What do you do when you’re not writing?

I procrastinate wisely and then I share it all with you…

No writer in their right mind writes all day. I hear some writers like to go for long walks, I like to stay right here at home, buried under my books, where I know I’m the most useful version of myself to us all.

I used to live in New York. Anyone that knew me then can attest that I was never home. I was one of those people with a bottle of sparkling water in the fridge and maybe a bag of chips. In fact, it was my job not to be home (you can read more about that here). When I wasn’t at the office from eight to eight researching stuff on my computer, I had to be out and about meeting people, going to art openings, lectures, book launches, screenings, fashion shows, beauty appointments, parties, and press dinners. I was that girl that kept shoes under her desk, vitamins in the drawer, eyebrow gel next to the office plant. I think even my checkbook lived at the office. It really felt like home.

Fast forward to today when I live in Paris, I’m married with child, and I don’t work at an office anymore. I’m writing a book, and as it turns out I spend all my time at home. The same people from New York can probably attest to this too because they never see me (and yes, many of them have moved to Paris). In the beginning staying home wasn’t easy. The part of me folding fitted sheets at eleven o’clock in the morning thought I was going to rage against this house. Now I don’t fold sheets anymore. As it turns out, if you do what you like to do it’s nice to be home. The only thing that’s really different now is that I go grocery shopping several times a week, I even buy fresh fruit.

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If finishing the book is my main objective and I’m sitting at home doing other things, I consider myself to be stalling. I do spend time writing chronicles and doing some in-depth reading, to me that counts as writing my book, but all the other research really is procrastination at its finest. I can’t help it, it’s a part of me, I need to know what people are saying and doing. After all, it was this exact curiosity that provided me with that sparkling water and bag of chips for years on end, it would be strange to abandon it now. What’s more, I love discovering new things and sharing it with people.

For a long time I felt that writing my book and being an editor were at war with each other, doing both in parallel has brought me peace.

Rue de Chabrol is a weekly newsletter where I share a curated version of my doom scroll, so that you can doom scroll a little bit less and use your time to do those things that bring you pleasure (whatever that is really). I get into the nitty gritty to find you the gold.

What do I research?

#1. I sift through the news to find articles, essays, and short stories I want to read. I keep bookmarked folders on my browser that I rummage through every day.

#2. I visit libraries and look through books to find photos I’ve never seen. When I need a break, I go to several libraries in Paris to look at monographs. I have a big image archive on my computer from these sessions.

#3. I supplement my work with readings, lectures, YouTube videos, and essays. I like to study. I enjoy picking an author and diving deep into their world. I’ve done it with Jorge Luis Borges, Virginia Woolf, Dante, Clarice Lispector, and now I’m doing it with Ralph Waldo Emerson. This means I read everything around what they wrote, I watch every public lecture, research essays, articles, papers, I read their biographies (and of course all their work) until I have a proper understanding for them and their work.

#4. I round-up design auctions to find objects I think are worth buying. I’ve been going to flea markets since I was a teenager. I love finding things. At first I went for the clothes, now I go for furniture and objects. I’m on the auction websites all the time.

And when I’m not researching?

If it’s the morning I’m probably reading something contemporary.
If it’s the evening I read to my daughter.

If it’s the weekend I’m listening to whatever my husband is playing.

If it’s late at night I’m watching a movie.

And when do I see other people?

When I want to connect with people, find out what they’re into, and know what they’re thinking about I invite them over to Rue de Chabrol or we just go ahead and have a brief conversation.