Elizabeth Strout on the Discipline of Curiosity

Years ago, I heard Elizabeth Strout speak at a literary event and got a moment to talk with her while she was signing books after her presentation. Here’s how the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Olive Kitteridge distills her craft, drawn from her own words and my notes from that day.

Stick With It, No Matter What
Strout’s mantra is persistence. “I never stop writing,” she said, even when the words feel wrong, because “work gets done if you simply do it.” She urges writers to read voraciously, write daily, and push past rejection. Her own path—honing her craft through years of quiet effort before Olive Kitteridge’s success—proves that stubbornness can outlast doubt.

Build Stories Brick by Brick
Strout shuns linear outlines, favoring vivid scenes that pulse with emotion. “I never write anything from beginning to end. ”I learned to write in scenes. After a while the scenes with heartbeats begin to form a kind of story.” These fragments, born from what presses on her heart, coalesce into narratives over time, like puzzles solved in hindsight. Her linked stories in Olive Kitteridge reflect this mosaic-like craft.

Live in Someone Else’s Skin
Curiosity about others’ inner lives drives Strout’s characters. “I’m so interested in the fact that we really don’t know anybody." It allows the imagination to take over.

Empathy crafts characters so real they seem to breathe, from Olive’s gruff complexity to Lucy Barton’s quiet resilience. Strout channels her own experiences to inhabit their worlds, making them unforgettable.

To dive deeper into her world, check out her profile on The Booker Prizes site: https://thebookerprizes.com/author/elizabeth-strout.