Posted 1:28 p.m. Monday, Oct. 2, 2023
Writing in the Library
The Write Here, Write Now blog invites writers from the University of Wisconsin and La Crosse communities to respond to a series of questions that shed light on their writing lives. As readers of the blog will discover, learning to write is an ongoing, life-long process and all writers, from first-year students to career professionals, benefit from reflecting on the writing process and sharing that process with others.
Name and Title: Teri Holford, Associate Professor, Education Liaison and Special Collections Librarian
Department, Speciality Area, and Classes Typically Taught: I’m an associate professor and librarian at Murphy Library (Education Liaison and Special Collections Librarian). Besides teaching Information Literacy and teaching students research methods, I specialize in Children’s Literature and teach to pre-service teachers in the School of Education. I also work with local archival manuscripts and collections, rare and unique books and anything local history in the Special Collections of Murphy Library. Those are my two happy places in the library. I'm fairly convinced that a good chunk of the ultimate truth can be found in a well written children’s picture book, and that archival manuscript collections contain the greatest secrets.
Current Writing Project: Currently, I’m working on a diversity analysis/audit of all the 4000+ picture books in the Curriculum Center of Murphy Library to determine how diverse (or not) our collection by looking at main and secondary characters in picture books and how they're portrayed. The state of diversity in publishing for children’s picture books in the U.S. is quite dismal. We need more diversity in author’s voices and independent publishing houses (they take more risks in representation), which ultimately would diversify picture books in bookstores, libraries, and homes.
My other project is processing the personal papers and manuscript collection of a recent donation from Bill and Yvonne Hyde, who recently gave $ 2.2 million to the English Department and Murphy Library.
1. What are you currently reading?
I usually have 2-3 books going at the same time. Reading widely and deeply is important for me both as an avid reader and a hobby writer. Currently, I’m making my way through two non-fiction books (Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Year and The Book on the Book) and the novel Trust by Hernan Dias (one of President Obama’s favorites 2022 reads). There are and will always be too many piles of tbr books around me in my space. Wait, are there ever too many piles?
I strongly believe in reading. I think people should read whatever makes them happy. Audiobooks count (in my opinion). I don’t like how some books are thought of as “trash” or “embarrassing.” Just read and enjoy it. The act of reading is beneficial.
2. What type(s) of writing do you regularly engage in?
For work, it’s reports, articles, finding aids, that sort of thing. Even though it’s not as inspiring or motivating as creative or personal writing is, it’s still a place I like to be (generating thoughts and communicating using words).
Outside of work, I inconsistently play around with journal writing, and am currently in the middle of a personal project where I take one intentional photo a week, print it out with a bluetooth smartphone printer (2”x3” pre-inked adhesive paper), slap it into a notebook, and write something about said photo. I did this ten years ago, and it’s fun to return to and see what caught my eye, so I’m giving it another go.
I’ve got a couple of work-related projects that push the boundaries of information science (meaning organization and accessibility) into the wonderfully expansive and almost romantic world of archival collections--those extraordinary ones that come from the community and thus connect it to its local archival institutions. More to come.
3. When/where/how do you write? What are your “writing necessities”?
Solitude! I need to be alone with no distractions (pets are worse than people). Coffee shops are fine because I can ignore the background noise. As long as I’m alone, it doesn’t matter where I am. Writing on my laptop is the most fluid way that works for me. I admire writers who write with paper and pen, but I prefer the keyboard because I can keep up with my thoughts. Paper and pen is great for brainstorming, mind maps, and doodling, which is often the first step in the conception phase.
4. What's the best writing advice you've received?
Just start writing. It doesn’t matter what it looks like when it comes out. Just get it out. Then edit, edit, edit. Or not, depending on the purpose of what you’re writing. Also, another piece of advice that has stuck with me is to read. Reading and writing go hand in hand. But try and read good writing.
5. How does your discipline, background, and/or life experiences affect your writing style?
My work on campus is Information Science and Librarianship. Although librarianship can be defined in many ways, in an academic setting, things are much more orthodox than creative, and my thirst for creativity has wilted a bit within the confines of my discipline. After years of pushing the boundaries, I’ve come to accept that there is another place outside of my work experience for creativity in writing. Before pursuing my graduate studies and coming to UWL, I lived for many years in another country where creativity is not only encouraged, but rewarded and celebrated. During these years, I realized that my comfort zone is writing creative nonfiction. I like and need structure, but I like and need to challenge that structure too. I think that comes with my temperament.
6. What is your best tip for getting started and/or for revision? How do you avoid writer’s block?
Finding a writing critique group is one way to get started or to revise. I belong to an online writing critique group with four smart women writers where we exchange our creative writing once a month. Whether you’re writing for work or for your own more personal or creative endeavors, belonging to a writing critique group is extremely helpful. You have a community there that can be your accountability buddies. For writer’s block, that may stem from fear and anxiety. Try the “morning pages” method of writing for 10 minutes when you get up in the morning, before looking at your phone, checking emails, or reading the news. Just throw your thoughts on paper in longhand, even if they’re incomprehensible, for 10 minutes. Even if you re-write 100 times "I don't know what to write". Don’t re-read them. Ever. Just get it out and then move on with your day.
7. What do you think students need to know about academic writing?
Academic writing responds to very specific criteria, depending on one’s discipline. It is analytical, follows protocol, and generates new knowledge. Your academic writing will be thrown under the bus by editors and raked through the coals by peer reviewers. It’s a challenge, as it should be. It’s hard, as it should be. If students want to write for academic purposes, I’d recommend that they read academic writing. Lots and lots of it.
8. For whom do you write?
Besides letters or other personal correspondence, I don’t really write for anyone in particular. I don’t even think I write for myself. I write to get things out, to develop perspective, to make sense of the world, and to have fun doing it. If writing isn’t fun or pleasant or exciting or revealing, then why am I writing?