We like the sound of our own keystrokes as much as anyone, but sometimes, one just wants to hear from other people.
Stories about our own life—we all have them in us, and yet so few of us share them. Psychologist and writer, Liz Scott, not only tells her truths, but she lays herself bare. Nothing is off the table in her memoirs. We love that any time, but it feels especially apropos for Mental Health Month.
Today, Liz shares about life and story seeds, a worry that plagues so many of us as we write both non-fiction and fiction, and struggling with thinking of oneself as a writer.
Was your work as a psychologist what drove you to write your memoirs, or did they just inform the shape of them?
Such an interesting question, Elle. I think it was more like this: I had this collection of outrageous stories about my parents and my growing up experience and any time I would share them with people I’d get the “you should write a book” response. It did take a number of factors to come together though before I began writing. First of all, I had to think of myself as a writer. I was not one of those people (maybe like you?) who always thought of themselves as a writer. In fact, I think I may have had an unconscious revulsion to the idea since my mother wanted nothing more in her life than to be a FAMOUS writer and I wanted nothing more than to be not like her. I only came to writing about 20 years ago after my husband died and a friend suggested we do something brand new which turned out to be a week-long writing workshop after which I was hooked. I started by writing short stories which I had some modest success with. Looking back, I can see that the emotional heart of these fictional pieces was material that would later form my memoir writing. The thing is, it was only after my mother died (my father had been gone for years already) that I felt free to dig in. For sure, my experience as a psychologist was extremely helpful to me in my task of working to understand my parents and myself as well.
What do you write, and what drew you to your current style or genre?
What I hope to have in anything I write are humor, heartbreak, personal revelation and respect for my readers. I love the hybrid form—part memoir, part personal essay—and have used this model for both my books. When I was writing short stories the form I liked best was flash fiction. I loved the challenge of creating a meaningful piece with emotional punch in as few words as possible-- the famous 6-word Hemingway story is my north star. And when I wrote my first memoir I ended up using the same approach. That book has about 74 chapters. Don’t let that freak you out though…some chapters are a single sentence, or a list, or a letter. If you’re thinking that I must have a short attention span, you’d be right.
How do you share your work?
After my first intensive writing workshop I joined a weekly critique group with a well-known local teacher and stayed for almost 10 years. It was an amazing, scary and beautiful experience and I met some of my closest friends there. In fact, some of us formed our own leaderless group after that and met weekly until the pandemic when, sadly, things fell apart. Now I have a dear friend whose work I so admire and she and I will share work with each other. It is always so helpful and I know that I will always need outside eyes.
What is your favorite piece of writing advice?
I have a sticky note on my computer that says “Be Brave!”. I absolutely believe that especially when I am writing personal non-fiction it is the places where I feel afraid to dig in, or when I feel I might be revealing too much, or when I am worried that I will be judged or whatever other resistance or hesitation I may be feeling…it’s there that I find my best and truest writing.
And your least favorite?
Least favorite? In my experience, my best work has come from following each sentence where it leads me. I have never been able to know the complete arc of a story or a book, never been able to work from an outline.
What’s something about your journey that you’ve struggled with? What has felt shockingly easy?
This goes back to my mother: From the jump it’s been a struggle to think of myself as a writer. I still don’t. It feels like wearing a sweater that’s a size or so too small. And I have a very complex relationship with the concept of attention, a pretty common experience for the children of narcissistic parents. I had a reading at Powell’s which was a dream of an experience and I think the first thing I said when I looked out at the crowd was that I had spent my life feeling uber-uncomfortable being the center of attention but, hey, it was feeling pretty darn amazing to be standing up there at the podium.
In terms of what has been “shockingly easy”? I think I would say that I have not had much problem revealing less than flattering things about myself. I deeply believe that we are all flawed humans, doing the best we can. That helps.
Tell us anything you want!
My website is www.lizscott.org. It has info about my first memoir, published short stories, interview and podcasts. My latest book Love Life: Confessions of a Psychologist has just been released and my website angel hasn’t worked on getting info on that up quite yet. But I have shamelessly (am embarrassingly) posted about it on Instagram, X and Facebook …user name for all: @lizsscottpdx
Finally…what question do we wish we had asked? (Don’t forget to answer it!)
“What are you working on now?”
Well, I’m glad you asked. I am working on a book about DEATH. Cheery, huh? I just turned 77 and contending with my mortality ain’t getting any easier. I have to say though, this is a fun project. It will be a collection of personal essays, working title: You’re Gonna Die But Not Me.
About Liz
Liz Scott has been a practicing psychologist for over 40 years, helping clients to identify life themes and make sense of the puzzle of their lives. She has brought this focus to her writing, first as a short story writer and more recently in her two memoirs, This Never Happened and Love Life: Confessions of a Psychologist. She served two terms on the board of Oregon Literary Arts. Originally from New York City, she currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon.
Find her
All social media: @lizsscottpdx
Thank you so much for sharing! I can, in fact, relate to much of this—not wanting to be a writer my whole life and taking a long time to feel like that to having sticky note affirmations to critique partners slipping away. Your way with words is moving, so much so that I feel the other things are relatable even when they aren’t, and I appreciate that🧡