Get to Know Our Friend Colleen Oakley

A Deeper Dive With Our Most Recent Guest

A Conversation with Colleen Oakley

A writing tip, book recommendation, and other great insights from Colleen that were not covered in our on-air interview, which you can WATCH or LISTEN to now!

For any aspiring writers out there, would you please share a short bit of writing advice?
Creativity ebbs and flows. That doesn’t mean to wait until you’re feeling creative to write. Writing is a practice, a habit, a skill that needs to be used to be honed. But what it does mean is that there will be plenty of days when the words aren’t flowing as well as you would hope and that’s OK. When I was writing Jane and Dan at the End of the World, I had plenty of those days and I wasn’t very kind to myself about it. I really had to go back to the basics and figure out how to fill up my creative well. I took a lot of long walks, with no music or podcasts to let my brain wander. I started yoga (and I hate yoga!). I read The Creative Act by Rick Rubin like it was my personal Bible. Slowly but surely I found my way back to my creative center—and to the end of my book. So that’s my advice: write, yes. But also nurture your creative self.

What is the last book you raved about and what did you love about it?
Harlem Rhapsody by Victoria Christopher Murray. It’s the story of Jessie Redmon Fauset, the little-known literary powerhouse behind some of Harlem’s greatest writers. It’s part love story, part love letter to the Harlem Renaissance and you are guaranteed to get lost in the pages like I did.

What can you tell us about your work-in-progress?