On April 3, Elizabethtown College hosted New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg in Gibble auditorium for a talk, question and answer session, and book signing. The charismatic New Orleans resident is the author of seven books of fiction, a memoir titled “I Came All This Way to Meet You,” and the USA Today bestselling writing guide “1000 Words.”
At the event, Attenberg read excerpts from her memoir before recounting the years she spent in the publishing industry, working odd jobs as a waitress and copywriter and chasing false leads.
“I’m a hustler, that’s why I do what I do,” she said.
Addressing a room full of writers, overachievers and poets, Attenberg wittily gave the crowd rousing words of encouragement and cracked self-aware jokes about being strange, as all writers are known to be.
“If I didn’t make my art, I’d probably go mad,” Attenberg said, “I write because it’s fun, I write to make myself laugh. I write because it’s my job and I get paid to do so and I don’t take it for granted, ever.”
Those present at the event ranged from faculty members to professors to students and even local Elizabethtown writers well out of school. Attenberg spent most of the talk discussing her background, writing practices and experience in the field, of which she has a lot to draw from. Facing an incoming deadline for a piece in 2018, Attenberg and fellow writer Hannah Tinti created the #1000WordsofSummer project, building an online community of writers from around the globe. The challenge was simple—write a thousand words each day for the summer, and something will come of it. Something surely did come of it, something bigger than just Attenberg and her friends. As it stands, the group has nearly 50,000 participants and has spawned numerous popular books. “1000 Words,” Attenberg’s book for writers, came about from compiling notes of encouragement and strategies from this group.
“It never feels like anything important is real to me unless I write it down in some way, even if it is just in my journal or in secret hiding,” she said.
During the question and answer portion, Attenberg detailed her writing strategies to remove oneself from a creative block, come up with new ideas or even start journaling. “I love hearing from writers who are able to do what they do for a living,” junior English education major and creative writing minor Ben Armitidge said. “It gives me a lot of incentive, encouragement, and gas in my tank to get back to writing my own work again.”
Attenberg said her drive and passion for her job comes from an inherent “need” to study where she stands in the world with her words. One of the four truths that grounds her writing guide echoes this sentiment: the only way to the end is through. “The question is, how do I cut through the constant buzzing around me and get to the simple truths with the slash of a sentence?” she said.
One strategy Attenberg kept returning to was a writer’s motive. She challenged the audience that day to write for two minutes straight, simply answering the question of why you yourself write. Attenberg’s own body of work reflects this fixation on motive and authenticity, an authenticity clear to see as she thanked the audience and stepped off the podium that night.
The final page of “1000 Words” puts it best: “You have the choice between the empty page or the full page… Choose fullness. Choose a sense of completeness… choose to write.”
