This week’s honoured guest at The Book Diner is my fellow Martha Beck coach, Sarah Vermunt. Sarah hails from Canada (you know, the country with the hot and compassionate prime minister!) and she specialises in helping clients boost or change their careers and it’s been fabulous getting to know this smart and quirky gal online. I don’t often interview non-fiction authors, but Careergasm, her brand new book which is coming out shortly, is so fresh and different that I wanted to share it with you. I also feel that everything Sarah has to say relates to our literary careers and the jobs we often do to support our writing. Sarah totally has a writer’s heart and gets our obsessions, so I hope you’ll enjoy reading this.

Welcome to the Book Diner! Can we take your order – coffee, tea or soda? Eggs sunny side up or over easy? Home fries, French toast or biscuit?

Coffee, please. With lots of cream and sugar. I like my coffee to taste like dessert. And eggs over medium, crispy bacon, rye toast.

When did you realise you were a writer?

Probably when I was eight years old. I remember making books out of old cereal boxes covered with wallpaper at school. I’d write the stories and do the pictures in pencil crayon. Those little projects meant so much to me. I still have a few of them. My favorite one is about the Easter Bunny and a pair of Air Jordan shoes. [sOOO cute!]

Are there particular symptoms you think people should look out for if they suspect they may be coming down with Writer Syndrome and do you think there is any cure?

I don’t think there’s a “cure” for anything you feel called to do. Ignorance maybe? Denial? I knew I had Writer Syndrome when I was commuting to another city to teach at a university, doing a Ph.D. (which I never finished), and I felt wildly and enthusiastically compelled to write on the bus on only five hours of sleep. I was EXHAUSTED, but writing brought me to life. Better than a strong cup of coffee.

Can you tell us about your latest project?

I wrote a book called Careergasm: Find Your Way To Feel-Good Work. It’s a book for people who don’t know what they want or are scared shitless to go after it. It goes pretty deep, but it’s also filled with giggles and F-bombs.

My copy at home! I’m soooo looking forward to reading this!

What inspired you to write it? Where do you generally draw your ideas from?

I draw my ideas from the shit I struggle with personally and also from the people I help. I’m a career coach and I began to notice that there were some very consistent themes in the stuff people were dealing with as they were grappling with a career change — lots of fear, lots of resistance.

Can you talk to us about one or two of the characters from your latest work? How do your characters emerge?

I write nonfiction, so my characters are real people. One character in Careergasm is a banker turned brewmaster. Sometimes, I help people make radical shifts like this and, sometimes, all a person needs is a little tweak — a small change that feels monumental.

Is there a particular theme or message you’d like readers to take away from this book?

Fear doesn’t have to stop you. We all have this secret fear that if you go after what you want you’ll lose everything and end up living in a van down by the river. Our fearful “what if” stories are totally crazypants and they prevent us from doing so much.

 

Fear doesn’t have to stop you. We all have this secret fear that if you go after what you want you’ll lose everything and end up living in a van down by the river. Our fearful “what if” stories are totally crazypants and they prevent us from doing so much.

What kind of writing process do you have? Are you very disciplined in terms of having a set work routine and doing a lot of planning, or are you more of a pantster? (You fly by the seat of them – Zinkologism.)

I love long stretches of time to write. Whole days or at least half days. Entire weeks off grid when I can manage it. And, if I can do it in nature, it’s magic. So many people love their morning pages, but writing in the morning makes me feel stabby, so I do my own thing. As far as planning goes, Careergasm was fairly organic. I didn’t even know it was a book at first. I just started writing. It worked out beautifully, but I’ll do more planning for the next book.

Do you write longhand or on a computer or both? Do you believe that writing method makes a difference to style?

I’m old school. Pen and paper are my jam. I love popping a notebook into my bag and going on a little adventure somewhere. Plus, I find I do too much self-editing when I’m on my MacBook. I can be messy and more free with a notebook.

How do you approach research?

I pay attention to what people are saying, but more importantly to what they’re not saying — the stuff that only comes through in a glance or a breath or a movement or a change in posture. It helps me understand what’s really going on and it’s one of the things that makes me a great career coach. I guess you could say every single client I’ve ever had has been research for the book.

How do you deal with autobiographical elements in your work? Do you worry about offending people or baring your soul too much?

I’ve got some gritty autobiographical stuff in Careergasm — like how I had a breakdown in the middle of a crowded Starbucks when I was miserable in my career. And how I was crazy in my (former) marriage. I think baring your soul is one of the bravest acts you can do. Plus, it brings us together and lets us know we’re not alone.

I think baring your soul is one of the bravest acts you can do. Plus, it brings us together and lets us know we’re not alone.

 

What’s your editing process?

