Back in 2010, Jill Murray was interviewed by author Peggy Diamond Leavy for her blog. Here were a couple of the highlights:
Is writing ever therapeutic for you?
Jill: I’m not a big writing-as-therapy writer. In fact, I’ve even written things into books and not noticed how they related to my own life until years later when someone pointed them out to me. I approach writing more like a big puzzle-invention-experiment-exercise. It feels like it’s good for my brain in the same way solving word problems can be, and when it’s going well, it feels nice to be SO clever. But I don’t journal and I’m not a writer who needs to vent or “let it all out” on paper. Hey, it takes all kinds to fill a library, right?
What advice would you give the young writer to keep her from giving up?
Jill: I think the aspiring teenaged writer should take advantage of teenhood to read as much as possible and try writing every outlandish creative thing that crosses her mind. I’d even suggest experimenting with producing web sites and zines and shows.
For me, the best part of being a teenager was the limitless possibility of a life not-yet-written. Everyone should take full advantage of that feeling before adult expectations start to creep in and cramp your style. Publishing can definitely fall into that second category, And all the creative skills I developed as a creatively-out-of-control teen serve me really well today.