Author Freya North discusses trusting oneself and the importance of emotional well-being. They also talk about writing processes, navigating a breakdown, workplace cruelty, and the therapeutic nature of swearing. Additionally, they reflect on their experiences with physical challenges, healing after being ghosted, and their upcoming novel release.
Prioritizing emotional well-being is as important as physical health.
Trusting the creative process can lead to magical and unexpected story development.
Overcoming writer's block requires perseverance, seeking help, and facing fears.
Deep dives
Realizing the importance of emotional well-being
Author Freya North discusses her realization that she needed to prioritize her emotional well-being alongside her physical health. She shares her experience of undergoing counseling and therapy to access and address her emotions, highlighting the significance of understanding one's internal feelings and thoughts. This awareness motivated her to take care of her emotional self in the same way she cared for her physical health.
Writing process and themes in Freya North's novels
Freya North shares her approach to writing novels, emphasizing that she starts with characters and asks 'what if' to generate ideas. She doesn't plan or focus on specific issue-driven themes at the beginning. Instead, themes such as shame, loneliness, belonging, identity, and lying emerge naturally as the story unfolds. By trusting her creative process and letting ideas come to her, she believes that stories can be magical and take shape in unexpected ways.
Overcoming writer's block and embracing creativity
Freya North opens up about her experience with writer's block and its impact on her mental health. She describes the fear and uncertainty she faced when her creativity seemed blocked, affecting her ability to write. Overcoming this block required perseverance, seeking help from professionals, and finding the courage to face her fears and confront the challenge head-on. Eventually, she found her way back to writing and rediscovered the joy and magic of creativity.
Overcoming Emotional Trauma and Physical Pain
The podcast episode discusses the speaker's experience of being ghosted and the impact it had on their self-esteem. They also talk about the connection between their emotional trauma and a physical manifestation of back problems, which required surgery. The speaker shares their journey of healing through therapy, antidepressants, and engaging in physical activities like cycling.
The Healing Power of Writing and Finding Calm
The podcast episode highlights the speaker's struggle to write during their recovery. They then discover the healing power of writing and guiding others in creative writing, which brings them joy. The speaker describes how writing Little Wing during lockdown became a transformative and healing experience. They also discuss the importance of setting boundaries and making good choices in their personal and creative life.
It’s important to take time to figure out how to trust your own opinions of yourself rather than believing other peoples’ opinions of you. This is something author Freya North has been meditating on recently.
In this chat, she and Fearne talk about how many of us are used to functioning at an extremely high level of stress without realising we’re pushing ourselves to breaking point, and Freya explains why she now gives as much attention to her emotional self as her physical self.
Freya’s 15th novel, Little Wing, is published on 20th January by Welbeck, and is available in hardback or ebook.