Emily in France 🇫🇷 Why Write?
What keeps making me put pen to paper
“That is the question that has made me a writer: always that deep desire to know what it feels like to be a different person.”
I read this recently in Elizabeth Strout’s Lucy by the Sea, and it got me thinking about what my own question is. Why, I asked myself, do I write?
Because I always have, some small voice within me says, and part of me knows that this is both the most essential reason and not reason enough. Because I can't imagine doing anything else. A better reason? Maybe, maybe not.
But if I dig a bit deeper, I think I can find my answer, imperfect and yet the truest one I've got.
Why do I write?
To make sense of my own emotions, my actions, my experiences.
To take a glimmer of something I find beautiful, or ugly, or intriguing, and zoom in on it, to see how it works, or to know it more deeply.
To take ephemera – an experience, a moment, insolite and unique – and inscribe it forever within the structure of a story.
To render the world. Not the whole world, mind… just mine. To render that which I find beautiful, or so normal I can barely see it, and then to look at it from the outside, to see how it appears when it’s separate from me.
This is what pushes me to write, but of course, such writing could exist in a vacuum: a journal I never showed anyone else, short stories typed up in Word Documents that live and die on my desktop. The impulse to write is separate from the impulse to share, whether it’s at spoken word events or workshops or even publishing. And that motivation, while linked to the original impulse to write, is, of course, unique.
Sharing writing seems to me to either be rooted in hubris or a desire for connection, and I humbly hope mine comes from the latter. I publish because of a desire to forge a connection through that which inspired that initial flicker: those moments, feelings, visions (which despite my first instinct, I know not to be unique). I publish to share it all, this wealth of intangible stuff, with others, strangers, people I’ve never even seen or met. To see, perhaps, if my reality resonates with that of anyone else. (Not that I would necessarily know, but isn't that the best part?)
The long and short of it, I suppose, is that I write to know myself better, and I publish on the offchance that knowing myself better could, potentially, help someone else to better know themselves or someone they love.
How about you, reader? If you write, why do you do it? And why do you share?
Cheese of the Week
I often preface my food tours and cheese tastings with the factoid that France is home to over 1,000 – and some say closer to 2,000 – cheeses. What I don't always say right off the bat is that many of these cheeses are regional specialties made by just one producer, and a great number of them are goat cheeses. This is one of them, a goat’s milk tomme from Normandy, more specifically at the weekly market in Fleury. It doesn't have a name except tomme de chèvre, and I don't expect to find it again, but it was smooth and lactic with just the faintest goaty funk – delicious while it lasted.
To discover more of my favorite cheeses, be sure to follow me on Instagram @emily_in_france, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and tune into the Terroir Podcast, where Caroline Conner and I delve into France's cheese, wine, and more one region at a time.
What I’m Eating
There is so much to love about Au Petit Panisse, from the attentive service to the cozy dining room to the creative flavor combos. The wine list skews ultra natural, and the menu is short-and-sweet, with just six appetizers and three mains on offer. More on the blog.
What I’m Doing
1. Our next TERRE/MER retreat is on the books! Join us for cooking, ceramics, and yoga overlooking the Mediterranean from April 11 to 14. Book now to secure yoru spot!
2. Signups for the next edition of the Nantes Writers’ Workshop are open! In the meantime, be sure to sign up for our newsletter to keep those creative juices a-flowing.
Where I’m Going
1. To the Red Wheelbarrow, where I’ll be reading alongside Kate Gavino from the first edition of Version Originale, a brand-new bilingual literary journal. Join us on Sunday at 11am if you can!
2. To Fairway, to pick up some American cheese (yep, for real) to bring back to France. (Find out which ones are my faves here.)
3. To Tal, for one more bagel before I head back to Paris! (Weather permitting…)
What I'm Writing
1. After a failed attempt in 2015, a new “fait maison” (homemade) label is being introduced as compulsory for restaurants in France. I explain what this means for France Today.
2. You'll never make better meatballs than with this dry-aged beef recipe paired with an ultra-rich four-cheese blend. For InsideHook.
3. From the archives: Six tips for perfect French onion soup from pros in Paris. For Food52.
What I'm Reading
1. This so-not-Buzzfeed approach to where you should travel depending on your favorite color. In CN Traveler.
2. This essay about one writer’s choice to drop her corporate job to become a crossing guard. It’s definitely got me thinking… In Slate.
3. This story that totally has me considering leaving France behind for Maine. In Culture.
A bientôt !