There are many Sarah Pinskers from many alternate universes.
Theyve gathered for SarahCon, a convention held by scientist Sarah Pinsker.
And one of the Sarahs has murdered another.
I talked to her about her careers in writing, music, and non-profits.
I always knew I would be a writer, but I took the long way around.
Did that for a while.
Bought a house, discovered the allure of a day job.
Started writing fiction again.
Fifty stories, a collection, and a novel later, here I am!
What are your job responsibilities?
Writing stories and novels, and all the accompanying stuff like readings and conventions and teaching.
I still play shows when I can.
Take us through a recent workday.
My days all start at 7:15 a.m., because thats when my dog gets up.
Hes very punctual; I only need an alarm if Im catching an early plane or something.
We walk two miles before Im even awake yet.
I use that time to verify I know what Im doing that day and sort of mentally prepare.
We eat breakfast and I shower when we come back.
Two and a half days a week I do day job stuff.
Otherwise, I do one of two things: stay home or go to a local coffeeshop.
I do my best work at the coffeeshop.
Public accountability is an effective tool for me.
Theyre lovely people and its a space I find conducive to writing.
I mute my phone and do half hour sprints with fifteen minutes break after each.
I give a shot to do drafting first, and meet any goals that I have for that day.
Then Ill turn to any editing I need to get done.
Email interviews and blogs can be done later as my attention flags.
Another dog walk when weather allows.
I try not to create too many rituals.
What matters is words on page, and pretty much nothing else.
I can do this anywhere.
I love writing retreats.
If Im in any city for long enough, I find a local coffeeshop to work in.
What apps, gadgets, or tools cant you live without?
I draft stories in Word, which I dont particularly like, and novels inScrivener.
I love Scrivener for novels; I cant imagine tackling a big project without it.
I like the little target meters.
Im a sucker for a good target.
And I guess I cant live without Dropbox because it saved me when my computer got murdered.
Whats your workspace setup like?
Laptop on an old roll top desk.
My wife built me a library a couple of years ago.
Since she built the library, Ive been doing all my home writing in there.
It has a great feel.
All these great books surrounding me, art that I love.
Whats your favorite shortcut or hack?
My biggest writer hack is actually walking the dog or going for a run.
When Im walking, Im thinking.
That sounds absolutely bizarre to me, but I cant criticize since it obviously works well for her.
I often write with a friend who listens to the same song on repeat while he drafts.
Music in general distracts me too much while Im writing.
I like to listen to psych myself up, but not while Im actually drafting or editing.
Take us through an interesting, unusual, or finicky process you have in place.
Im not sure I have any finicky processes?
Last winter I was writing at my coffeeshop and somebody knocked her entire iced coffee into my computer.
Apparently even if you might dry it out, the acid in coffee just corrodes everything.
I have Dropbox going, so I didnt lose work, but the whole thing was very stressful.
My agent, Kim-Mei Kirtland, is always helpful and savvy.
I know how much I dont know, so I appreciate her thoughtful approach to everything.
They also keep me learning from other wonderful writers.
Weve reached a lot of career milestones at similar times, so we bounce a lot off each other.
That balances my tendency to say yes to everything.
Whats the biggest mistake youve made in your career, and how did you deal with it?
Im not sure Ive made any awful mistakes in my writing career yet?
How do you keep track of what you have to do?
I have a spreadsheet with three columns: to do, doing, and done.
Doing is whats on the docket for that day.
To do can be longer range.
Both have dates next to them, and I keep them ordered by priority.
The act of moving them to the done column is very, very satisfying to me.
Ive always liked crossing things off lists.
Sometimes Ill write that days things on an envelope just for the pleasure of crossing them off physically.
How do you recharge or take a break?
I feel like Im not doing a very good job of that right now.
I keep saying after this deadline, until the next deadline pops up like an endless game of Whack-A-Mole.
In theory: Hiking, dog walks.
Riding my friends horses.
Going to a rock show.
Whats your favorite side project?
I dont know if I have side projects right now!
I guess my music is a side project now.
What are you currently reading, or what do you recommend?
What do I recommend?
Vivien GoldmansRevenge of the She-Punksis awesome.
Can you share a music playlist youve made, whether for working or elsewhere?
The chapter titles from my novel are actually a playlist.
Whats the best advice youve ever received?
Read everything you write out loud before you call it done.
Whats a problem youre still trying to solve?
How to stop saying yes to everything.
