Salvo writes, because I’m very interested in the ethnic American experience. Two of her books are “Crazy in the Kitchen” and “Vertigo.” I also like Kathleen Norris’ spiritual memoirs, “Dakota” and “The Cloister Walk.” And of course, the classic that helped start the boom in memoirs, Mary Karr’s “The Liar’s Club.”

Any upcoming projects you’d like to tell Inkygirl readers about?

I find it quite funny that after years of studying and reading creative nonfiction and writing memoirs and personal essays, I’m working on a novel! My earliest known ancestor is a woman who was born in 1778. I’m very curious about her life, and what she’d think of mine, so I’m time traveling her here, with the help of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, Poland. I’m having fun creating a story from my imagination. At the same time, I still enjoy writing personal essays and I’m collecting them for a possible book project.

You can find out more info about Linda at www.lindawis.com.