All shook up

I had a great conversation last week with Jennifer Schuchmann (pronounced shook-man), a writer from Atlanta. In addition to writing, she leads workshops that help other writers find their freak factor. Her story is a great illustration of the principles in this blog.

She has two big weaknesses. First, she doesn't have a lot of original ideas, which makes it difficult to come up with something to write about. Second, she isn't good with spelling and grammar, a seemingly vital skill for a writer.

So, how did her book, First Things First, end up on the New York Times bestseller list last week? I'll let Jennifer tell you in her own words.

"I have a very hard time coming up with ideas. I respond well to specifics, tell me you need a paragraph about how to make furniture from nuts and I can think of 80 things to say. Tell me to write about whatever I want and I can’t think of a thing.

Because of this she thought, "I could never be a writer. Spelling and diagramming sentences just didn’t interest me. I could look at the same sentence . . . and not see the mistakes. My brain just didn’t focus on that. So in high school, I stopped writing. I realized I apparently didn’t have what it takes to be a writer. I didn’t have ideas and I didn’t have the technical skills 'good writers' had."

But then she had an epiphany.

"I was in a workshop listening to a publisher talk about how writers are in love with their own words. I thought to myself, 'I’m not.' From that moment I realized that I was different from the other writers I had met in the past. I realized that I was a writer who takes assignments. There are stories or articles that need to be told and writers who are too passionate about their own ideas . . . can’t write those stories, but I could."

"Now less than ten years later, I’ve already published five books, all collaborations with other people. My latest book, First Things First with Kurt and Brenda Warner was an assignment earlier this Spring to write 75,000 words in 19 days. The book is now out and yesterday was number ten on the New York Times best seller list for hardcover nonfiction."

"What has changed? Well, I’ve learned to embrace the fact that I can get behind other people’s ideas, that not having my own isn’t a hindrance to being a writer. And in the case of being a collaborative writer, not being married to my own ideas is a really good thing. My agent continues to remind me that the ability to write fast is a unique skill. I’ve learned to compensate for misspellings or verbs that don’t agree by hiring an outside editor or other writer who has those skills to look through my manuscript before I submit it."

"I teach at a lot of writers’ conferences and I tell my story so that writers realize they need to capitalize on their strengths and find ways to compensate for their perceived weaknesses."

Jennifer's story demonstrates that it is possible to have tremendous success without fixing your weaknesses. She has succeeded by embracing her flaws because she sees the strengths that are hiding inside them. For example, because she is not restricted by the traditional rules of spelling and grammar, she can write quickly. She deals with this apparent weakness easily by hiring people to edit her work.

Because she is not bursting with ideas of her own, she is open to the ideas of others. She capitalizes on this weakness by helping others to tell their stories. I experienced her gift for understanding during our phone conversation. She immediately understood the freak factor and sometimes explained the concept even better than I could.

Jennifer also proves that our weaknesses make us unique and that being "different" is an asset, not a liability. She isn't trying to be like other writers. She isn't afraid to be a freak.

If you are a writer or want to become one, I hope that you'll let Jennifer help you to discover your own freak factor. If you have a story that needs to be told but don't know how to tell it, I hope you'll let Jennifer share your ideas with the world.

Contact her at www.JenniferSchuchmann.com or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/schuchmann

Comments

[Jonathan Babcock]

What an absolute blast of encouragement! I'm looking forward to sharing this post with my students, families and fellow writers.

[Zane Safrit]

This is a great story! Thanks.

[Joseph Joel Sherman]

Great Post. A colleague of mine and I have struggled with a similar issue in starting businesses. A great business does not need a completely new idea or product. Sometimes the ability to take off from an existing idea is the best way to go. John Paul DeJoria did not invent shampoo, but he did create John Paul Mitchell.

[Debbie Simler-Goff]

Love this post! I'm a newbie writer and it made my confidence soar. Also love Jennifer, have heard her talks at writer's conferences! Blog me back if you like at http://dsimlergoff.blogspot.com/2009/08/god-in-details.html