Genét Simone On The 5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer | by Kristin Marquet | Authority Magazine | Nov, 2025

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?

My life seems to be a progression of always looking to the West. I was born at Fort Meade, Maryland in the early 1960s. My family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin when I was a little girl, then to Vail, Colorado, when I was eleven years old. I loved the Colorado Rockies and still consider them “home.” That’s when I started writing. A loner, my journal and I spent a lot of time together among the Aspen groves and evergreen trees, the peaceful streams and 14,000-foot peaks covered in snow. My college years took me to Western Washington University in Bellingham, where I graduated with a degree in Education. I got hired to teach English in Shishmaref, Alaska, a small Iñuit village on the edge of the Chukchi sea. My memoir, “Teaching in the Dark,” chronicles the amazing experiences I had there. Soon after, I moved to Juneau and worked mostly government jobs until the itch for graduate school sent me to Mankato, Minnesota, for a Master’s Degree in Women’s Studies, and then Boulder, Colorado, for a PhD in Education. My dissertation research happened to be near Seattle, so I moved once more in 2002 to finish my research and begin a 15-year tenure with my alma mater as an adjunct faculty member and then Academic Program Director in Teacher Education. By then, I had published a lot of conference papers and several articles for academic journals and edited books. I retired form WWU in 2017, took a one-year break, and returned to teaching high school in 2019. And — get this — my school is half a mile away from where I lived during my initial student teaching forty years ago. That’s what I call coming “full circle.”

Can you share the most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your career?

There is one place that changed my life as a writer and teacher: Shishmaref, Alaska. Shishmaref sits on one of the barrier islands that protects sixty-some miles of Seward Peninsula’s northwest side; it’s thirty miles south of the Arctic Circle. I didn’t know it at the time, but being a young teacher in an Iñuit culture impacted the trajectory of my entire professional career and outlook on life in general. I learned about the strength of community and the power of a landscape to open one’s heart and mind. My journal writing reached new heights, because there was little else to do. I also learned about the inequalities inherent in the education system and became much more aware of social justice issues and my role as a white person to use my position of privilege to help “right” things that are wrong.

What was the biggest challenge you faced in your journey to becoming a writer? How did you overcome it? Can you share a story about that that other aspiring writers can learn from?

While I’d like to put marketing my memoir at the top of the list, I think the biggest challenge was writing a book that people would find interesting. Memoirs are intensely personal, so figuring out what to write that was meaningful to strangers proved my biggest hurdle. I also struggled early on with the arc of my story. I had a bunch of seemingly disconnected tales of my experiences, and it took a few writing retreats for me to find the thread holding them together. I had to keep asking, “Why am I telling this story?” I felt paralyzed at times, afraid to share my vulnerabilities and foibles. That book was my baby, and I worried that people wouldn’t say nice things about it. Like, “Oh what a cute baby!” to my face, but then make gagging noises as soon as they turned away. My worries were quickly put to rest when I started reading chapters to friends and family. It was such a strange feeling, having people sit quietly and listening to my words. But then they would laugh as I read something I also thought was funny. During more tender moments, I’d glance up and see tears in their eyes. That’s when I knew I was on the right path. My stories made an impression on others. Writing is such a solitary venture, so it’s important to share your writing with people who will honor you, even when you’re raw.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I wouldn’t call this a mistake, per se, and it wasn’t funny at the time, but when I started writing my memoir, my PC nearly died; it grew slow and finicky. People kept telling me how “intuitive” Macintosh computers were — “You’ll love it!” they said. So, I purchased a MacBook Air. Within a few days of less-than-intuitive fumbling, I thought I’d lost my entire manuscript. I’d written dozens of stories by then, and thinking I was saving them properly. But one day I turned on my laptop and everything was gone! I did all kinds of searches, but it seemed that the manuscript goblins had stolen everything. It was terrifying.

My total freak-out was calmed by a friend who knew more about Macintosh computers. “You saved it in the cloud,” she said.

“The what?”

The cloud was a new thing in Computer Land, and I had no idea that that’s where my documents were floating up to. The lesson I learned was to save incessantly, put a date on every piece of writing, and keep a log — like a table of contents — on a piece of paper. I also save my work on a flash drive and carry it with me. Like my ChapStick, that flash drive is never far from reach.

In your opinion, were you a “natural born writer” or did you develop that aptitude later on? Can you explain what you mean?

