Author’s Bio: Erica Ginsberg has drawn on creativity in a variety of different roles: writer, documentary filmmaker, story consultant, project manager, and social entrepreneur. She co-founded the documentary film organization Docs In Progress and served as its founding executive director for more than a decade. She co-hosts The D-Word, a peer-to-peer global community for documentary professionals.
In addition to
working in the arts, Erica has organized professional development study tours
to the United States for mid-career professionals from around the world. She
has a BA in international affairs and an MA in film and video. She finds joy in
travel, painting, collage, reading, nature hikes, and spending time with
friends, family, and her dog, Lulu.
Note: The most valuable piece of writing advice she has ever given is make bad stuff so you can get to good stuff. Really great advice for those of us who lean towards perfectionism.
Deliah Lawrence: What inspired you to write your book?
Erica Ginsberg: I have found joy in creative pursuits all my life – initially painting and later film, writing, and collage. I also have relied on creativity in my other work, whether putting together international exchanges or starting a nonprofit to help filmmakers find their voices as they develop their work. Through my experiences both with making art and helping other artists, I know that as fulfilling as making art is, it also involves a lot of challenges. I wrote Creative Resilience as a way to reflect on ways to navigate those challenges.
DL: What is your writing process?
EG: While I know many writers swear by routines such as working for a set number of hours every day or committing to a certain number of words per week, I think it comes down to your temperament and what else is happening in your life. I have come to accept that I take a more zig-zag approach. I originally planned to write a new blog entry every month but soon realized that just wasn’t realistic for me. Sometimes I’ll write one every month or every other month. Sometimes I may go six months between them. That said, I think having forms of accountability are very helpful.
When I was
writing the first draft of the book, I partnered with a colleague who was also
writing a book. We committed to sharing a chapter of our respective books with
each other every week and kept it up without fail for six months. Some weeks,
the work was really rough, but having the built-in deadline and a way to get
immediate feedback was really helpful. Happy to say both our books were
completed and published.
DL: How do you overcome the challenges of writer’s
block?
EG: I prefer to think of creative blocks as
obstacles to be navigated rather than overcome, similar to how a ship traveling
from South America to Antarctica must go through the rough seas of the Drake
Passage. If you anticipate the challenge, you may not be able to avoid it
altogether, but you can be better prepared to survive it. I devote a whole
chapter of the book to dealing with creative blocks: why they happen and some
tools to help deal with them that I call GRITS which stands for Grace,
Ritual/Routine, Idleness, Time, and Switching.
DL: What obstacles did you encounter while writing
this book?
EG: My first draft was promising, but ultimately
was too short to be marketable. I didn’t want to be redundant just to add
pages, so I set it down for a few months while I was busy with other aspects of
my life. When I picked it up again, I realized there was quite a bit more to
say. I began working on four new chapters and interviewed more artists whose
experiences were relevant to those themes. This was an example of how a block
could be a blessing. Sometimes you just need to take a break so you can look at
your work in a new light. In reality, I was still working on the book while on
the break even though I wasn’t writing. So much of what goes into our writing
is not the writing itself, but how we are observing the world, being inspired
by seemingly unrelated things, reading, musing, and reflecting.
DL: What strategies do you use to
successfully market your book(s)?
EG: “Success” is another challenging term for me since it can be measured in so many different kinds of ways. I think my main strategy has been to rely on advice I used to take when it came to nonprofit fundraising: the number one reason people donate to a cause is because someone asked them. So much of marketing can feel like you are bombarding people shamelessly. Ultimately though, what I write about is intended to connect with and resonate with other people. If those people don’t know what I have to offer them, they may be missing out on something that could be really helpful.
Getting past the discomfort of promotion, I keep a mailing list. It is small but mighty in the sense that I am less concerned with having thousands of subscribers than having several hundred subscribers who actually open my emails, click on links, and engage with me and the content. I also use social media. Ever-changing algorithms make some more effective than others. I’ve rediscovered LinkedIn which has been really valuable for getting out my content while Facebook and X/Twitter are still necessary as earworms but seem on the surface to have less engagement.
After more than a year of being a silent Tik-Tok viewer, I started creating some content there as well. I don’t feel as confident with it yet, but there is something magical about approaching it with a beginner’s mindset. I’ve enjoyed talking with podcasters and bloggers like you to help the book reach new potential audiences. I am also starting the process of getting the book out through in-person and virtual events: readings, panels, and workshops. It’s fun to connect with readers or prospective readers face to face.
