Staying Engaged with Your Voice Amidst Tragedy with Author Katey Schultz

This week on Voice Lessons, I had the pleasure of chatting with Katey Schultz, an accomplished author and writing coach. Katey, a recipient of numerous awards including the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for Fiction and the Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year, shared insights into her writing process and how it has evolved over the years. 

We touched on the challenges and joys of both generating new material and the revision process, and how that has evolved for Katey over the years. Katey also shared some personal experiences that influenced her writing, including the impact of living through Hurricane Helene in late 2024 and how she maintained a creative practice during this difficult time. 

We also discussed the intricacies of voice in writing, from authorial and narrative voices to how changing the tense and point of view can dramatically alter a piece's impact. Katey reflected on her experiences within the publishing world, offering honest advice about navigating its challenges. She also emphasized the importance of writing the book you would want to read yourself, rather than what you think the publishing industry wants.

For those looking for practical advice, Katie provided tips on how to maintain an expansive definition of writing, the importance of trust and patience, and the significance of finding or creating a supportive community to help maintain your writing practice.

Key Topics:

• How Katey’s writing process has evolved over her writing career
• Finding joy in the revision of a piece vs. the generation of it
• Nurturing your creative side amidst trauma and chaos — how Katey navigated her writing in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene
• Having a sensitivity to voice when writing about topics you haven’t experienced firsthand
• How playing around with POV, tense, and worldview can dramatically change voice
• Do you focus on voice, or does it just happen during the writing process?
• Katey’s wisdom about the publishing world and the non-profit that was born from it
• Write and journal like nobody is reading
• Find or make a community that will serve you at whatever point you’re at in your writing life

Connect with Katey online:

Website: https://kateyschultz.com/

Mentorship Program: https://kateyschultz.com/maximum-impact/

Books: https://kateyschultz.com/still-come-home/

Writeability Organization: https://www.writeability.org/

Find more from Jill:

Email: [e-mail]

Website: https://www.thewritersrefuge.com/

Writing Coaching Programs: https://www.thewritersrefuge.com/coaching

Sign up for my free 3x weekly writing session: write to [e-mail] for ZOOM info

Special thanks to LVDY for allowing us to use their song, Saltwater, in the intro and outro of the podcast!