"Bring Yourself. Bring Your Personality." A Chat with Tatyana Sussex, Writer & Writing Coach

"Feel your overwhelm. Do it anyway."

Hi! I come with a new interview, freshly wrapped.

Today I had the pleasure of speaking with Tatyana Sussex. This was a departure from our usual roster of editor and occasional writer interviews. Tatyana is a writer and a writing coach. On her Substack, Beauty Hunter, she says,

I…call myself a coach, but what I really like is the metaphor of nature guide—taking people into a new frontier, exploring, discovering the wildflowers, pointing the way, introducing new ideas, displacing old beliefs, seeing more wonder. Having more daily life pleasures. Getting lost . . . and found. Again. Encouraging people to fall in love with life by turning toward Beauty, Play and Fun and away from seeking Purpose and Meaning.

In today’s conversation we got to know Tatyana’s approach to working with clients. Tatyana became a writing coach after working with writers in the business world, many of whom did not consider themselves to be writers at all. But everyone has creative potential, in Tatyana’s view. “Creating defines being alive,” she said. “Breath is an act of creativity.”

We covered a lot of ground here, including fear of failure, perfectionism, depression, and challenging negative thinking patterns and beliefs. We also talked about whether or not writing should be hard, when or why it’s hard, and what “hard” really means.

I presented Tatyana with four different scenarios and asked her how she would approach such a client.

In the first scenario I came to her as a 75-year-old who has spent her life yearning to write, finally has time, but is terrified to get started, who feels like she’s too old and yet is running out of time, who doesn’t know where to begin, who feels like if she’s going to write she should have something to show for it, and isn’t particularly encouraged in this endeavor by her family. How would Tatyana assist her?

In the second scenario, I was a 45-year-old mid-career writer. My first book sold but flopped. I’m discouraged, broken-hearted, demoralized and I have lost my childish love for the writing process. Having seen the other side of publishing, I can’t figure out the point. But deep in my soul I want to rediscover what I once loved about writing. What would Tatyana say to this person?

In the third scenario I was a 30-year-old perfectionist. If I am going to do anything, I must do it right. I have a hard time making progress because I’m constantly unraveling my own sentences, editing them toward a perfection that never satisfies me. I don’t enjoy writing because I’m constantly undoing my own work and not making progress. Words of advice?

Fourth and finally, I was someone who feels guilty writing. There is so much going on in the world, and/or going on in my personal life, that every time I sit down to write I feel conflicted. I love to write, yet it feels self-indulgent. I just don’t know how to let myself do it. Advice and help?

Tatyana took us through all these scenarios, offering ways to rethink certain ideas and beliefs while suggesting exercises to try. We talked about how to reclaim playfulness, embrace uncertainty, and how to allow room for our feelings and our doubts while still finding ways to get to our writing.

This was an inspiring conversation, with some great ideas for anyone who may feel stuck now or who has felt stuck in the past (or for you to put in your pocket for when you may feel stuck sometime in the future). If you tune in, I hope you come away freshly inspired to get back to the fun of the work.

To everyone who came out today, thank you for joining! Your faces are the much-needed sunshine melting all this surreal and sticky snow!

And, of course, thank you to Tatyana for taking us into her world of inspiration.

Happy viewing!

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