How do you write? A Q&A with Rainesford Stauffer
On scrap paper, flexibility, and getting early feedback
I’ve never met Rainesford Stauffer IRL, but she’s one of those people whom I’ve kept running into online over the years, with multiple “I love your work” messages and retweets along the way. Rainesford’s body of work is pretty extraordinary, and sometimes I’ve wondered how she does it all — in fact, that’s probably why I immediately thought of her for this series. She writes absolutely crucial stories about young people in the United States and their (difficult) lives, has a regular column for Teen Vogue, and does a ton of mentorship work for journalism students in the South.
And I haven’t even mentioned her books yet. She published TWO BOOKS IN TWO YEARS! As someone in the midst of writing just one, I find this nothing short of superhuman. Of course, I don’t think she’d admit to this superhumanness, because she’s as humble about it all as they come. Also, annoyingly, her books are deeply reported, wise, incredibly empathetic, and a breeze to read. After finishing it, I immediately gave my copy of All The Gold Stars, Rainesford’s second book, to a friend trying to figure out her next career move after a break. Judging from my annotations on her first, An Ordinary Age, you’ll likely be able to find it somewhere in my own book’s bibliography. Both take down the absurd expectations put on individuals — particularly Millennials and Gen Z — in today’s world. Both should be required reading for college first-years or high school seniors.
In this Q&A, Rainesford reveals how she’s able to produce all this stellar work — spoiler alert, it’s partly about ditching being precious about routine and tools. Come for a picture of her cat, Fig Newton, stay for her wise words.
A Q&A with Rainesford Stauffer
Where do you sit (stand, walk, stationary bike) down to work? Are you someone who sits at a dedicated desk, or are you a floater? Home or office or coffee shop or parking lot? If you have a desk you love, what’s on it?
For years, I prided myself on being a floater who could write from anywhere, including, on more than one occasion, in the car in a McDonald's parking lot. That’s still technically true; I try to be adaptable. But a few years ago, amid a major life overhaul, I had the chance to finally create a designated workspace that wasn't someone else’s or me sitting on the floor using a coffee table as a desk. My desk (large, looks vaguely as though it could’ve been haunted at some point, a bit wobbly) was a Facebook Marketplace find and now it is my pride and joy.
Aside from the lamp and a tray where I try to keep pens, glasses, etc., it’s usually covered in books I’m referencing in something I’m writing or taking inspiration from, and one of my two cats, who consider it their desk. I write most often there, or sometimes on the floor with all my notes spread out.
Do you have a specific time you always write (or write best)? Do you have a writing ritual?
Ideally, anything new I write, I’m writing early in the morning, before it feels like the rest of my life has started for the day. For most of my career, I’ve also worked day jobs or work that’s writing-adjacent but separate from my own writing and reporting, so I think this emerged as a routine to ensure I got the bulk of my writing done before I had other responsibilities. Now, it has become a habit. In a perfect world, there’s a cup of coffee, a pastry or cookie, and a candle lit or windows open.
But more often than not, it’s a smidge more chaotic. Sometimes the ritual part is just the work of getting things on the page, and it’s more of a “do the best you can” approach to routine. If we’re being honest, that’s how a lot of initial writing for my books happened, just because of less-than-ideal circumstances at the time. I try to treat rituals–lighting a candle, a breezy walk right before starting, a perfect set-up–as a treat to have when possible rather than a default, if that makes sense. It tricks my brain into remembering it really can get the work done even if I don’t light that candle or have the ideal set-up.
How do you take notes? Do you have a notebook always with you? Notes App? Gimme the deets!
Notes app and scrap paper combo is my favorite! I do use a notebook for interviews, but I also record all those conversations, so my notes are supplemental and something to check against, as well as being the spot to catch observations that come up throughout the process. But for brainstorming, the messier, the better, including scrap paper, the back of the receipt, a random envelope. I think it relieves the pressure of needing something to come out perfectly (or even coherently) right on the page. Then, I’ll eventually gather all those little paper scraps and drop the thoughts into a Google doc, and expand from there.
Is there anything that helps you with writing that is not writing? (Like taking a long walk, running, cooking, watching Summer House, whatever)
Really long walks–without any music or podcasts or anything playing–are my go-to. There’s a level of clarity I get from that that I somehow never get when I’m sitting at my desk. I’ll jot thoughts down in my Notes app, or email them to myself as they come to make sure I can hang onto them. Otherwise, I think things I enjoy doing, like phone catch-ups with friends or baking, also help my writing, even if I’m not doing them for that purpose. In general, I think it helps to stay curious and engaged in and excited about things that have nothing obvious to do with your writing–I think that curiosity or enthusiasm carries over.
How do you find your structure? Do you outline? Do you use structure formulas (a la John McPhee) or go with the flow?
