Jen Soriano: Writing a Book Takes Faith in Yourself
Jen Soriano (she/they) is a writer, performer, social movement strategist, and author of the chapbook “Making the Tongue Dry.” She writes from the body about silenced and sidelined stories that long for the space to shine. Jen’s essays have received the Penelope Niven Prize and the Fugue Prose Prize, and she’s been awarded fellowships from Vermont Studio Center, Hugo House, and the Jack Jones Literary Arts Retreat. Jen was also a finalist in the 2019 Ploughshares emerging writers contest. Jen currently serves as the writer-in-residence for Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Originally from a landlocked area of southwest Chicago, she now lives with her husband, son, and seven-month-old water dog on Duwamish territory, Seattle, near the Salish Sea. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Jen Soriano
Naomi Ishisaka
In this post, Jen shares what inspired her essay collection about how we carry history in our nerves, how the HarperCollins strike impacted her publishing journey, and more.
Name: Jen Soriano
Literary agent: Samantha Shea, Georges Borchardt
Book title: Nervous: Essays on Heritage and Healing
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Release date: August 22, 2023
Genre/category: Essays
Previous titles: Making the Tongue Dry (chapbook)
Elevator pitch for the book: Nervous is an essay collection about how we carry history in our nerves. Through essays that blend personal stories, history, and science, Nervous shows how the long shadow of transgenerational trauma can be healed at a population scale, both from the inside out and the outside in.
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What prompted you to write this book?
I wrote this book to be my own witness and advocate for integrative health. I wanted to assemble a meaningful narrative about the chronic pain and mental health challenges I had experienced for most of my life, a deeper narrative than I ever got to share through doctor’s appointments or even psychotherapy.
Writing Nervous allowed me to assemble fragments of diagnoses, small realizations from therapy, and insights from my own research into a larger health and wellness framework that incorporated not just my own lived experience, but ancestral history as well.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
It took about eight years to go from idea to publication. I’d say the idea sharpened over the course of those eight years. I started out knowing I wanted to write more about my own experience of chronic pain, and to write into the irony of the fact that conventional doctors, including my own father, who was a neurosurgeon, couldn’t help me with my nervous system conditions.
From there the idea took on several new layers, from exploring the science of epigenetic transmission of trauma to understanding the regulating effects that music can have on our nervous systems. These sharpened ideas became the 14 different essays that make up Nervous.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
It was a great surprise to me when, shortly after I turned in my manuscript and the book was about to go into production, HarperCollins workers went on strike. I hadn’t known this was going to happen, and I didn’t know what it would mean for my book. What I did know from my background in community organizing is that workers only strike when necessary to earn fairer wages and other benefits.
It was a difficult time for everyone involved because of how long it took HarperCollins executives to come to the negotiating table. But one of the biggest learning moments for me was seeing that I could support striking workers while also advocating for fair treatment for authors. I was able to vocally support the HarperCollins union while also collaborating with non-union staff (distinct from temp workers or “scabs”) to continue to produce my book.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
I was surprised by how collaborative book-writing can be. Even though I spent most of the time alone, drafting, thinking, revising, the times I did spend interviewing others and co-remembering with people was connective and fun. And I was lucky to have editors who were also thought partners, so wrestling with the concepts in each essay often involved satisfying dialogue and debate.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
A sense of freedom from self-blame for those who live with trauma-related chronic illness.
Inspiration from the science that shows how we carry ancestral lessons in our bodies.
Hope from the social neuroscience that shows how we can transform the worst impacts of transgenerational trauma through relational exercises and social change.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Writing a book takes faith in yourself, and perhaps more importantly, in the story you have to tell. Shine that faith on your story like a lighthouse on safe harbor, and it will help you navigate storms of shame, doubt, criticism, and apathy that can happen along the way.
While there’s no shortage of writing advice, it’s often scattered around—a piece of advice here, words of wisdom there. And in the moments when you most need writing advice, what you find might not resonate with you or speak to the issue you’re dealing with. In A Year of Writing Advice, the editors of Writer’s Digest have gathered thoughts, musings, and yes, advice from 365 authors in dozens of genres to help you on your writing journey.