Savoir presents a new edition: MHSTUDIOS EXPLORERS and our first guest is Luanda Vieira . The journalist and podcaster shared with us the writing process of her first book, written in a Mission Notebook.
It took me a long time to become a free woman. I didn't say what I felt, I didn't allow myself to be vulnerable, I was afraid to take a stand. The truth is that I always wanted to please people without realizing that what really pleases is spontaneity, whatever it may be. Mine is not flashy, although it is expansive. Today, all of this is reflected in my writing, the part of my profession that I care about the most. By the way, my name is Luanda Vieira, I'm 36 years old and I work as a journalist, content creator and, soon, I will add writer to my resume.
I have a deep love for words; an unquestionable respect. That is precisely why I feel them trapped on the screen; and poetically free on paper. So I decided to write my book by hand in the middle of the process because, above all, I also want this story to be truly light and free in the world, although hard. I am writing an autofiction about courage: the courage to keep going, the courage to persist, the courage to give up. You have to have courage, above all, not to stop dreaming.
My hand has always felt lighter when the pencil touches the paper; almost like the automatic way words come out of our mouths in a session of analysis or in a bar conversation. Paper helps me to keep my reasoning flowing, while the blank screen of the computer stops me. Even so, writing by hand was not my first option because I was worried about how much time this writing could take, without realizing that I was more still looking at the screen than actually producing. For me, the computer works as something that should already be finished, so I look for the perfect word and formulate sentences as if they were absolute. It is a tedious process, especially for those who, like me, like to enjoy the journey. You have to feel the wind blowing on your face, notice who is coming from the side, record more stories to tell. Paper allows me this irregularity that I have always sought in life. And because it is so free, it is spontaneous. By now you must have realized that I have a pact with my freedom.
The desire to test this format in the production of my book came to me on the way back home after watching the film The Room Next Door, by Almodóvar. This is far from being a spoiler, but the two main characters are journalists and one of them is a writer. It was impossible not to identify with them. I saw myself there on the screen, but throughout the story I realized that they kept their memories of their profession in handwritten notebooks. There was so much interesting material that it could all be turned into a book later. Bingo! Lying in bed, yes, lying down, I wrote one of the parts that I consider most important of the narrative that I am building. I had left it for last because I put so much pressure on this moment that I got stuck; and the paper unblocked me. It was then that I decided that everything else would be like that too. In two months I wrote more pages than I had written in 1 year. I see contact with paper as a special and unique connection. It has feeling, it is not robotic.
Indirectly, everything was moving towards this solution, since I have a collection of notebooks. Each one has its function: one to write down memories from my travels; another to keep my daily reflections (maybe it could later become another book or a text for my newsletter, “Let’s talk about love?”); then there’s the one where I write down 3 things that made me happy that day; and finally, the one I bought to record my ideas for the book. Now it’s my manuscript.
It has scribbles, dates of thoughts, ideas for the next chapters and the original text. It's beautiful. I carry it everywhere as if I were carrying something very valuable - and it is. In this process I found the perfect balance to deliver the best I can: the notebook that gives me wings; the computer that helps me finish the flight.
When the time comes, I'll be waiting for you at the bookstore!
