Membership Spotlight: Angela Fountas

by Mariam Ayub

"The only way to grow as a writer is to sit down and write." – Angela Fountas

During hot summer days like these, it’s easy to let the hours just slip through your fingers. It gets even harder to keep your mind on goals and tasks, especially when one of those tasks is finishing up that short story you have been putting off for two months.

What if you had a regimen—better yet, a discipline—that you had to follow? When it comes to writing, the simple truth is old habits die hard. Getting into the habit and staying in it can be the key to writing your passion. Angela Fountas believes whole-heartedly in this philosophy, and to that end, has developed a Web site called Write Habit. The site’s tips, links, and tools of the trade have found an audience outside of the creative writing class Angela teaches in the Seattle area.

Like so many of us, Angela found herself writing for deadlines rather than on a daily basis. On a summer break from graduate school, Angela set up word counts in order to get herself to write. Her goal was 500 words a day. She recorded her daily counts in an Excel spreadsheet, and at the end of two months converted the numbers into a graph. The graph revealed a pattern: two to three days of high productivity followed by one to two days of barely reaching the goal. This visual helped solidify the importance of writing through the low days, how continuity fed the muse. Excited what she learned about the writing process and how to work with, rather than against, personal traits, Angela started her own class and built her Web site. Deeming writing an organic process, Angela encourages her students to consider what inspires them and just get something down, even when challenged with a blank page and writer’s block.

With all the focus on writing, it is surprising to find out that Angela didn’t see the written word as a career choice at first. During a trip to Greece in 1987, inspiration caught up with her in the form of letters home to family members. They saw her writing ability and asked why she didn’t take it more seriously and try it out professionally. She started to consider that herself. Finding she had a love for short stories, Angela took on writing full-speed. She received an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama in 2001. Her fiction has appeared in Faultline and Diagram. She also adds monthly articles to her own site, which offers writing tips and advice.

When it comes to inspirations, Angela credits short story writers like Mavis Gallant or Alice Munroe with infecting her with the writing bug. She also says that reading anthologies is really the best way to get your feet wet with many different writing styles. Reading widely keeps you from getting caught up in one author’s prose and missing other little gems of inspiration. While she doesn’t generally recommend how-to books (Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott is one exception), she does feel that getting the basics out of those books and setting up a foundation for future writing is helpful. "It’s hard to know what kind of writer you are." Angela emphasizes that experimentation is key, as well as sticking with your daily writing regimen.

It also helps to keep your networking fresh in the writing community for the inspiration you are seeking. Angela makes a point of hitting bookstores like Elliott Bay Book Company and Seattle Arts and Lectures for fresh ideas for future stories. She also credits Seattle Writergrrls with giving her a voice, as she has been both a member of the steering committee and a group editor for Uncapped. The experience has not only put her in touch with more writers but has also been a great networking resource.

For those of you looking for that little bit of motivation to get out the notebook and start writing, remember that inspiration comes in many forms and new habits can settle themselves nicely into your life and your writing. Here’s your first assignment: pick up some valuable tips at Write Habit, and let one of the writing exercises take you on a new path to writing freedom!

Mariam Ayub is a music writer and events coordinator who helped create Ladyfest Seattle that took place last March. She currently runs the Everybody Fan Club, an international fan club for Madonna. Mariam can be reached at mariamayub@hotmail.com.