Valley Haggard is a writer and teacher. Her articles and works of creative nonfiction have been published in Style Weekly, Richmond Magazine, V Magazine, Skirt, the Writer’s Dojo and the anthology, Tarnished: True Tales of Innocence Lost, and has a monthly column in Belle. Valley is also the founder of Richmond Young Writers, a writing camp for kids, and has volunteered with James River Writers as both a board member and program organizer.
Melissa P. Gay, author of the blog This Common Reader, chatted with Valley about her writing process in March 2012.
When did you discover you were a writer?
I discovered I was a reader first! When I was seven, I told my mother I wanted to grow up to be a famous reader. Writing was a natural by-product of all of those hours and weeks and months I spent devouring books.
When did you begin writing and what or who influenced you?
I began writing in elementary school. My mother was always my greatest cheerleader, while writers of all descriptions were my personal heroes. Attending the UVA Young Writers Workshop when I was 15 and 16 gave me hope that I could make it through high school with my creativity intact. Also, I adored Madeleine L’Engle and when she allowed me to attend one of her adult writing workshops in New York when I was seventeen I was pretty sure I’d reached the apex of my literary career.
Do you have a job other than your writing activities?
Luckily all of my “jobs” now include writing in some way or another. In 2009 I founded Richmond Young Writers, a summer camp for kids ages 8-16 in the upstairs art gallery of Chop Suey Books. Over the last four years it’s grown to include spring and fall intensives, a scholarship fund, and many incredibly talented teaching writers from our community. I also teach creative nonfiction classes for adults at Chop Suey Books and the Black Swan Bookstore, and for people of just about every conceivable age range at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. But my previous jobs — as a stewardess, waitress, hotel maid, stained glass maker’s assistant and the lady who handed out coupons at a kiosk at the grocery store — all provided rich material for my current writing life.
What kind of writing do you do and why did you choose that topic or genre?
I started out writing short fiction. I did my best to invent characters and plots, but the stories I’d actually lived through never would leave me alone. I experienced this sudden, (perhaps obvious) flash in all capital letters that TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION! I fell in love with the genre of creative nonfiction as a vehicle for recording and trying to make sense of life. Trying to get to the truth of my experiences —particularly those beyond my everyday comfort zone — pushes, expands and opens me up as a writer. Now, of course, after all of this, I’m back to writing a novel and desperately hoping it will be more than 600 words long.
What do you like to read?
I love so, so many authors! As Style Weekly’s book editor from 2004-2011 I had the pleasure of meeting and working with many incredibly talented writers from Virginia — too many to recount here separately, but I think of each of them and what they taught me often. I’ve always tried to read a good blend of literary fiction, nonfiction, poetry and graphic novels but lately I’ve been venturing into sci-fi, action-adventure, mystery and romance, too! One of my biggest regrets is that I’ll never be able to read everything.
What tricks and techniques help you be both creative and productive?
Setting underwhelming goals is incredibly effective. I started writing regularly when I was pregnant with my son and the only thing that kept me writing regularly was setting the underwhelming goal of writing one page per week. If my expectations are too high I feel discouraged and hopeless and begin to think about my first job waitressing at Waffle House and how I should probably go back there immediately. The second most effective technique is separating the editor from the creator. Natalie Goldberg (Writing Down the Bones), Julia Cameron (The Artist’s Way), and Gabriele Lusser Rico (Writing the Natural Way) each write extensively and beautifully about this. If I try to edit while I write, I don’t make it past the first sentence. Waiting to revise until after I have a first draft is the only sane way to get anything done. But then I edit like hell.
What are your thoughts on the self-publishing vs. traditional publishing debate?
From my point of view, the publishing world is changing so rapidly that the road to getting your work out there in front of readers isn’t as black and white as it once was. I think each writer needs to do a lot of soul searching before choosing which route to take, or at least which route to set out on.
What is the best thing that has happened in your writing career thus far? How did you make it happen?
I struggled with the “I’m not a real writer thing” for so long — and still do! But seeing my name in print the first time chipped away at that feeling a little bit. I got my foot in the freelancing door by being the right combination of really eager and very punctual. I had never written anything journalistic before but I was so excited and had so many ideas that the editor gave me a chance. When my first article was published I felt like Steve Martin in The Jerk discovering his name in the phonebook. I went out and had the article laminated. I almost laminated the $50 check they sent me too, but I needed it for gas money more than posterity.
What is the worst thing that has happened to you? How did you overcome this challenge?
When I got laid off from the part-time desk job that provided health insurance for my family I found myself at a crossroads. Should I go out and find a full time job with benefits or take the opportunity to find my way as a writer? It was a tough call, especially when a temp agency offered me a terrible full-time job with a terrific salary. I chose not to take it but felt guilty and terrified, like I had chosen my spirit over my family’s security. Slowly, though, new doors started to open and the path started to clear. I discovered that I loved teaching, sharing what I’d learned about writing and getting to actually write myself in the process. The people—adults and kids—that I’ve met through my classes have opened up worlds for me. Now I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be or anything I’d rather be doing than this.
As an author, where do you hope to be in five years?
I hope to have finished my novel! I’d like to have published it by then too, but finishing it would be a great start. Also, I’d love to have found a permanent home for Richmond Young Writers for year-round operations.
Do you have any parting words of wisdom for other aspiring authors?
Read and write. Then read and write some more. Find other people that read and write and read and write with them. I can’t think of any better way to learn about story, narrative, voice, plot, character, pacing or language.
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