The Lunch Is Lit series of author readings at the Festival of Words continued today, featuring authors D.M. Ditson and Marina Endicott sharing selections of their work followed by a question and answer period from viewers.
Endicott, an actor and director and now award-winning author, read a passage from near the beginning of her historical fiction novel The Difference, while journalist and author Ditson shared a selection of readings from her memoir, Wide Open.
Afterwards, both authors spoke candidly about their processes when working on their respective manuscripts, which featured very different approaches from each but focused on the idea of the experience.
For Ditson, her memoir details her journey as a survivor of sexual assault and her process of recovery, which obviously required her to reflect on her own personal experience and share it openly with her readers — a sometimes and difficult and painful process.
“It was really difficult for me to sit down and say, ‘this is what happened to me’ and then not rip up the pages, because that’s what I’d done in the past,” said Ditson.
“When I was at the depths of my illness, I kept looking at all these other books and memoirs, trying to find a story of someone like me, who had endured something like this and was able to get better from it,” she continued. “So what I really want other people to know is that it gets better, it definitely gets better, [for] both survivors and the people who love them.”
For Endicott, when approaching The Difference, she admitted she spent eight years doing research as she had no prior knowledge about living at sea and the novel’s story largely features a long sea journey.
“The research was probably the most daunting thing for me,” said Endicott. “I felt like I really had to spend a couple of nights at sea, at least, before I would dare write about being on a sea voyage that lasted eight months.”
She then spent 10 days on a sailboat trip to understand the experience, and admitted that it was an enlightening experience for both herself and for the progress of her novel.
Continuing with the session, Endicott and Ditson also shared where they find the inspiration to write. For Endicott, the question was complicated but intriguing.
“What inspires me to write is a really interesting question to me, because it seems so different every time,’ said Endicott. “The things that have been the triggers or inciting moment for my books have each been completely different and completely separate but that initial spark that makes you [think], I really love that moment.”
For Ditson, who had previously mentioned that her memoir was born out of the personal practice of journaling to process her feelings through writing, the inspiration to write is slightly different.
“For me, what inspires me most to write is both love and pain,” said Ditson. “And as a reporter, I get to chat with a lot of people and write a lot of stories I choose and what really compels me is how interesting humanity is. It’s just really nice, to me, to sit down with someone and find out all the intricate detail about them and why they are the way they are.”
The Lunch Is Lit series will continue through the rest of the week, featuring a new duo of authors each day.
The Festival of Words continues until July 19, with a full schedule of events available here.
Stay tuned for coverage of the festival as it progresses through the coming week.
