[Jacquelyn Mitchard, inner stuff]: Cultivating the relationship between author and reader when "every sentence is a struggle" Ep 1078

Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley

In this second part of my interview with the brilliant and hilarious Jacquelyn Mitchard, we talk about the squishier side of creativity–the thoughts, ideas, and attitudes that affect your work, even if you're not fully conscious of it, including:

- The specific reader Jacquelyn imagines as she writes

- Why she's devoted to social media, and why she thinks of it like having a hamster

- How some of her books have 'missed the mark' (but she's not going to tell you which ones)

- The pep talk that gets her through those moments of feeling like a pretender

- The small rewards Jacquelyn uses to congratulate herself for getting another few good sentences down on paper

- The John Prine lyric that sums up her views on aging

- What she learned from growing up on the West side of Chicago (and the viewpoint of her father's that she outright rejects)

For full show notes, with links to everything Jacquelyn and I discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com. And if you'd like to receive these episodes ad-free, become a paid subscriber at katehanley.substack.com.

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