Amy Hudock to beginning writers: 'Don't wait to be discovered'

Amy Hudock wears many hats. She's a mother, a writer, an editor, and a teacher at Trident Technical College. She sat down with Charleston Scene and discussed how she juggles these roles.

Q: How does teaching affect your writing?

A: Some writers say teaching something as pedestrian as freshman composition hurts their writing. I don't say that because I don't distinguish between writing courses. I teach freshman composition and technical writing like my creative writing course. All writing is, I believe, creative.

Q: Tell me about "Literary Mama." Where did the idea for the magazine come from?

A: Now, I can't go anywhere without bumping into mother writing. Not so back then. Literary Mama grew out of my loneliness and my need to connect with other mothers, and in particular, other mother writers.

I started a face-to-face playgroup/writing group for mothers and their young children. We wrote and discussed our writing while the children played with a caregiver. Eventually, we went online, and others heard of us.

We grew, published our website, then started attracting national and international attention. I love Literary Mama because it proves that having children and being a writer can go together.

Q: You are an editor as well as a writer. How do you prepare to edit versus how you prepare to write?

A: Writing is all about play and experiments, and is a bit wild and untamed. Editing is all about shaping and organizing the play, making the "child" fit for polite society. Writing is the child in me, and editing is the mother.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I continue to write the short memoir pieces that fit so nicely into a busy schedule. But I am also writing a historic novel based on the life of Emma Southworth, one of the most popular American writers of the 19th century (and a mother).

I have published scholarly essays and written a dissertation on her. Now I want to go beyond that. She has a great story, and I think people will love reading it.

I've also been playing around with the idea for an online literary magazine for Lowcountry emerging writers so that people who haven't yet been published (like my students) can start building a readership. Also, my students could get real world editorial experience by working with it.

Q: How do you fit time into your busy schedule to write?

A: It's not easy. I try to write something every day, even if it is small. Allowing myself to write small has helped me write. If I waited until I had big blocks of time to write, I would never write. So, I do little bits here, little bits there.

Q: What advice would you give to local writers?

A: Find a niche for yourself, and then create the market for your work. Don't wait to be discovered. Become a salesperson of your work. Build networks. Get in a writing group where you feel challenged and supported. Create a blog/website. Write, write, write.