First, I transcribe my scribbles into my MacBook. I wish I could just pay someone to do my transcription for me, but my work is SO messy with so many circles and arrows that nobody could understand it but me. As far as editing goes, voice is the most important thing to me. I look for anything that sounds stilted or forced or not quite like me and I take it out. Then it’s off to my editor. My editor for Careergasm was awesome. She helped me to see some redundancies and a few sections that just weren’t as shiny as the rest. And she was so kind about it.

Name one book you wish you had written and explain why it’s fabulous.

Danielle LaPorte’s The Desire Map. Fuck, she’s SO powerful. She cuts right to the truth. And we are so totally on the same page in terms of following what feels good. [Sarah got me into Danielle’s work and, yup, she is a total goddess! She’s really influenced my coaching work with writers,]

What advice would you offer to writers just starting out?

Dabble. When you first start writing it’s hard to know what your voice sounds like so you have to just kind of dive in. Don’t make it precious. Grab a notebook, leave your phone at home and go for a walk somewhere. At some point, you’ll get an idea and jot it down. That’s where everything good comes from — someone jotting down a random idea and then making it into something.

What would you say are the toughest things and the best things about being a writer?

Toughest thing: Creating and protecting time to write. I’m good at creating time in my calendar to write, but I’m always trying to cram too much stuff in too short a period of time, so writing easily gets bumped. It’s not enough to create the time; you have to protect it too. I think this applies to anything that matters to you, not just writing.

It’s not enough to create the time; you have to protect it too. I think this applies to anything that matters to you, not just writing.

Best thing: There is nothing quite like using your voice and putting it out into the world. Feels like freedom.

How do you handle the rejections and bad reviews all writers experience?

Careergasm was not an easy sell. It’s extremely edgy compared to most other career books, so some publishers were like, “No way, dude. That’s way too provocative.” My response then and now is to remind myself that not everyone has to like me or my work. I don’t like everybody’s vibe, so why should I expect everyone to like mine?

How do you deal with the Inner Critic who likes to tell us our work is worthless?

I actually feel pretty great about my work! I know it’s valuable. My inner critic shows up in other ways — like I’m often hard on myself because I can’t get a zillion things done as fast as I want to, which is crazy because I’m not a machine. I have so many ideas and I’m hugely ambitious. That’s great in many ways, but there’s so much I want to do and time is not infinite. I’ve often made time the enemy and that’s something I’m working on. [My free gift, The Hectic Writer’s Handy Workbook is ALL about this and you can grab a copy here!]

What are your feelings about the growth in self-publishing? Would you advise emerging writers to self-publish or pursue a traditional book deal?

This is going to sound so willy-nilly, but I think you should do what feels good to you. I remember telling some friends that I wanted to get a traditional book deal and some of them were like, ‘Why don’t you just self-publish?’ But that never felt right to me. It’s not what I wanted. You gotta do what feels right. [Totally!]

Who has offered you the most encouragement and support in terms of your writing career?

Definitely my partner, Phil. He’s a playwright, so he gets it. When we first met, neither of us was really writing, but we both encouraged each other to dabble. We go on writing dates together. We’ll even do things like rent little cabins for mini writing vacations together. We’ve never taken a single trip together and not packed notebooks. We talk out our ideas together. I don’t know where I’d be without that dude. [Fabulous!]

If you could fly off to any era on The Book Diner Magic Time Travel Banquette, where would you go and why?

Right now. Women in history didn’t exactly have a lot of freedom, so I’m staying put. [Fair enough!]

If you could write anywhere in the world for a while, where would you head?

An off-grid cabin in the woods. Probably somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.

Complete the following sentences. Life is like … I am like … Writing is like ...

A box of chocolates? Oh, wait, that’s been done.

Life is like a suspense novel that you only get to read one page at a time. Just when you think you know what’s coming next, you turn the page and there’s a surprise.

I am like a mountain goat — sturdy in rocky situations, happiest when solitary, looking upward, and happy to be near the clouds.

Writing is like freedom and fresh air — a wide open space that’s all mine.

 

     Writing is like freedom and fresh air — a wide open space that’s all mine.

If you could choose to have a different creative gift, what would it be?

I’d be a painter. Or maybe a sculptor.

What plans have you got for future projects and events?

I have three more books in me. One for new grads, one for aspiring entrepreneurs, and one for stressed-out hardcores. And I’d like to write them in that order. But really my most immediate plan is to just enjoy the ride for THIS book. I’m always jumping ahead so I’m consciously choosing to focus on enjoying now. (BTW, this is not typically how I roll, so wish me luck!)

Where can people find out more about you and your work?

www.careergasm.com

@careergasm

Is there anything else we can get you?

A rootbeer float. Do you sell pygmy pet goats here? If so I’ll take one of those too. [Darn, I want one now too!]

Do you have any questions for The Book Diner?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? [I’m leaving this to the pygmy goat.]

Thanks so much for joining us – please call again!