Meet a Redbuddy! Q&A with Casey Shapack
This month, we’re doing a series where we introduce you to our Redbud students! In this, our inaugural post in this series, meet Casey Shapack, who’s taken Writing the Novel, a few Advanced Workshops, and, most recently, Writing Feminist Works.
Casey was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2019. For the last ten years, Casey has worked as an Instructional Designer, authoring training courses, for large corporations. She couples her knack for organizing information into a logical flow with her sharp observational eye in order to create immersive, compelling fiction. In our Q&A, she told us about what she’s been reading lately, her favorite non-writing activities, and what she aims to accomplish with her work.
Redbud: Tell us about your work: what are you writing these days? A novel, a memoir, short stories, something else?
Casey: I’ve been working on short stories and I have a few longer novel projects that I’ve been dabbling with. I’m curious to get more into non-fiction writing as well.
Redbud: Tell us a little bit about what your work aims to accomplish: are you exploring certain themes or identities? Positioning your work within a particular genre?
Casey: I just finished taking a class with Redbud on feminist works, and this class inspired me to explore more themes related to feminism. I want to explore the every-changing societal expectations of what is desirable in a woman, and examine how this impacts women’s feelings of belonging and self-worth.
Redbud: Tell us about a recent book you’ve read that you would recommend and why.
Casey: I recently read Luster by Raven Leilani and was blown away by this gorgeously crafted story. Each sentence vibrated with raw emotion. I just loved it!
Redbud: What does an ideal writing day look like for you? What does a realistic writing day look like for you?
Casey: My ideal writing day starts with my morning pages: a practice I do every day. The concept comes from Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. It’s as simple and as difficult as sitting down and writing three, stream-of-consciousness pages as soon as you get up in the morning. I use cheap yellow legal pads and write long hand. The idea of it is to get all of the “gunk” out of your brain so that thoughts flow freer.
Next, I’d pour myself a steaming cup of coffee. Then I would write for an hour or two on new material while the creative juices are fresh.
Next in my ideal day, I’d take a walk after lunch to mull over what I’ve worked on and to clear away any more cobwebs that are still lurking. Also, it’s important to get outside every day!
Finally, after a few more hours of writing, I’d either connect with some people who inspire me or do something tangibly creative with my hands. Although writing is a solo activity, I believe that inspiration comes from connecting with people and living a fully engaged life. It’s important to me to make time to fill up my creative well. Since I also can get very “in my head” while writing, I find it very grounding to doing something tangible at the end of my writing day. Some of my favorite tangible creative outlets include knitting, pottery, gardening, and cooking an indulgent new recipe.
Redbud: Share a few sentences or brief paragraph that you're particularly proud of and tell us why you're proud of it and how you honed it.
Casey:
On her first day of work at the cannery, Kay was assigned to the machine where they threw live crabs in whole. Iron clamps ripped their red shells from their pink bodies. After only a few days, Kay found someone to switch jobs with her. She’d tried to ignore the crunching noises of the crabs, but sometimes, especially after four hours of time-and-a-half pay, she thought she could hear them screaming.
This is the opening to a novel I’d started on that is about a woman working in an Alaskan cannery in the 1970’s. I wanted the novel to examine how repressed Kay’s emotions are and that it is so painful for her to open up that she will avoid it at all costs. I used this opening image as a metaphor for her resistance to exposing her “insides” to the world and her belief that doing so would only cause her pain.
I really like how visceral this paragraph feels. I also really like the pacing of the paragraph and how it shows us 1. How dangerous and ugly a cannery really is 2. How Kay didn’t really know what she was getting herself into when she started at the cannery and 3. That she is sensitive to the suffering of others.
Redbud: What’s your biggest writing challenge and do you have any advice on how to tackle it? (Even if it's advice you don’t always follow yourself.)
Casey: My biggest challenge in writing is knowing where to start for a revision. It often feels so daunting that I tuck the story away after I’ve gotten feedback, too intimidated to pick it back up.
I think too often when I’m working on revision, I can spend so much time re-reading the story and fine-tuning sentences that are already there, that I’m just dressing a pig instead of coming up with something new. I also dread it because it doesn’t feel nearly as freeing or fun as coming up with a story for the first time.
My advice on this is to sit down and start writing on your story without falling into the trap of re-reading. While I could argue that reading the story first helps to orient me, it actually sucks me back into critic mode, when I need to still be in creating mode. I’ll let you know how that advice goes ☺
Redbud: Tell us something you learned from your Redbud class that you found to be especially helpful.
When I was beginning as a writer, I thought I had to fill in every little detail about people got from point A to point B. For example, if my character started at home and I wanted to get them to the grocery store, I was writing how they got in their car, how they drove there, how they parked, etc. Even I was bored with this. I hated writing these parts and I felt like it slowed down the momentum of my story so much.
A Redbud instructor reminded us that if it’s not useful to the story, or doesn’t further the plot, you can cut it out. You can absolutely jump to the most exciting thing, as long as you make sure you take the reader with you.
This piece of advice was so freeing. I could say “While at the grocery store later that afternoon…” and completely skip the part that was slowing down the pace of the story. It also reminded me to trust my instincts; if I’m bored with something or unsatisfied with it, chances are that my reader will be too.
I remind myself of this often: go to where the action of the story is and it will keep your story and reader leaning forward for what’s next.
Redbud: Tell us something fun about yourself that isn't connected to writing.
Casey: I mentioned knitting earlier as a way for me to unwind—I truly love it! I learned how to knit when I was seven and I’ve been at it ever since. I especially love knitting large cabled sweaters, fluffy hats, fair isle mittens, and recently, I’ve been focusing on knitted Christmas stocking and ornaments. It’s one of those hobbies that fill me up when I do it. If you’re curious about getting into knitting, I highly recommend it!
Redbud: Anything else you'd like to add?
As I mentioned earlier, I think a big part of creativity comes from surrounding yourself with people who inspire your creative spirit. It can feel lonely and daunting to be writing on your own, which is why I’m so grateful that I found Redbud. It’s a wonderful, uplifting community that has made all the difference in my writing.