Memoir often begins where certainty ends, and that is exactly where Abigail Thomas feels most alive on the page. In this thoughtful conversation between friends, Estelle Erasmus and Abigail explore what it means to write through uncertainty, follow curiosity, and let small surprising moments become the heart of a story.
This episode is for writers who crave honesty on the page, who wrestle with self-doubt, and who want practical ways to turn ordinary moments and uncomfortable memories into powerful stories.
In This Episode:
How Abby's writing process starts with curiosity rather than structure [5:42]
Why writing for yourself first can quiet doubt and deepen authenticity [10:42]
The surprising moments that reshape a memoir while you're writing it [14:08]
What aging and memory loss have taught Abby about storytelling [16:24]
Estelle's own revelations while drafting her memoir [19:57]
A simple exercise to unlock vulnerable, unexpected material [20:58]
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dWoVEinON7c
About Abigail Thomas
Abigail Thomas has four children,12 grandchildren, two great grandchildren, eleven books, and a high school education. She was asked to leave Bryn Mawr freshman year when she told the Dean she was pregnant, and she never went back. She had always wanted to be a writer, but for a long time the closest she came was bopping around her kitchen to Paperback Writer, by the Beatles. When she was forty-eight, after an interesting adventure, when she got home, she left her ego outside, and began to write a story. It didn't work, but instead of crumpling it up saying "who do you think you are?" sat in a different chair, and another, and at the end of the afternoon, she had written a story. It was published in the Columbia Journal of Poetry and Prose. She had learned you have to keep at it. Writing is work of the best kind.
She has written two short story collections, one novel and four works of non-fiction, including the memoirs Safekeeping; A Three Dog Life; What Comes Next and How to Like It; and a book about writing, Thinking about Memoir.
Still Life at Eighty: The Next Interesting Thing is her latest memoir, published by Scribners in November 2024.
Connect with Abigail Thomas:
Substack Abigail Thomas/What Comes Next?: https://abigailthomas.substack.com
Estelle's prior Episodes with Abby
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#83
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About Estelle
Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. A contributing editor for Writer's Digest and adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.
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