Writing Barn Regular: Poet and Novelist Judy Kenyon

Writing Barn Regulars is a new, on-going series where we feature writers who join us at the Barn on a regular basis. Our community at the Barn is full of wonderful, talented, and diverse writers, who all have their own story. While they’re off writing stories of their own, we wanted to create a platform to tell you their stories.

This interview features WB Regular Judy Kenyon.

Judy, thanks for sitting down with us at the Barn. What do you love the most about your writing process?

My writing process is becoming more organized as I become more experienced at putting together a novel. I enjoy all aspects of researching a certain time period in history. I loved talking to Rebecca Haggerty, the research archivist from the New York Transit Museum. She gave me permission to use writing from some 1960’s subway posters.  I find outlining helpful, though “enjoy” is not the word I would use to describe it.  My process includes writing down phrases and ideas in notebooks, on scraps of paper, in the “notes” section on my phone, and on the backs of envelopes at home. I transfer these notes, or whole chapters, into the body of my novel later.

How long have you been writing/pursuing an agent or publishing deal?

I have been writing this novel for three years, since I retired from teaching. I admire young people who write while they are working and taking care of their families.

What is one of the biggest surprises you’ve encountered after becoming a writer?

I never even considered trying to write as well as teach and take care of my husband and kids. Now, I have the time, so I am writing and it seems I can’t stop. That was a big surprise. I am also surprising myself by getting back into poetry writing. I was very encouraged by my high school English teachers to pursue a career in writing, but when a college professor gave me a low grade and told me that I had a terrible writing style, I changed my major away from writing and gave it up for way too long. Now, I am almost finished with this first novel and have blocked out a second one on my phone.

Why do you think attending workshops/classes is important to writers at all stages of their career? 

Attending workshops and classes in writing, as well as reading good books on the writing process, is very important to writers at all stages of their careers to give them inspiration and to improve their skills in writing. All of the Write Away Days and workshops with authors at The Writing Barn have helped me to develop my characters and plot lines more deeply. 

What are you working on currently?

My current project is a YA novel about a sixteen-year-old girl in 1965 New York City. It is a coming of age book and has strong themes of friendship, bullying and accepting what a person can, and cannot change in the world. It is a bit more complex than I would have chosen for a first project, but it is important to me. I am writing it for my sixteen-year-old granddaughter. I want to write something to break the mold of many current YA novels.

Do you have any advice for writers who are having trouble staying on course in pursuing their goals?

My advice to writers who are having trouble staying on track is to decide if what they want to say is important enough for them to go through the process of sticking that needle into their arm and just bleeding out their truth. That is figurative, not literal, by the way. If you have something to say, don’t let life get in the way. Make time for yourself to write. Use music, or timers if you need that sort of thing. Set up a place in your home for your writing. Also, if you can, try other creative pursuits as well as writing. Go to a dance class, or paint, or draw. This may help inspire you in your writing. Museums are also inspiring places to go for writers. Don’t give up.

Judy with her granddaughter, the inspiration for her novel-in-progress.

Judy Kenyon started telling stories to her parents and grandparents when she was as young as four, or so they say! Her Grandma transcribed one of her early poems, a version of “Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, where have you been?” Judy also published poetry in her college literary journal. She has a B.A. in Sociology and English from The State University of New York at Albany, and an M.Ed. from Antioch University. She taught in three public school systems: Philadelphia Public Schools, A.I.S.D., and Del-Valle ISD for a total of twenty years. Judy has also done dance therapy with developmentally delayed adults at Travis State School, and worked as a cognitive therapist at Healthcare Rehabilitation Center with head injured teenagers. She has always written poetry and is currently writing poetry, short memoir pieces and a young adult novel. Judy is writing her YA novel for her sixteen-year-old granddaughter and her friends, but she hopes it will have a wider audience, too. The novel deals with themes of friendship, bullying, boyfriends and learning just how much you can change the world at the age of sixteen.

Interview by Katie King, Writing Barn Intern