The hardest paragraph I've ever written, and how to make yours easier

When I heard my piece was going to be in The Best Women’s Travel Writing Anthology, I had just that day to get them everything they needed.

As I looked at my bio, I paused. I specifically remember looking at the bios of the writers in the edition I read pre-covid. I felt like if I were in a book like that, it would mean I’ve really made it.

And you know, I still kind of feel that way.

My bio looks just like those others did. My life may look perfect to someone just reading everything I’ve done cropped down to a 3” rectangle of text.

Paulette Perhach is a former Peace Corps Volunteer and regular contributor to The New York Times. Her work has previously appeared in Vox, Elle, The Washington Post, Slate, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Marie Claire, Yoga Journal, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Hobart, and Vice. Her book, Welcome to the Writer’s Life, was published in 2018 by Sasquatch Books, part of the Penguin Random House publishing family, and selected as one of Poets & Writers’ Best Books for Writers. She is the founder of Powerhouse Writers, which helps non-fiction writers create their best work and get it published at a national level. She lives in New York. You can find her at www.pauletteperhach.com.

I have to admit, it’s an impressive bio. But only I will ever know how much work it took. How much failure. How many rejection letters. How many re-starts. My bio is the hardest paragraph I’ve ever had to write. Only you will know what it took to get where you’re going. You’re creating a movie only you can truly watch. 

As a writing coach, I have the pleasure and honor of peeking into the writing lives of others. I do get to see a bit of their frustration, and I get to enjoy their proud smiles when they push past it. We can wave to each other in the boats we each captain. 

The ups, the downs, the why-didn’t-I-just-go-for-middle-managements — holy hell it’s a lot. But it’s alive, and I know I’ll be able to look back on my life and say I did not just exist, damn it. I lived.

In my coaching, I don’t just help people write, and write better. I am in the Deathbed Regret Prevention Business. That’s why the Finishing School teaches writers how to do more with their work, write another line in their bio, and get that next “F-yeah!” moment they’ve been craving.