I’ve been told that I’m a natural born writer. My high school Civics teacher was the first to acknowledge my talent. He was a rather grumpy old man who believed that all teenagers were brats. But he pulled me aside one day and held out a paper I’d written for his class. “Young lady, this is perhaps the best paper I’ve ever read. It’s college level work.” That compliment, especially from him, gave me confidence. But it was my high School English teacher who took the time to teach me how to use punctuation, word choice, and sentence variation to carry a story along and bring readers into a scene. She taught me a love for “writer’s craft.” So, I think I have some natural skill, but I plan to write a novel in the near future, and I will certainly take some classes to learn the nuances of that genre. I’m looking forward to working with others and spending a lot of time in coffee shops, reading and writing to my heart’s content.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I have a few projects in motion, like different horses running around a racetrack. In the lead is a handbook for teachers based on a formula that I’ve been working with for the past several years, one that has helped me stay in the teaching profession every time I feel like quitting. Like it’s doing for me, I hope the book will help other teachers stay in the profession they love. I also plan to do speaking engagements and workshops, and will create a short online course.

In second place on my racetrack is a sequel to my memoir that will include stories about the transformative, light-hearted, “moving moments” I’ve experienced as a teacher — the ones that illustrate the power of “making a difference” in students’ lives. I’ll invite other teachers to share their stories, too, and likely start that project as an audio blog, followed by a book.

The last two horses trotting around the track include a children’s book series about the adorable husky dog I had in Alaska, and an historical fiction set in the late 1800s that involves a particular game, indentured servants at a sugar plantation, a runaway slave girl, and the Alaska Goldrush! I am excited to write in a different genre — doing the research and having freedom to make things up. I want to explore trust, fallibility, and how major events have impacted people’s lives and vice versa. I think it will be a really challenging and rewarding project.

Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience, what are the “5 Things You Need To Be A Successful Author or Writer”? Please share a story or example for each.

1 . Writing May Feel Solitary, but It’s a Group Event

Life is unpredictable and messy. As such, it’s super important to create mutual agreements with family and close friends so they can be co-creators in carving out the time and space for you to disappear for stretches of time — no interruptions. Get ahead of potential tug-o-wars by clarifying your expectations and needs. “Life” will always pull you toward the dishes, the laundry, getting the kids to school or events, spending time to be with your significant other. The list is as long as you allow it to be. As a writer, you MUST initiate mutual contracts and adjust them as needed. The bottom line: Protect your writing time!

2. Have Fun

That said, when your family and friends tell you “you need to have some fun,” remind them that writing is fun! Or, at least, your kind of fun. But every now and then, give yourself permission to chill out. Sit with your bare feet in the grass. Meditate. Goof off with an instrument. Practice archery or go skiing. Go to a ball game or on a picnic. Rest your brain and body. Most cultural creatives — the artists, scientists, and inventors — know how to chill out. Follow their lead.

3 . Experiment with different management systems

Writing is basically taking ideas and organizing them according to what’s going on inside your noggin. And that’s rarely a linear affair. You have to keep experimenting with different systems for capturing ideas, researching topics, and writing in general. For ideas, I’ve used Endnote and a small notebook that goes with me everywhere. Sometimes I take a picture of something and dictate an idea into my iPhone. Then I schedule time to get those notes into my computer for future writing.

Management systems for research and writing must include crafty ways for helping you stay focused, too. Keep it simple! Think of research and writing like assembling a puzzle, where you focus on finding that one piece with the red corner or the straight line. Anything not matching that criteria is a piece you set aside. I’ve used spiral-bound index cards to help me stay focused during research and writing (I write the topic on a card and place it next to whatever beverage I’m consuming). I’ve also used different writing programs — Scrivener when writing my memoir and Microsoft Word for current projects that have a clear outline. Regardless of the program, save each writing segment with the date so you’re always working with the latest version. And don’t forget that flash drive!

4. Study good writing

When reading the kinds of books you wished you’d written, study the author’s writing craft. Take time to analyze how they’ve brought you into a scene. Also, consider studying genres you might not naturally gravitate toward. Look at word selections and sentence cadences. Listen to those same books on Audible. Copy verbatim the writing of others. Handwrite segments or entire chapters. Doing this will “give you an ear and an eye” into the author’s mind, which can then help you feel your way through the thicket of your own writing. When you least expect it, you’ll find that right words and sentence formations; they’ll show up when you need them. It’s quite the rush when words start to write themselves.

