In this Bum Glue series, I interview other authors. The techniques shared in Greta Solomon‘s Heart, Sass & Soul: Journal Your Way to Inspiration and Happiness are powerful. So, I wanted to learn more about her. I bet she’ll inspire you too.
Nita Sweeney (NS): When and how did your writing journey begin?
Greta Solomon (GS): It began in 1988. I would listen to Madonna songs on repeat on my tinny cassette player and write down all the lyrics. Then I would pick them apart to figure out the structure, and why this rhymed with that, and so on, and write my own lyrics. But magazines were my true love, and I was so excited to have reader letters published in my favorite ones, between the ages of nine and 12. I knew I wanted to be a journalist, and in 2000 around six months after graduating in Psychology, I got my first journalism job at a businesswomen’s magazine in London.
NS: Plotter or pantser?
GS: As a non-fiction gal, both! I tend to channel and free-write and feel my way into my books and articles. Then, I work like a sculptor to create an overall vision. Then, I create a clear outline to write from.
NS: What’s your biggest writing struggle and how do you handle it?
GS: Not having consistent time to write. I’m a mum to a seven-year-old, which is a full-time job in itself – especially as I have had to homeschool for the past six months due to the Rona. But even though she is back at school, I am still writing in all the spaces between and grabbing time, here and there. I handle this by making sure that I periodically have days and sometimes entire weekends when I can just focus on my writing and creativity.
NS: What is one thing about writing you wish you’d learned earlier?
Photo credit Will Ireland, taken at Blogtacular 2018.
GS: That you need to find ways to keep your creative channel open. For my first six or seven years of being a journalist, I couldn’t freely express myself in writing. I was “good” at writing but often creatively blocked, and my writing personality was governed by fear. It was only when I studied lyric writing at Berklee College of Music in 2007 that I learned a technique called object writing, which completely opened me up, and enabled me to write freely and easily. This creative freedom is so vital to a writing career, that I started teaching my unblocking techniques to others. This became the foundation for the work I do now as a writing teacher and Journal Healer.
NS: What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever heard?
GS: That writing can’t be taught – it can! Anyone can write well, given the right tools and techniques and the ability to tap into their creative current.
NS: Do you write by hand or on a computer?
GS: Both – I journal by hand, which often turns into part of articles and book passages, which I then type up. I plot and plan by hand too.
NS: What are you currently reading?
GS: I have so many books on the go, but I am really enjoying Motherwell: A Girlhood, which is a memoir by the late Deborah Orr.
NS: Is there a book you couldn’t finish? Why?
GS: Lots, too many to mention. Usually it is nothing to do with the book, but that I got what I needed from it, before the end.
NS: What book couldn’t you put down?
GS: I loved Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
NS: What advice would you give writers starting out?
GS: Get a side hustle sooner rather than later. Expecting your writing to fully pay for your bills, and your life, piles up a lot of pressure. That pressure can weigh down on your writing, making you less agile and adaptable and throw you out of your creative flow.
NS: Has your writing life turned out differently than you expected? If so, how?
GS: I’m not sure, as I have never had a long-term plan for my writing, I just knew that I felt called to write. I didn’t expect to leave full-time journalism so soon (after three years), but I followed my intuition, which told me to go freelance and explore my creativity. For four years, before becoming a writing teacher and author, I enrolled in a London drama school and starred in adverts and short films. I became a travel writer and explored health and wellness. And I became a published poet and songwriting. All of this was the perfect pathway for what I do now.
NS: What’s next for you writing wise?
GS: I’m re-launching my online course in Writing for Creative Self-Expression, which is a seven-module self-study programme in finding and expressing your inner voice. You can find more details on my website, www.gretasolomon.com
AND FINALLY:
NS: Mermaids or Goddesses?
GS: Ooh – tough call, but I think mermaids.
NS: Toast or bagels?
GS: Both.
NS: Ocean, mountains, or forest?
GS: Ocean – but just for the magnificence, not for swimming!
NS: Leggings or jeans?
GS: Leggings, but with flowy dresses on top.
NS: Dogs, cats, fish, guinea pigs, or horses?
GS: Horses – I love the freedom you get from horse riding.
Biography
Greta Solomon is a writer, author, teacher and Journal Healer. Through her books and courses, she guides people to use journaling, writing and creative self-expression to wake up, connect to inner wisdom, and heal the tender, violated parts of their inner worlds.
Greta is a qualified life coach, lyricist, and lifelong learning teacher, and has clocked up thousands of coaching and tutoring hours with her clients. She has a degree in psychology from University of Warwick, a former career as a women’s magazine journalist and priceless life experience from several years of making a living from acting, modelling, promotions, sales, public relations, and freelance health, lifestyle and travel writing.
Heart, Sass, & Soul By Greta Solomon
Greta has over 13 years of experience in training individuals and multi-million pound companies in writing skills, delivering workshops and talks in Norway, Holland, Ethiopia and across the UK. She was also a visiting business writing lecturer at University of London, City. Greta is a Forbes.com contributor and has had hundreds of articles published, most recently in Red and Kindred Spirit. She is the author of Just Write It! How to Develop Top-Class University Writing Skills (McGraw-Hill Education, 2013) and Heart, Sass & Soul: Journal Your Way to Inspiration and Happiness (Mango, 2019), and is a published poet and songwriter.
Born in London to Caribbean immigrants, her maternal DNA line traces back to Cameroon and Gabon. Greta has returned to London after several stints abroad, and lives with her husband and daughter.
Website: www.gretasolomon.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/greta.solomon
Facebook: www.facebook.com/gretasolomoncoach
Twitter: www.twitter.com/greta_solomon
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gretasolomon
