
#217: Dawn O'Porter — Finding Your Voice, Writing as a Loyal Companion, Writing Memoir Without Exposing Others, and Success Beyond the Bank Balance
Novelist, memoirist and broadcaster Dawn O'Porter on trusting her own voice, writing the book she had to get out of her system, drafting without a plan, protecting the people in her food memoir Hungry Eyes, and measuring success by what you create rather than what you earn.
You'll learn
- Why writing can be the most loyal relationship in a creative career.
- The case for writing the story you're carrying before you write anything else.
- What immersive journalism can teach a novelist about not letting the reader down.
- Why some writers feel trapped by a plan, and what's worth knowing before you start instead.
- A simple trick for bringing a stubborn character to life.
- When a first draft can be far shorter than the finished book.
- How to know when a sentence has already said enough.
- How to write memoir when the people in your story don't want to be in it.
- The remark from a friend that became a writing mantra.
- What it means to measure success by what you've made, not what you've earned.
Resources & Links
- 📄 Interview Transcript (unedited)
- Hungry Eyes: A Memoir of Appetite, Ambition and the Odd Bag of Wotsits for Dinner by Dawn O'Porter
- Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O'Porter
- The Cows by Dawn O'Porter
- Cat Lady by Dawn O'Porter
- Honeybee by Dawn O'Porter
- Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
- My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
- The First Bad Man by Miranda July
- All Fours by Miranda July
- A Creative Compass by Emma Gannon
- dawnoporter.com — Dawn's website
- @hotpatooties — Dawn's Instagram
- Writing in Community — LWS Community Anthology
About Lulu
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About Dawn O'Porter
Dawn O'Porter is a bestselling novelist, memoirist, journalist and broadcaster. She is the author of several novels exploring female friendship, identity and the complexities of women's lives, including Paper Aeroplanes, The Cows, So Lucky, Cat Lady and Honeybee.
Her latest book, Hungry Eyes: A Memoir of Appetite, Ambition and the Odd Bag of Wotsits for Dinner, turns to nonfiction to explore food, memory, ambition and the experiences that have shaped her life.
Alongside her books, Dawn has written widely on feminism and women's lives and built a career spanning journalism, documentary filmmaking and television.
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