#113 Writing with Ambition Featuring Kristi Coulter

Kristi Coulter is the author of EXIT INTERVIEW: THE LIFE & DEATH OF MY AMBITIOUS CAREER, out now in paperback. Her previous book, the memoir-in-essays NOTHING GOOD CAN COME FROM THIS, was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. Kristi's work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Paris Review, Elle, Longreads, and many other publications. Her Substack newsletter, Loose Canon, offers personal and irreverent commentary on film and music. She is a former resident at Ragdale and the Mineral School and has taught writing at the University of Washington, University of Michigan, Hugo House, and the Work Room. Kristi lives in Seattle and Los Angeles.

In this episode: 

• Picking the perfect title and a trick on how to do it [2:48]

• Why Kristi wrote her book using the present tense and the challenges that imposed [6:27]

• Deciding what to leave in and what to take out [12:42]

• How Kristi incorporated historical context into her book to make a point without preaching to the reader [13:41]

• Incorporating humor in memoir writing and playing with forms [18:34]

• Finding the perfect equation between scene and summary [21:42]

• Making the narrator relatable, not likable [23:29]

• Kristi’s advice for aspiring Memoir Writers [27:52]

• The benefits of writing chapters out of sequence [28:05]

• Understanding the meaning of that first “Discovery Draft” [28:28]

• Selling a book on proposal. What you need to know [30:56]

• The art of writing a synopsis [32:36]

• The impact Kristi’s book is having on women at Amazon and beyond [33:59]

Connect with Kristi

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kristi.c.coulter

Threads: @kristiccoulter; 

Facebook: 

https://facebook.com/kristicoulter

Podcast Guests Mentioned in This Episode

#52 Claire Dederer

https://estelleserasmus.com/a-conversation-with-claire-dederer-about-monsters/

#101 Elissa Bassist

https://estelleserasmus.com/101-the-makings-of-a-hysterical-story-featuring-elissa-bassist/

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