How To Write Like Beth Comstock, GE Executive and Author of Imagine It Forward
Every few weeks I go behind the scenes with a different author to explore the way they work and write. This month it was my pleasure to interview Beth Comstock, formerly the Vice Chair of General Electric and one of the smartest business thinkers I know. She and I are both Nancy Drew fans who dislike wire-bound notebooks.
Comstock’s new book, Imagine It Forward: Courage, Creativity, and the Power of Change, launched to critical acclaim. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re a creative professional, an executive, or an aspiring leader.
(To get future author behind-the-scenes and other explorations of mine, check out my monthly Snow Report here.)
Without further ado, here’s how Beth Comstock writes:
Q: What’s your process for putting together a big writing project like IMAGINE IT FORWARD?
BC: I’m pretty disciplined when it comes to tackling a big project. For my book, Imagine It Forward, I quickly got into a rhythm of setting aside time to write, time to collaborate and time to plan with the publishing team.
For me the hardest thing was getting an outline/proposal because I had so many ideas that I was too close to. I had a good collaborator (Tahl Raz) as I had a job at the time. He’s co-written a number of books proved very helpful in synthesizing and organizing my jumbled mess of thoughts.
Q: How did you use the principles of the book, if applicable, during the process of writing it?
BC: Since my book is about change and transformation, my organizing principle was that I wanted to share my personal journey of change — warts and all — plus offer lessons learned and a set of challenges to push the reader toward their own small steps of change. One core theme is that of giving yourself permission to take a risk. So I had to give myself permission to share deeply personal stories — making and risking IIF as a different kind of business book.
Q: What rituals, if any, do you have as a writer?
BC: I get up very early every morning (5 am) and write most mornings to get in touch with my intuitive mind, make sense of dreams and generally get going. On the days I don’t do this, I find my writing is more distant.
Q: What’s your writing toolkit?
BC: High school composition books (taped, not wired), Bravo Pilot black pen, colored pencils for illustration, and a MacBook Pro. I toggle between writing by hand for more creative work and computer for editing.
Q: Where do you go for inspiration?
BC: Discovery. Taking a walk in whatever location I’m in — city or nature — helps my brain “dual process.” I’m clearing my brain, getting new stimulation and ruminating at once.
Q: What’s your favorite thing you’ve ever read in your life?
BC: This one is hard — I love to read, and I fall in love with most everything, at least until the next book. It’s a toss up between Patrick White’s The Vivisectorand Anne Carson’s The Autobiography of Red. I loved Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Flaubert’s Madame Bovary as a teenager. Right now, I’m smitten with The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben — a lovely lesson on how plants communicate.
Q: What’s the first book you remember reading?
BC: Nancy Drew mysteries from the Winchester (VA) Public Library. I wanted to be a detective for a while after that.
Q: What’s your best piece of advice for writers?
BC: Just start. There’s no perfect sentence. It’s rarely as good on the page as it is in your head Get the thought out there and then worry about refining it later.
Q: What do you want written on your tombstone?
BC: Curiosity & kindness lived and loved here.
