Writing Is My Drink

S Simon & SchuSter

eGalley DiSclaimer

Do not quote for publication until verified with the finished book.

This advance, uncorrected reader’s proof is the property of Simon

& Schuster. It is being made available for promotional purposes and review by the recipient and may not be used for any other purpose or transferred to any third party. Simon & Schuster reserves the right to terminate availability of the proof at any time. Any duplication, sale or distribution to the public is a violation of the law. This file will no longer be accessible upon publication of this book.

For more information on Simon & Schuster’s eGalley program, please visit www.galleygrab.com.

EGalley Disclaimer REV 1P.indd 1

10/16/09 3:27 PM

Whether you’re aiming for a
New York Times
bestseller or a short personal essay to
share with family and friends, a popular blogger and memoirist shows you the way in
this witty writing guide and disarmingly candid account of discovering her own voice.

“Theo Pauline Nestor has a big heart, a real feel for the pain and craziness of human life,”

wrote Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt. This couldn’t be truer in
Writing Is My
Drink
, part memoir, part inspirational writing guide.

Nestor pulls no punches as she tells the stories of her life, from dealing with her alcoholic parents and the deaths of her beloved stepfather and grandmother to experiencing writer’s block and the thrilling moment when she first realizes she’s written something of value. With humor, and charming candor, she shows aspiring writers how to tap into their own stories and unlock their potential. In her “Try This” sections at the end of each chapter, Nestor challenges you to take risks and consider why you are writing and what you want to achieve.

With her witty, compelling, and wonderfully authentic voice, Nestor is an inspiring writing guru whose own journey is sure to captivate and inspire.

"This is a book to savor, each delicious and thoroughly entertaining chapter revealing not just more of Theo's brilliance, but your own as well. For all those yearning to discover your own creative and unique inner literary genius, look no further. You've come home."

—
Katherine Woodward Thomas
,
bestselling author of
Calling in "The One"

"For those feeling battered by writer's block, overwhelm, or self-doubt, this book is a magic carpet ride out of that muck and into wide-open, soul-connected creative flow, uncannily engaging for people who generally can't abide writing guides. And Nestor is a quietly captivating, intimate, healing storyteller--the best and rarest kind."

—
Candace Walsh
,
author of
Licking the Spoon: A Memoir of Food, Family, and

Identity

Theo Pauline Nestor
is the author of
How to Sleep Alone in a King-Size Bed
, which was a 2008 Kirkus Review Top Picks for Reading Groups and a Target Breakout Book. An award-winning instructor, Nestor teaches the Certificate in Memoir Writing for the University of Washington in Seattle.

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 1

6/7/13 8:19 AM

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 2

6/7/13 8:19 AM

Also by the author

How to Sleep Alone in a King-Size Bed:

A Memoir of Starting Over

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 3

6/7/13 8:19 AM

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 4

6/7/13 8:19 AM

A Writer’s Story of

Finding Her Voice

(and a Guide to How

You Can Too)

Simon & Schuster

New York London Toronto Sydney New Delhi

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 5

6/7/13 8:19 AM

Simon & Schuster

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

Copyright © 2013 by Th eo Pauline Nestor

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book

or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Simon & Schuster Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition November 2013

SIMON & SCHUSTER and colophon are registered trademarks of

Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon

& Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or

[email protected]

Th e Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

Interior design by Aline C. Pace

Jacket design by

Jacket art by

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

ISBN 978-1-4516-6509-3

ISBN 978-1-4516-6510-9(ebook)

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 6

6/7/13 8:19 AM

For my daughters

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 7

6/7/13 8:19 AM

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 8

6/7/13 8:19 AM

Contents

Introduction

1. This Is What
I
Think. Tell Us What
You
Think

00

2. Zen Buddhism for Complete Fraidy Cats

00

3. How I Got Through the Worst Block Ever

(and How You Can Too)

00

4. A Funny Thing Happened on the Road to Schema Theory 00

5. Writing Together

00

6. Ginger Harper Died for My Sins

00

7. The Waiting: The Hardest Part

00

8. Find Your Tribe; Find Your Voice

00

9. Permission to Write

00

i x

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 9

6/7/13 8:19 AM

C o n t e n t s

10. “The Mother and Child Reunion Is Only a Motion Away” 00

11. A Couple of Irishmen Walk into a Bar

00

12.
F
is for “Failure,” “Flawed,” and “All Effed-up”

00

13. I Feel So, Uh, Vulnerable

00

14. Someone Loses Something

00

15. Memoir: It’s All About You (and the Rest of Us)

00

16. The Art of Lolling, Lounging, and Loafing

00

17. Words, Fail Me Not

00

Conclusion

00

Recommended Reading

00

x

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 10

6/7/13 8:19 AM

Sometimes you have to play a long time
to be able to play

like yourself.

—Miles Davis

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 11

6/7/13 8:19 AM

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 12

6/7/13 8:19 AM

WRItIng

Is

My

DRInk

x i i i

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 13

6/7/13 8:19 AM

WritingIsMyDrink_i-xiv-1-258_1p.indd 14

6/7/13 8:19 AM

From very early on, two competing forces have dominated my

life: a great urge to please and an equal y powerful need for ex-

pression, a need that has grown in mass and velocity with the

passing years. Now that I’m a writer and a writing teacher, I can

safely say that the side of expression will prevail, but the imprint of the small girl who tried to make herself smaller still shimmers

within me, reminding me of the long way I’ve come to find my

own voice and to trust it.

When I was seven, my mother and I attended a horse show

in which a family we knew had a couple of horses. The Wil-

sons were a family of accomplished children and prizewinning

horses, a family together enough to obtain quilted covers for

their blender and toaster. They provided a vivid contrast to my