Learning to trust intuition in fiction writing - Jennifer LoveGrove

Writer Jennifer LoveGrove

Jennifer LoveGrove is the author of the Giller Prize–longlisted novel Watch How We Walk, as well as three poetry collections: Beautiful Children with Pet Foxes (longlisted for the Raymond Souster Award), I Should Never Have Fired the Sentinel and The Dagger Between Her Teeth. Her latest collection of poetry is The Tinder Sonnets, She is currently working on a new novel, and creative nonfiction. She divides her time between downtown Toronto and Squirrel Creek Retreat in rural Ontario. Jennifer shares the evolution of her writing, her love-hate relationship with social media, and learning to trust intuition in fiction writing.

Jennifer LoveGrove on paying attention to form and working with constraints

The Tinder Sonnets, by Jennifer LoveGrove

OCW: Has your writing evolved over the years? If so, how? Through writing experience? Reading a lot? Writing courses or communities? A combination, or something else?

JL: I certainly hope my style has evolved over the years! Lately, particularly with my new book The Tinder Sonnets, I have been paying more attention to form, and enjoying the results of working within constraints. Reading a lot definitely helps me become a better writer. I do take occasional workshops or classes and I find this not only improves my craft but also keeps me both inspired and accountable. I like deadlines, even if they’re self-imposed and relatively arbitrary. I also am a fan of prompts and exercises to get first drafts of poems underway.

OCW: Can you trace any common themes across your writing?

JL: Now I’ve been writing for decades, yes, I can see that certain themes are consistent. In some form or another, whether poetry or fiction, I write about women’s capacity for strength and resilience, while critiquing the patriarchal structures we exist within. I also write about the impacts of childhood trauma, complicated family dynamics, and female sexual desire and subjectivity. More recently, since spending more time outside of urban areas, imagery of the natural world has been more prominent in my writing.

Literary inspirations and the digital world

OCW: Which authors and/or types of books do you like to read?

JL: I am drawn to strong feminist voices and surprising, inventive imagery. I just finished reading The Antidote by Karen Russell, a novel I loved. I am inspired to work more on my novel-in-progress because of the possibilities that book exposed me to. Of course I love complex, flawed characters in fiction and a fearless voice that with images that catch me off guard in poetry. By no means a comprehensive list, I’m currently into: Ocean Vuong, Kaveh Akbar, Kim Hyesoon, Karen Russell, Jayne Anne Phillips, Madeleine Thien, Marie NDiaye, Catherine Lacey, Jesmyn Ward, Diane Suess. And there are so many new Canadian poetry titles coming out this year I’m excited about!

OCW: Do you use social media to engage readers, writers, or publishers and, if so, which platforms?

JL: Yes, but I have a love-hate relationship with social media. It can be a soothing time suck, and too addictive, yet a vital way to keep in touch with people and organizations. I don’t engage much in comment section arguments because I’m too sensitive and conflict-averse. That’s probably not a good trait. I do enjoy Instagram and seeing what other writers and publishing colleagues are up to, but I use it for other interests: dogs, live music, secondhand fashion. I’m on Facebook but lost interest in it a long time ago. I use it more for certain specific groups, and for messaging, less so for scrolling. I worry a lot that social media has negatively impacted my ability to concentrate, especially on reading, and I’m consciously working on that.

Learning to trust intuition in fiction writing - Jennifer LoveGrove

OCW: Are you a plotter or a pantser? (For writers or short stories and novels).

JL: For fiction, I’m a plotter. I don’t necessarily think that’s always a good thing though. I think you need to leave a lot of room for the unexpected and not force your characters or narrative to adhere to something preconceived; the better work will be in twists and developments I didn’t see coming or preplan. I have a lot of charts on the walls for my novel and I think overplanning killed some of the life force. I just took another long break from it, and I think that in order to resuscitate it, I need to stop being such a control freak and trust my intuition again. In writing and in life. For poetry, I’m the opposite. I never know what I’m writing about until I get into it. I rely a lot on the unconscious, with various exercises and tricks to access it.