[Antonia Angress, Practical Matters]: The self-doubt that never goes away, and how to keep writing despite it Ep 1059

Finding the Throughline with Kate Hanley

This week I am talking to writer Antonia Angress. Antonia is the author of "Sirens & Muses," which starts off as a campus novel set at a New England art school, but then blooms into an exploration of the intersection of home and belonging versus individualism and seeking to stand out, set in the New York City art scene during the Occupy Wall Street era.

"Sirens & Muses" was named one of the best books of the year by Glamour Magazine and won the Minnesota Book Award, and Antonia was recently named one of the NEA's 2024 Creative Writing Fellows. I loved the book and I love that I get to ask Antonia my list of mildly invasive questions about why and how she does her particular creative work.

We covered:

- The advice she gives about the stuff you write that you end up deleting

- The fact that publishing a book “really doesn’t change your life”

- The importance of that feeling of being alone with your work

- The daily writing goal that keeps Antonia going (spoiler: it’s very small)

- How she manages her ‘internet junk food’ diet

- The practice that gets her ready to write

- What motivational phrase is on the Post-It note above her computer

For full show notes with links to everything we discuss, plus bonus photos!, visit katehanley.substack.com.

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