Writer and Artist Beth Uznis Johnson
This week’s Writer Wednesday is writer, editor and artist Beth Uznis Johnson from Canton, Michigan! Beth enjoys both fiction and non-fiction writing and has had her work featured in a variety of publications, including Story Quarterly, Broad Street, Massachusetts Review and Gargoyle. She is set to release her novel “Coming Clean” in early 2024! Learn more about her below!
What is your favorite part of the writing process?
My favorite part of writing is the first draft, when the story is flowing onto the page from seemingly nowhere. I tend to write in bursts of a few thousand words at a time and love getting lost in it. I put my headphones on and go. For me, drafting is wildly fun. Editing requires much more patience.
What does your writing workspace look like?
I don’t have a dedicated workspace. Sometimes it’s the kitchen table. Sometimes the dining room table. Sometimes the bean bag chair tossed in a sunny spot. Sometimes the Biggby on Ford Road. Sometimes the McDonald’s on Plymouth Road. I love chores like taking the car in for service so I can write at the dealership and drink free coffee.
What writing projects are you currently working on?
My novel, “Coming Clean”, is slated to be released by Regal House Publishing in early 2024. It’s the story of a self-employed cleaning lady who agrees to pose for her friend’s provocative photography project — in the homes she cleans. While I wait, I recently completed a revision of a new novel called “Step Back Joanna” about an aspiring social worker trying to build a life in Chicago despite the OCD tendencies she was punished for as a child.
What inspired you to start writing the novel you’re currently working on?
I have struggled with some issues on the OCD spectrum and get frustrated when people suggest it’s as easy as simply stopping the behavior. I wanted to write a character who manages to cope on her own with serious obsessive compulsive difficulties with mixed success. Joanna decides the solution is to cover up the mirrors in her apartment with colorful paper so she can’t see herself. Then she covers the mirror at work. When her much-younger brother shows up at her apartment needing help for the same symptoms, Joanna is forced to help him (and herself) in a more serious manner.
What is your favorite non-writing hobby?
I collect rocks and minerals from Lake Michigan, sort them by color (or texture, shape, size, etc.) and mount them in shadow boxes. I sell them on Etsy and sometimes in shops on the west side of the state. My shop is called Stoned. I basically make boxes of rocks.
What is your favorite piece of writing advice?
I had the opportunity to study with Elizabeth Strout, who always said “write to the ache.” It really resonated. If you’re emotionally invested in your characters and what’s happening on the page, it comes across to the reader. People want to feel something when they read.
Follow Beth on Instagram at @buzjohn and learn more about her at bethujohnson.com.