For my books, I did chapter-by-chapter outlines that were really more lists of bullet points–sources I knew I wanted in certain places, material I wanted to cite, gathered vaguely in the order I imagined it. For me, it usually starts with knowing the scene, moment, or feeling that’s the entry point to the larger argument or narrative, then going from there. (Ironically, sometimes I learn the bit I thought was the entry point is, in fact, not, but that’s what revision is for!) I noticed that if my outlines were too rigid, I’d get stuck nitpicking the outline and never move into trying to write.
But I also think it varies from project to project. I spent last fall working on two longer pieces: One had a very specific, scene-by-scene, interview-by-interview outline from the start that really served the piece. With the other, I scrapped my original outline and just tried going with the flow and finding the structure and pace as I went, and it was a much stronger draft in that case. Structure is always something I’m trying to practice and learn more about.
Let’s say you feel you’re ready to write: Where and how is all your research and interviews organized? How do you start constructing the story from those building blocks?
My books lived in Google docs, backed up in several different places. I had folders for each chapter, then subfolders within that of transcripts, original audio, and any other research, usually broken down by source. I tried to date everything–when the original interview took place, follow ups, etc., which proved especially helpful when I was speaking to someone multiple times over a long stretch. I highlighted a lot–yellow for quotes, research, or scenes I knew I wanted to include, bright blue for elements I thought belonged somewhere but I wasn’t sure quite where yet. A lot of the time, when I was working from someone’s interview transcript, I’d play the audio recording of the interview at the same time.
What’s something about writing a book that you wish you knew when you sat down to actually do it? Something you didn’t realize about the process?
There is truly so much I wish I’d known about publishing before I sat down to write anything. But about the writing process, specifically, I wish I’d known to get feedback earlier. For whatever reason, asking people for this favor terrified me. Even though I always loved reading other people’s early drafts or pitches, I was nervous about wasting their time with mine. But now, I think that getting early feedback from trusted friends, a writing group, your agent, etc. is one of the most valuable and precious tools for writing. It’s such a gift and has helped me with everything from sharpening pitches to finding the real heft of a narrative tucked inside a wordy draft. I wish I’d known to ask–and offer to do the same for others–earlier.
I also think it’s important to mention that many publishers don’t fact-check nonfiction, or at least don’t always have a designated fact-checker. That means that for lots of nonfiction authors, it’s a process you coordinate on your own, and that was a huge learning curve. I can’t express enough gratitude to the brilliant fact-checkers who worked on my books. The work they did was invaluable. I think having more open conversation about the importance of fact-checking, budgets, how it builds into the process, how to find fact-checkers, etc. would be hugely beneficial to everyone involved.
[HK: butting in here for just a second that I agree 100% with Rainesford about early feedback being key. I wrote about it recently here.]
Is there any writing advice that you turn to over and over? Alternatively: What advice would you give someone who is starting to write their book?
Something I chat about a lot with young journalists I’m lucky enough to work with is that we don’t always know what the story will be like until we get it on the page, and we can’t edit, fact-check, or rework a story that doesn’t exist. I think that advice is evergreen, and relevant whatever career stage you’re at, for a reason. You have to get it on the page first, even if it’s bad, even if it makes no sense, even if it doesn't feel like it flows. Speaking just for myself, this also goes back to trying not to let myself get too attached to a certain process or routine, aside from just how I try to write the draft. Ultimately, sometimes I have to get the words down even if inspiration has not struck or I don’t especially…like the words.
This isn’t writing advice but it’s advice that has proved important to my own writing process for better or worse: Sometimes, you have to feel afraid, not ready, or unsure, and do it anyway. I’m a big believer in doing your homework, preparing, and doing the grunt work of reporting or researching, so this isn’t to undermine that. But I had the epiphany that if I waited until I felt “ready” to be a writer, or get started on a draft, I’d never write anything. This advice isn’t going to click for everyone, but instead of telling myself to be confident in what I was doing, it helped me to frame it as “you’re going to stay curious about this process, you’re going to prioritize transparency and care, you’re going to learn a lot whatever happens, you’re going to do what you can and in order to do that, you have to start and keep going.”
Have there been any craft, process, or reference books that have been particularly helpful in your writing journey?
I think we learn from everything we read, even if it’s not conscious. But a dear friend and I have a little writing/reading group, which has been an amazing opportunity to read, or reread, books related to craft. That includes How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by
, one of the most breathtaking books I’ve ever read, and Body Work by , which changed the way I think about so much, including the stories I tell myself. I still return to essays in those books all the time.What’s a nonfiction book you love or turn to for inspiration?
Oh, so many! And because there are so many I love, I hate to leave any out. So we’ll go with one I’m about to start rereading: What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo. (I love rereading books–I find something new every time.) I also recently read Brian Goldstone’s There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America, which just came out–it is reported and written with a profound level of care, precision, and depth.
What are the tools, physical or digital, that you can’t live without?
I hate to be boring and say “my phone” but that’s probably the honest answer. It contains a ridiculous amount of notes, screenshots I’ve taken for inspiration, and other random things that I save. But otherwise, I love just a pen or pencil and scrap paper or any lined notebook.
Thank you Hanna and Rainesford.
Well done.🌱🌿💚