Running head: INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD

Insights from the Field

Hannah Schepler
University of Central Florida

INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD

Interview with Kelli Stuart Draft

The opportunity to interview and talk with a professional writer
can give great insight to a professionals writing life and professional
practices. Learning about writers in the professional world can give
students pursuing similar paths a better understanding of the
professional workplace while also preparing them for the next step.
The chance to sit down with freelance writer, blogger, and author Kelli
Stuart, shed light on how writing has changed over a period of a few
short years and is an example of what a new writer might expect when
entering the field. Stuarts experience as a young student were not
atypical, she went through several majors before landing on her
passion, writing.
In 2000, Stuart graduated from from Baylor University with a
major in English Professional Writing and a minor in Russian Language.
After graduation, Stuart started her writing career helping people as a
ghostwriter, put their ideas down, In the mean time I was also
coaching gymnastics on the side, cause the whole starving artist thing
is a true thing. (personal communication, October 2, 2015) Within a
short time after college Stuart got married and 3 years later came
baby #1. At that point I figured, well, I missed the boat on being a
writer, you know, I got this baby now, Im not going to be able to do it,
and I sort of just, let it go. I had had all these dreams of writing books

INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD

and I just sort of felt like theres no way Im going to be able to do it

now. But she still had a book that she had started and finished in
college, on the back of her mind. As her family grew, she started a
rewrite on her novel, fitting work in on the side. Eventually, around
baby #3, Stuart found blogging as an outlet for her words:
I thought, well this is an easy way I can write everyday and I can
be immediately published, people can read what Im writing. So, I
started having a little bit of success with that and was able to
travel some, and some of it was silly stuff but others were
legitimately fun, like Sears flew me down to New Orleans to write
for the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina to write about
their rebuilding projects. So I had some really great opportunity.
In all that, Stuart did not forget about her novel, and began to work
seriously on it again. Now, with a complete novel, and a collaborative
book written with a friend, Stuart landed herself an agent and a 2-book
deal with a publisher.
As a wife and mother of 4, and doing home education with half of
her children, Stuarts family life has a large impact on her professional
life and practices. Her workday is all about fitting it in, writing when
she can, sometimes in 30-minute intervals. My typical work days are
usually very dark. Its usually really early in the morning or really late
at night or, you know, my typical workdays are fitting it all into the
cracks. So, ideally I would really love to have two or three hours every

INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD

day, I think that would be perfect, but I dont get that. (K. Stuart,
personal communication, October 2, 2015) While simultaneously
working on her novel, and collaborating on another book with a writer
friend, Stuart is still paid to blog on other sites. Although, now she is
lucky to get one post out a week on her personal site, she has
obligations and commitments to other blogs, I have 3 post that were
due yesterday that I havent even started, and so Im always slightly
behind. A typical workday is me looking at my calendar going Im not
going to get that one done on time, so Stuart is always busy, and to
her it seems that there is always just a bit too much on her plate.
There is not a clear separation for Stuart between her home life
and her work life. Working from home, the lines blur. With a busy life
that sometimes seems to move without her, Stuart is not very
particular about where she writes, when she finds the time to do so.
I have a beautiful desk and office that I rarely sit at. But when I
do, I love it. A lot of time, when my daughter is at gymnastics
Im just sneaking off to Starbucks or you know, I tuck myself back
in my room and lock the door so nobody can find me, so I really, I
write anywhere. But my preferred spot is in a quiet room with a
desk. I like quiet; Im not a write in the noise type girl. (K. Stuart,
personal communication, October 2, 2015)
It is clear that Stuart has learned to adapt to her work environment.
Though not traditional, it works for her, or she makes it work.

INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD

With a blog, editing, ghostwriting, an upcoming novel and

nonfiction collaborative piece, how does Stuart define her job? Author;
simply an author Stuart says. She expresses that she has skirted
around the question for years, not wanted to make such a large claim
about herself and her work. It is Stuarts opinion that anyone who
writes can call themselves a writer, but an author creates, and she
creates. (personal communication, October 2, 2015) Now she does not
hesitate when asked the question, and with two books coming out next
year, she has no need to.
One of the to be titled books that Stuart has coming out next
year is a collaboration between herself and a friend. In talking about
the process, Stuart expressed that collaboration is difficult and is not
her preferred method, Its really hard to work with someone elseBut
on the other side of that coin its really awesome having someone who
can pick up the slack when you dont have time or somethings going
on. (personal communication, October 2, 2015) As Jennifer
MacLennan reiterates, collaboration is another form of communication
and is imperative skill set. The ability to communicate ideas
throughout the writing process is the first step to collaboration, (2008,
p. 5). Collaboration is something that is learned and developed, and it
worked for Stuart:
In the end we both ended up each writing about half the book.
Each of us brought strengths and weaknesses to the table and

INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD

they seemed to balance each other out so in the end it was really
nice. I wouldnt have been able to write that book without her, I
didnt have the ideas that she had and she didnt have the ideas
that I had.
The collaboration process has also made Stuart a stronger writer. To
use Spilkas terminology, orality in collaboration is essential. Using
orality helps understand writers come to an understanding of the
situation and come to a consensus on how to continue. (R. Spilka,
1990) Listening and writing with another writer forces growth, Writing
with a partner made me so much stronger because if forces me to try
to do something that I wouldnt normally do. (K. Stuart, personal
communication, October 2, 2015) Having just completed the project to
the publishing stage, the work is not over, far from it. The editing
process is now underway and a brand new adventure begins.
The publishing world is somewhat uncharted territory for Stuart.
She went through, first hand, the changes in technology and
connection that Andrea McKenzie discusses in First Flight. Technology
and tools have developed and advanced significantly over the recent
years, changing the way things are done. Those of us who lived with
these changes, worked with them, wrote about themdid not
necessarily believe we were a tiny part of an enormous revolution that
would change the way we lived, worked, wrote, designed, learned,
created, and communicated. (A. McKenzie, 0000, p,16) Similarly, near

INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD

everything Stuart learned in college about the publication was displac

with the popularization of the internet and its functionality within the
publishing world. Within five years, Stuart says, everything she had
learned was obliterated by the introduction of the Internet. Social
media platforms that did not exist before are now essential parts of
successful authorship in the industry. Stuart has been able to
successfully navigate and use social media and blog platform to get
her to where she is now. With publishing the next milestone ahead,
these next steps are a learning process for Stuart.
A large part of this next process for Stuart as an author is
learning on the job. These next steps in the publishing process will be
lessons she can lean on in future pursuits. Now, I get to turn to the
hard part which is marketing and preparing to market and I dont really
know what Im doing, so that parts intimidating to me. I feel like Im
still learning a lot. (K. Stuart, personal communication, October 2,
2015) On the completion of the projects currently on Stuarts plate, on
the other side of these publications, Stuart will be able to come back
with the knowledge she has gained and do better. Stuart is already
seeing the benefits of learning through this process, I feel like I have
more of an idea of the process, of what it looks like to write a book.
This first novel took me 14 years to write, so Im going to see if I can
do the next one in 6 to 9 months. But I feel like I know how to do it

INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD

now, more than I did before. (personal communication, October 2,

2015)
As a professional writer, Stuart has already seen much success
with her work, and is continuing that success with her new books. But
how does Stuart define success to? Do you love it? Have you finished
something? Are you proud of it? Then thats probably a successful day
in my book. If you put your whole self into it and youre proud of it, at
the end of the day, then youve had a successful day. (K. Stuart,
personal communication, October 2, 2015) As a new writer just coming
up through the process of publishing, Stuart is a great resource for
young writers. With the experience fresh, she was able to give great
insight into the professional writing world. Her example of authorship
proves that there is no, one right way to do it. Professional writing can
come about in many ways, traditional or not. What advice does she
leave for writers who seek to follow in her footsteps? Just go for it,
and believe that you can.

INSIGHTS FROM THE FIELD

9
References

MacLennan, J. (2008) Why communication matters. In J. MacLennan

(Ed.) Reading

for technical communication (pp. 4-10). Don Mills,

Ontario: Oxford Press.

McKenzie, A., (2008). First flight. In J. MacLennan (Ed.) Reading for
technical

communication (pp. 15-28). Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford

Press.
Spilka, R., (1990) Orality and literacy in the workplace: process- and
text-based strategies for multiple-audience adaptation. In T. Peeples
(Ed.) Professional
Longman.

writing and rhetoric (146-168). New York, NY: