#136 Writing Towards Recovery: Jackie Goldschneider on The Weight of Beautiful

Jackie Goldschneider gets real about writing her powerful memoir The Weight of Beautiful, opening up about her lifelong battle with an eating disorder, her journey to recovery, and what it was really like turning her story into a book—on her own terms.

In this episode:

• Why Jackie chose not to use a ghostwriter for her memoir [5:25]

• How her eating disorder shaped her life and why recovery was non-negotiable [6:17]

• The writing process behind The Weight of Beautiful [7:00]

• What helped Jackie write a book while filming, parenting, and working [7:48]

• Tips for structuring memoir scenes that connect with readers [8:39]

• How she decided what to include (and leave out) about family and TV life [10:56]

• The importance of voice and honesty in memoir writing [15:17]

• Jackie's next project—and how a screenplay idea turned into a novel [34:34]

Jackie Goldschneider is an author, activist, speaker and a longtime cast member of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Before joining the show, Jackie was an attorney and freelance journalist, and has contributed extensively to publications including Good Housekeeping, HuffPost and Scary Mommy, and wrote a weekly parenting column for New Jersey's The Record newspaper for several years. Her debut memoir, The Weight of Beautiful, was published by ‎Simon and Schuster in September 2023. Since then, Jackie has been a nationally recognized advocate for eating disorder recovery. Jackie graduated Magna Cum Laude from Boston University and received her Juris Doctorate from Fordham University School of Law. Jackie lives in Tenafly, NJ with her husband, Evan, and their two sets of twins, ages 17 and 14.

 

Connect with Jackie

 

Website: https://Jackiegoldschneider.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jackiegoldschneider  

Twitter: https://x.com/jgschneid

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jackiegoldschneider/

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@jackiegold100

 

Get The Weight of Beautiful on Estelle’s Bookshop

https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-weight-of-beautiful-jackie-goldschneider/19748044?aid=98827&ean=9781668023808&listref=authors-who-have-appeared-on-freelance-writing-direct

 

 

Estelle Erasmus: an award-winning journalist, is the author of WRITING THAT GETS NOTICED (named a "Best Book for Writers" by Poets & Writers Magazine), a Contributing Editor for Writer's Digest, and host of the podcast Freelance Writing Direct. She is an adjunct instructor fo