DL: What tips would you give to aspiring writers?
EG: Finish what you start, even if it is
imperfect (and it will be!) Read as much as you can in the same genre, but
don’t limit yourself to only reading within your genre. Find community, whether
it is through a class, an organization, a club, a writing group, or a mentor. If
you don’t see what you need, build it yourself and you’d be surprised how many
others will be happy to be a part of it. Community will help you improve, deal
with the challenges, and be there to cheer for each other as your work gets out
into the world beyond your brain, pad, or screen.
DL: What are three fun facts about yourself?
EG: 1. I love pugs. They are the comedians of the dog world. They can also be needy and demanding, stubborn and noisy when they sleep. I still love them.
2. My happy place is in the desert…at least to visit. I am not sure I
could ever live there full-time.
3. When I was in elementary school, we had a field trip to a hospital. At the end of the visit, they gave us paper hats as a souvenir. You could have one for a doctor or one for a nurse. I was the only girl who stood in line for the doctor hat. One boy told me I was in the wrong line. I said he was mistaken. I was in the right line. Was this some big feminist statement? Did I have a dream of being a doctor when I grew up? Nope. I just liked the hat better because it had a light on it. That’s pretty much how I have approached life. Go for the hat with the light on it just because, no matter what anyone else is telling you.
DL: Would
you like to share an excerpt from Creative Resilience?
EG: Sure, here you go:
Excerpt from a chapter called “Confidence Game”
While psychological studies vary, some have shown that as many as
85 percent of those studied suffer from impostor syndrome at some point in
their lives. When I conducted a thoroughly unscientific survey of my friends
and colleagues about impostor syndrome, I was flooded with responses:
I get it, too. No idea if it is as profound as others, but it’s always waiting for me.
I experience it on a consistent basis. Have learned to push it away but it’s a struggle.
I definitely wrestle with the feelings; and it’s hard for me to imagine true creatives who don’t wrestle with them on some level.
It’s simply a lack of confidence. One has to find a way to fight through it.
The language struck me. Struggle. Wrestle. Fight. Waiting for me.
Impostor syndrome was described as though it were a monster or criminal lurking
in the shadows. Confidence was viewed as something that could be missing or
that you must find somewhere…that is, if you didn’t get attacked by the
impostor-monster first.
Yet what if instead of thinking about confidence as something we
seek to find, we thought about it as something always a part of us, but along a
spectrum? At one end is arrogance and hubris (overconfidence), at the other end
is excessive modesty and humility (under confidence).
These attitudes manifest in distinct ways when it comes to
artistic practice.
On such a spectrum, too far to the side of overconfidence may show up as what could be called “artist exceptionalism,” an elevated sense of self-importance and an attitude that you are special and your work is beyond criticism. Ego gratification can distract from substance and become unfulfilling— or even destructive—to the artist and their art. It may appear the overconfident artist needs no outside validation, but in reality, a ballooned sense of self can lead to a lot of hot air.
Being too far on the spectrum to the side of under confidence is seldom sustainable. It is normal for artists to have occasional doubts about their talent or work, often expressed through self-deprecating humor, shyness, or reluctance to engage in self-promotion. At its extreme, though, under confidence can be just as debilitating. If you create a “cloak of invisibility” around yourself and your art, not choosing to share your work or process with anyone else, you might dream that someday after you are gone, your talents will be discovered and appreciated. But, if you are reading this book, you likely want to find a way to make art both for yourself and for the appreciation of others in your lifetime.
DL: What new projects are
you currently working on?
EG: The reality is that the outreach for the book feels like a new project from writing it, so that is going to be my main focus in the coming year. Then I hope to return to a documentary film project I had started prior to the pandemic called California USA about what the American Dream means to people from small town America who all live in cities called California.
DL: Where can readers learn more about you and purchase your book(s)?
EG: Readers can get more information here:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resilientcreatives
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericaginsberg/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cinecitizen
- Blog: https://www.ericaginsberg.com/blog
- Book Buy Links: They are all linked to from https://www.ericaginsberg.com/books
DL: Thanks so much for being here with us today. I know my readers
will enjoy getting to know you and your work.
EG: Thank you.
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