Mega-Bestselling Author Kathryn Stockett on Finding Her Voice Again After ‘The Help’
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Quick Read
Summary
Takeaways
- ❖Kathryn Stockett's debut novel, 'The Help', sold over 15 million copies and inspired an Oscar-winning film.
- ❖The success and criticism of 'The Help' made Stockett cautious, leading her to write a 'vanilla' version of her second book.
- ❖Her publisher fired her due to the long delay and unsatisfactory manuscript, which became a catalyst for Stockett to write authentically.
- ❖Stockett believes writers must write what they 'have to' and cannot quiet the voices in their heads, even if it courts controversy.
- ❖'The Calamity Club' explores themes of found family, women's rights, and the harsh realities of 1930s Mississippi, including eugenics and the sterilization of 'undesirable' women.
- ❖Stockett intentionally used a sign at an orphanage in 'The Calamity Club' to immediately convey the pervasive prejudices of the 1930s South.
Insights
1The Paralysis of Success and Criticism
After the immense global success of 'The Help' and subsequent criticism regarding a white author telling a 'black woman's story', Kathryn Stockett felt immense pressure. This led her to write her second novel, 'The Calamity Club', cautiously, attempting to create something 'short and simple' to avoid further criticism. The result was a 'vanilla, banana-flavored book' that lacked heart and authenticity, causing significant delays.
Stockett states, 'I told myself I would be cautious with this next book. I would write something short and simple and not draw the kinds of criticism that some people had for The Help. And what I ended up with was a a very vanilla, you know, banana-flavored book version of this book that... had no heart in it.'
2Fired by Publisher as a Catalyst for Authenticity
Stockett's cautious approach and the resulting unsatisfactory manuscript led her publisher to fire her after many years of false starts. This professional rejection, however, served as a powerful catalyst. Losing her contract ignited a 'scrappy' and stubborn resolve in Stockett, enabling her to shed her fear and rewrite 'The Calamity Club' from a 'fresh perspective' that embraced the difficult realities of 1930s Mississippi, including race and discrimination.
Stockett recounts, 'I got fired. My publisher fired me because it had taken me so long... Because you were still operating out of fear. Yeah, there's something I guess scrappy inside of me that we you know, if you kick me when I'm down, I'm going to come out of that a little bit wiser and a little bit braver. And once that happened I was able to sit down and write the whole book over from from a very fresh perspective.'
3Artistic Freedom vs. Public Expectation
Stockett grapples with the tension between an artist's inherent drive to tell stories and public expectations or criticisms about 'who is allowed to tell what story'. She asserts that as a writer, she doesn't control what she writes; the 'voices' and her heart dictate the narrative. She questions whether the issue with 'The Help' was its content or its overwhelming success, suggesting that restricting artistic expression is problematic.
Stockett explains, 'I don't really have control over what I write. I write with my heart. The voices come out of me.' She later ponders, 'I've wondered sometimes if if maybe the issue wasn't that I wrote The Help. It was that it became such a success. Maybe that was the problem. It's hard to think about telling an artist, 'No, no. That's not allowed. You can't create that.''
4Historical Realities of Women in the 1930s South
'The Calamity Club' delves into the harsh realities faced by women in 1930s Mississippi, particularly the eugenics movement. Stockett's research revealed that women could be forcibly sterilized for being deemed 'feeble-minded' or 'promiscuous', reflecting a societal effort to 'cleanse the population of undesirables' and prevent the state from caring for their children. This historical context informs the struggles of the book's characters.
Stockett details, 'In the 1920s and the 1930s, the eugenics movement was just starting to heat up. And the idea was that by sterilizing certain people, they could cleanse the population of what they called undesirables... in Mississippi, a woman could be sterilized for being promiscuous.'
Bottom Line
The act of writing can be a form of sanity preservation, allowing an author to process and express internal 'voices' and complex societal issues.
For writers, this suggests that maintaining a consistent writing practice, even daily, is not just about productivity but also about mental well-being and maintaining a connection to their creative flow.
This highlights a potential market for tools or communities that help writers 'clear their palate' and maintain 'frequency' with their creative voices, beyond just basic writing software.
Embedding explicit statements of prejudice (like an orphanage sign) early in a narrative can efficiently establish the historical and social tone, rather than relying on subtle, prolonged exposition.
This is a powerful narrative technique for authors dealing with sensitive historical contexts, allowing them to confront difficult truths directly and immediately immerse the reader in the world's realities.
Storytellers across various media (film, games, literature) can adopt this direct approach to quickly establish challenging settings, potentially increasing audience engagement and understanding of complex themes from the outset.
Lessons
- Prioritize authentic creative expression over fear of criticism, recognizing that external validation or rejection can sometimes be the catalyst for your best work.
- If you are a writer, cultivate a consistent writing schedule to maintain momentum and stay connected to your creative 'voices' and 'frequency'.
- Embrace the 'scrappy' spirit when faced with setbacks; view being 'kicked when you're down' as an opportunity to emerge wiser and braver.
Notable Moments
Kathryn Stockett reveals she was fired by her publisher for 'The Calamity Club' after struggling for years to write it cautiously due to criticism from 'The Help'.
This moment is pivotal as it explains the long delay for her second novel and highlights the intense pressure and fear authors face after massive success, ultimately becoming the turning point for her to write authentically.
Oprah and readers passionately discuss the themes of 'The Calamity Club', particularly the resilience of women, the concept of 'found family', and the historical context of women's rights and eugenics in 1930s Mississippi.
This demonstrates the profound impact of Stockett's work, showing how her stories resonate deeply with readers, particularly Southern women, and spark conversations about historical injustices and female agency.
Quotes
"If you kick me when I'm down, I'm going to come out of that a little bit wiser and a little bit braver."
"You cannot write about Mississippi and certainly not in the 1930s without talking about race, without talking about discrimination and the absurdities of of some of the rules that that were in existence."
"This time it was me in a room with all those readers and all those critics in that room staring me down."
"Sometimes you can't whip the hope out of somebody. Genuine hope is powerful."
"I don't give up easily. I got to say, I I'm really stubborn."
"It actually, I think, left me with less judgement of women's choices to do what they need to do until they can do what they actually want to do."
"It's hard to think about telling an artist, 'No, no. That's not allowed. You can't create that.'"
"Sometimes just making a decision is just as good as making the, you know, perfectly exact right decision."
"I wanted the reader to feel motivated to protect women's rights. We can't afford to lose any more ground than we already have."
Q&A
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