L to R: Story Terrace founder, Rutger Bruining; Story Terrace customer, Ichko Gombodorj; Story Terrace writer, Rebecca Coxon; Story Terrace UK Editor, Emily McCracken
Writer Profile: Rebecca Coxon
Every Story Terrace client is integral to the creation of each book so, then, are their writers – the individual that takes the time to listen to the stories and weave them together so that they may be shared and enjoyed by those lucky enough to read them. In our Writer Profile posts we put a spotlight on the talented writers who use their unique skills to bring out the stories of other people’s lives in a beautiful and meaningful way. In this Writer Profile, we spoke with Story Terrace writer Rebecca Coxon about her passion for writing and why she’s chosen to use her talent to help other people find their voice.
Is there a specific moment you can recall when you realised you wanted to pursue writing as more than a hobby? Or any memories of you discovering your passion for writing when you were a young student in school?
At school I remember yearning for my creative writing assignments to be good enough to read out loud by the teacher as an example to the rest of the class, that was always an aspiration for me. It happened a few times and my parents printed out copies of my stories, some of which they have kept to this day – over ten years later! They were often darker and heavier than other students’ stories; dealing with regret, trauma and parenthood, for example, which was probably quite unusual for a 12 year old! I really enjoyed the freedom and imagination that words afforded me compared to other subjects. I studied English at A-level and University; it was an obvious choice for me because I enjoyed learning about language and the creative writing aspects so much (I’m still working on finishing all the novels I was supposed to read as homework!)
What types of writing projects do you look for?
I look for human stories that have the potential to provoke positive social change. I enjoy telling stories that help to change people’s minds about subjects through the experiences of someone representative of a group that is misunderstood. Addressing a wider issue through personal stories is a powerful thing. There are debilitating stigmas still existing surrounding issues such as mental illness, immigration, feminism and class-divide. If it’s possible to expand a few minds and encourage a more equal and respectful society through the telling of individual stories that act like a microscope and reveal a bigger picture, then that is certainly something worth doing.
You also work in documentary film-making telling people’s stories – what do you enjoy most about helping people tell their stories?
The thing I enjoy most is giving people a voice who may not otherwise have one; or, perhaps have never been asked. It’s rare for someone to sit down and take an interest in you and your life for any length of time. Everyone has stories to tell and it’s my job to empower people and help to dig them out, which can be a real privilege.
Conversations are great, but taking the time to just listen to someone can be beneficial for both parties. We don’t often get offered that space to speak our minds; silences can become unexpected revelations. It can reveal a lot about how we feel (or felt) when you are asked you to confront the past with questions you hadn’t considered yourself.
What was the best part about working on your project with Story Terrace? How did it differ from your other work telling people’s stories?
Working on this project with Story Terrace meant a satisfying mix of honest, straightforward content and poetic license. The story was already there, my task was to weave the structure and embroider the words in a way that encourages readers to understand this person’s life and be absorbed into their personal world.
Unlike fiction, in which you are conceiving and crafting every sentence as you write; when writing biography or autobiography, half the battle is already done. The story already exists and just needs to be shaped.
The interview process with Story Terrace is quite similar to my other work, so they accompany each other quite nicely. The main difference is that there isn’t a camera pointed at the client’s face, which is helpful as, unsurprisingly, a camera and microphone can be an intimidating presence! So in that respect interviewing for Story Terrace means the client doesn’t have to worry about how they look and can relax more, which is always a good thing!
If you could choose one person in history (famous or not famous) to do a Story Terrace project with, who would it be?
As a Christmas present this year I have promised my parents I will sit down, interview them, and write up their life stories collectively. It’s a lovely gift for anyone; you’d struggle to find anything more personalised and original in high street shops! They have been married for forty years and despite us being quite close and me being inquisitive in nature, I know there are still tons of stories I have never heard and would really love to.
Outside of my family, I love stumbling across stories of people throughout history I’ve never heard of who did extraordinary things. While the stories of Irena Sendler, Alice Stewart and Henrietta Lacks are now slightly more well-known; they are still three women who changed the course of history while embodying a social, gender or race issue simultaneously, but somehow escaped our textbooks and whose stories have only been discovered and openly shared many years later. I would love write the untold story of someone unknown but extraordinary.
If someone were to tell your life story, what would it be called and how would you want them to do it?
This is a difficult question! I might call it something like ‘Confidently Lost’. For two reasons, firstly because it was an on-going joke with my ex-boyfriend that I have no sense of direction but walk with absolute conviction anyway – usually the wrong way! Secondly, because growing older, I have found that you can get quite far by walking into somewhere with purpose, or confidently assuming your place as if you definitely belong there, even if you feel a bit lost inside.
In a more abstract sense, I find it amusing; we all try to be confident and act as if we know what we’re doing, but really we don’t; none of us have ever done this thing called life before – not the world leaders, not our bosses, not even our parents! Even if they act like they know it all, it’s a first for everyone, so we’re all lost in a way. And I suppose it is better to be confidently lost than sheepishly lost.
In terms of how I would tell it, I’ve always liked the idea of slightly experimental methods of telling stories. Visuals play a big part in my job, but ultimately words are everything to me. They are essential to our sense of identity and ability to communicate with each other, they can outlive us and dwarf us; we can make and destroy other people using them. They are incredibly powerful and integral to our lives.
Alain De Botton and Virginia Woolf play with form and stream of consciousness (in very different ways!) with their words, but I feel they still are accessible to readers, which is important. I like the idea of short chapters, combined with poetry, photographs; alongside a more linear narrative of factual accounts. We don’t live our lives in a strictly linear, straightforward way (even if we think we do). We dream, we forget things, our memories warp and there are absent parts. Our lives are integrated with snippets of other people’s existence that we may project onto or merge into our own. It would be fun to have my life story reflect some of that somehow.
Why is telling other people’s stories important to you?
Encouraging people you don’t know to take time out of their busy day to read and engage in a story about someone else is challenging. Articles often begin with anecdotes because it allows readers to put themselves in someone else’s shoes and relate to it instantly; and we relate to other humans much easier than facts, figures or opinions.
We empathise, relate and are entertained by stories far more than information that isn’t constructed into a narrative. Comedians tell jokes through anecdotes, we cry at the end of sad films because we’ve become invested in the story and the character relationships. Even though the content may be just as tragic or thrilling, we don’t laugh or cry at the news so much because it is information being fed directly to us. Stories strike a chord and help us to understand the world around us better, so they’re important.
We wouldn’t underestimate the power of your story and neither should you. Get in touch with the Story Terrace team to learn about how we can help you start creating your own Story Terrace book and read more about our talented writers on the Our Writers page.
