How do you begin writing about the personal? Award-winning writer Hayley Singer gives us an insight into her approach to research, unpacking her process for writers grappling with long-form projects and deeply personal material. Whether you’re writing creative non-fiction or delving into difficult themes, her advice offers a valuable perspective on embracing complexity and fluidity in your work.
Hayley Singer’s first book, Abandon Every Hope: Essays for the dead, was published by Upswell in 2023. It was shortlisted for the 2024 Stella Prize. Hayley has published essays and reviews in The Sydney Review of Books, The Monthly, The Lifted Brow, Cordite Poetry Review, Art + Australia. Hayley teaches creative non-fiction at the University of Melbourne. For Hayley, teaching, like writing, is about thinking deeply and carefully, with many voices.
Writers can often have difficulty navigating the balance between the personal and the universal in their writing. Do you have a particular strategy for making your personal experiences resonate with a wider audience?
James Joyce gives good advice on this when he says, ‘In the particular is contained the universal.’ I came to this advice through Kae Tempest’s book On Connection and it remains the most clarified advice I can think of in relation to this question. Always be as specific as you can be and your readers will find you (and very possibly themselves!!) in the detail.
How do you approach research when writing creative non-fiction?
This is a big question! My approach to research will always be informed by what I am writing. First step is to try to tell myself what I think I am trying to do, which is no easy or clean process. Calibrating my research to the needs of the project is an iterative process that relies on my capacity to understand what is bound up in my topic.
What is one key piece of advice you’d give to writers working on long-form projects or essay collections?
See what happens if you view your writing as a form of layering, not a line that moves from beginning to end. When I think of my writing as a form of layering, I can see what parts of an essay or chapter feel thin. I really appreciate writing that is full, juicy, complex and layered, even when it is spare at the level of the sentence.
As a writer, how do you deal with the vulnerability that comes with writing about deeply personal experiences, especially when it involves themes of death and loss?
I am really not sure how to do this. When talking about Abandon Every Hope, I try to be honest about what I felt capable of while writing and what feels beyond me. Creative non-fiction is a genre that can hold this kind of vulnerability and unknowingness. Creative nonfiction helps me deal with the vulnerability because I don’t have to hide feelings of vulnerability from the writing.
In your upcoming workshop, you have encouraged writers to explore themes that feel urgent or significant to them. Can you share a personal example of a story or topic that really gripped you, and how it shaped your writing process?
I can only write what grips me. Right now, I’m working on a project about two women who keep receding from history. Researching the few details I have about them is taking me to unexpected places, requires me to ask questions that I don’t (yet) know how to ask of myself, of history, of queer women in history … At the moment, my writing process is chaotic, bitsy. I feel like I’m learning a new language. I don’t know how things are (or should be) organised. I just know that I need to keep asking questions, making notes (rigorous notes) and pushing language around in order to understand what this work needs from me.
Are there any new projects or ideas that you’re particularly excited to dive into?
The book I’m researching is all consuming in this regard.
Places are still available in Hayley’s workshop and online feedback clinic. Book now to avoid disappointment.