Ask the Author: Robin Rinaldi
Answered Questions (7)
Robin Rinaldi
Many of us have midlife crises, but in looking back at mine, I realized I lived it out in an unconventional city and in an extremely unconventional way. It begged to be written about. I didn't do an open marriage with the idea to document it, but afterwards I felt I couldn't walk away from the challenge of writing it.
Robin Rinaldi
By reading my favorite authors, by doing yoga or listening to music, and by getting out of my head and away from the computer for a while, out into the world and especially into nature.
Robin Rinaldi
I'm currently finishing up a long magazine essay on the slut-shaming I experienced after my memoir was released. After that, I'm exploring several ideas for a second book.
Robin Rinaldi
Read as many brilliant writers as you can find time for. Shut off the internet for long periods of time. Don't give in to the resistance that comes just before you sit down to write. Don't be too afraid of other people's judgments of your talent, ideas, or worldview. Be yourself. Let the chips fall where they may.
Robin Rinaldi
By far, the best thing is the freedom to focus on your own experience of the world and on creating something that didn't previously exist. Most of our lives are spent consuming the ideas and products of others. Creation is a much more satisfying and fulfilling act than consumption. Even if I didn't write, I would try to create more and consume less, whether that creation took the form of cooking, gardening, painting, entrepreneurship, etc.
Robin Rinaldi
I don't think I've ever had writer's block. My mind continually churns out ideas I want to explore. My problem isn't writer's block; it's too many ideas and trouble prioritizing them.
Robin Rinaldi
Hi Justin. I tend to go back and forth between classic and modern authors. My two favorite classic authors are Tolstoy and George Eliot, both for the same reason: I consider them masters of the psychological. I could re-read "Anna Karenina" endlessly and still be amazed at how slowly and patiently Tolstoy builds the complete worlds of Anna and Levin and uses them for contrast. And when I first read Eliot's "Middlemarch," I dog-eared every tenth page for some long brilliant paragraph illuminating human relationships and expectations. I'm also a huge fan of Kundera, Franzen, and most recently, Elena Ferrante. I've spent the last few months reading everything she's ever written. Her books are fiercely honest accounts of womanhood. Thanks for asking!
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