Whether we’re writing about our lives, or posting about them on social media, questions around consent, boundaries and privacy are never far away.
How life writers navigate these ethical considerations has much in common with the choices all writers have to make if they’re going to use social media to promote their work so I invited Elaine Gregersen to come and speak with me.
Elaine writes about motherhood, disability and grief, with a pop culture twist. Her work was long-listed for the Bath Flash Fiction Prize and the Motherhood Uncensored competition. Her creative non-fiction piece ‘Mother’s Day’ was awarded the Honourable Mention in the Curae Literary Prize.
In her academic work, Elaine has spent the last decade specialising in creative lived experience research. Her PhD examined the ethical tensions involved in life writing – the possibilities and the perils - and I thought, who better to come and dig a little deeper into these subjects.
HUGE thanks to Elaine for her time, expertise and insights. This was such an enjoyable chat that gave me plenty more to think about. Please scroll down to check out where else you can find Elaine and support her work.
PS. watch out for when Elaine takes her glasses off because that’s when you know she’s about to get SERIOUS 😉
This Ask Me Anything conversation with Elaine Gregersen is a FREE TO WATCH gift to all readers of Too Much. If you’re not already subscribed, make sure you hit the pink button!
If you enjoy this conversation and find it useful, you might be interested in upgrading your subscription to become a member of TOO MUCH INSTAGRAM where I regularly host guest speakers who share their own experiences of writing and marketing books to support other writers. This is in addition to a range of other benefits of becoming a member of TMI. Have a scroll down this list to see what else members have access to.
Links to Elaine’s other work
📲 Elaine’s Instagram @elainegwrites
🎧 The Honeymoon Period podcast ‘Elaine and Mark met at a movie club and got married in a brewery. Mark loves spreadsheets. Elaine can’t pronounce asterisk. We watch a lot of film and TV.’
🎧 Maid for TV podcast ‘Elaine, Dawn and Sarah are your friendly trio of TV critics here to chat about, celebrate and critique all sorts of TV. We're here for the cool, the kitsch, and everything in-between. Our passion is shining a light on stories written and created by women and minority groups in the TV industry. So come on in and join our TV club.’
⏳Time stamps
00:01 Intro to Elaine Gregersen
04:14 Quick fire questions
07:43 what does Elaine mean when she talk about the possibilities of life writing?
11:01 what does she mean when she talks about the perils of life writing?
13:57 how do we respect boundaries, privacy and navigate consent when life writing (or showing up on social media) while also being authentic and truthful?
20:25 the conversation we should all be constantly having with ourselves about the public-private domain
23: 16 the classic life-writer’s conundrum: ‘should I write this’. Elaine’s advice and insights into that decision
28:02 how to decide what you put out in the world
31:01 how different kinds of discomfort might be telling you different things. Your job is to interpret the information!
35:05 the fluidity of boundaries and how they can change over time
36:07 the delete button is always an option on social media, but once a book is out in the world you can’t take it back.
44:11 the limitations of social media when it comes to nuance and how to post about difficult subjects when there isn’t much space
49:10 question from the audience: given what you [Elaine] said about the power and importance of memoir and life writing, what do you think about the industry line that memoir is hard to sell to publishers?
50:05 [Elaine removes her glasses…]
54:29 examples of memoir that have sold well
58:46 the bravery of independent publishers who are prepared to take risks
For tailored, more detailed support with how you might use Instagram to get more readers for your work, please consider upgrading your subscription to become a member of TOO MUCH INSTAGRAM. You will benefit from access to a variety of guest speakers plus a range of other benefits of becoming a member of TMI. Have a scroll down this list to see what else members have access to.
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