5. Have faith in yourself

Respect yourself as a worthy writer and the processes you need to follow. To create something worth reading, something you are proud of, you have to be willing to take yourself into the dimly-lit writing caves and grope along. You have to be okay with not-knowing. Writing is a mysterious craft, filled with unexpected (and exhilarating) flashes of insight, followed by the doldrums of blankness and confusion about which path to follow. One word can elude you for days. But if you keep working and have faith in yourself as a wonderful creative person, that word will show up eventually, because you are worthy of receiving it. So be patient with yourself. Find your own rhythm and honor it. Then, get ready for it to change! You are human and perhaps, like me, inconsistent when stressed. I used to be a night owl, now I’m more of an early bird. I also relish renting cabins by the ocean to get large segments of writing done — whatever it takes. When my Muse knocks on the door, I don’t say, “Sorry, come back tomorrow.” She’s too precious for me to delay her greeting. Like a lover, I open the door and pull her in. She has faith in me, so it would be rude not to answer.

What is the one habit you believe contributed the most to you becoming a great writer? (i.e. perseverance, discipline, play, craft study). Can you share a story or example?

One habit I’ve been improving is slowing down my reading and paying attention to words, phrases, and sentence formations of great writers. When a passage captures me — when I deeply feel a scene or an emotion — I stop and ask, “Wait a minute, how did the author do that?” I’m in the middle of reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead and finding so many scenes that stop me in my tracks. There’s one in particular where Kingsolver wrote a full sentence, then a fragment, then a stream of thoughts that my English teacher might have marked with red pen (“Oops! Run-on sentence!”) — but that page really grabbed my heart. So, with conventions, make them work for you. You don’t have to follow the rules.

Which literature do you draw inspiration from? Why?

I am inspired by two kinds of books: Nonfiction “how to” books and historical fiction. The “how to” books inspire me to become a better version of myself every day. I am a teacher, so I gravitate towards reading about ways I can improve my intra- and interpersonal skills and then teaching those to my students. I want all of us to take responsibility for our lives. It’s awesome and fun! I also don’t worry anymore if a “how to” stops helping me. I just say to myself, “Well, that fizzled!” Then I tweak that system or I look for something else and am simply grateful for the experience.

Historical fiction books inspire me because they teach me about events and people in our past who influenced the way things are, for better or worse. When I was in middle and high school, I hated history. The stories I was forced to read were so one-sided: all men, usually white men. I felt robbed of the real drama between people as they made life-altering decisions. I was constantly raising my hand. “Where are the women? Where are the children?” I wanted to know what was happening with them. So, I love reading historical fiction that brings those events and eras to life — when ordinary people did extraordinary things. They inspire me to do what I can with what I have, to make the world a better place.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I’d like to change the way we “do school.” It has worked for only a small percentage of children, and things seem to be getting worse. The history of school in the United States is varied and complex. The institution has existed for different purposes and different groups of people. In a word, it has never been equitable. I’d like to work with others to change that.

One fascinating little book on this subject is Neil Postman’s “The End of Education,” wherein he asks, “What is the purpose of education?” Historically, the answer has been that schools are the panacea for all of the world’s problems. Schools respond to what’s happening. I think I more life-giving approach would be to make schools a driving force for being better stewards of the earth and its inhabitants.

I am a Career and Technical Education teacher, pressed to teach “21st Century Skills, like critical thinking, compassion, communication, and a bunch of other “C’s”. Yet, I am stuck in a system that offers only minimal time and resources for doing so. Schools were built based on the early 1900s factory model, with bells going off every hour, signaling a change in shifts. That means that students have to unnaturally change their focus to follow suit! It’s ridiculous. They feel robbed of their education and unprepared for what lies ahead. We cannot continue this way; the world is moving too fast.

So, I’d like to work with other like-minded people to change how we “do school” — to elevate the profession and give teachers fewer students and the necessary time to prepare and teach and provide meaningful feedback in their area of expertise. That’s why most people go into teaching, to “make a difference” in children’s lives. Well, we need to create the space for them to sustain that dream by restructuring school to be more like an Apple store: where children learn the basics and then move to other tables to learn what they are ready to learn next. In this way, graduation would be based on meeting competencies according to student needs and abilities, not seat time and credit hours.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

I would love to hear from readers about what I’ve shared here or my current projects. The best place to get updates and stay in touch is through my website: https://genetsimone.com

Thank you so much for this. This was very inspiring!