{"id":946,"date":"2025-12-28T17:46:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T17:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/?p=946"},"modified":"2025-12-28T17:46:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T17:46:19","slug":"interview-with-open-doors-reader-norah-leibow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/28\/interview-with-open-doors-reader-norah-leibow\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Open Doors Reader Norah Leibow"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Published in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/index.php\/previous-editions\/\">Open Doors Issue N. 3 April 2022<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Norah is the author of the weekly newsletter \u201cBe Soothed\u201d an exploration of time, memo- ry, human connection, human dignity, frustration, nostalgia, shame, growth as\u00a0reflected through architecture, design, and philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lauren:\u00a0<\/strong>If I told you, I have three incredible essays I want you to read, what would you hope they are about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Norah:\u00a0<\/strong>I hope they are about something I know nothing about. I want to read an essay that takes me somewhere I did not expect to go, or puts ideas together I would never have paired with each other. Also, I find negative reviews to be very interesting because when someone doesn\u2019t like something but they still have to write about it for work, there is a very incredible delicacy and vagueness that emerges which is such a skill, and also like a little secret if you can read between the lines. Finally, there are so many essays right now about motherhood and the nuances and shifts that role is going through. I would love to read some essays about how fatherhood is changing, too\u2013it must be, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lauren:\u00a0<\/strong>What are your top three tips for writing a great essay?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Norah:\u00a0<\/strong>Do not hide who you are when writing an essay\u2013I think sometimes peo- ple think because it is not fiction, this style of writing needs to be informative and emotionless. Truth is the ultimate key to an essay, and that truth includes how you really feel, as well. Not how you want to feel, not how you would casu- ally explain the experience at a dinner party, but how you deep down, ugly feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don\u2019t be afraid to rewrite. I often get to what I think is the end only to realize, oh, what I thought I was writing about is irrelevant and the last paragraph is what I was really trying to say. It\u2019s tempting to hold the reins tight to the original thought because you\u2019ve spent time in that direction, but if it\u2019s not strong or not conveying what you really mean, chuck it. It\u2019s still getting you where you want to go, so not wasted at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Structure. More than another other type of writing, essays are about structure. In a sense, you are making an argument. I always think of learning how to construct a convincing five-paragraph essay in high school\u2013this is the same. Say what you are going to say, say it, then say it again. Every sentence must support your thesis, your argument, your main thread. Sometimes I write what I think is a lovely sentence, or there was a moment I want to describe that felt relevant to me but in the essay seems out of place\u2013if it doesn\u2019t support what I am trying to say, remove or rewrite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lauren:&nbsp;<\/strong>When does an essay not work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Norah:&nbsp;<\/strong>I think this applies to any writing, but an essay doesn\u2019t work when the writer is trying to write with the hallmarks of writing. Clich\u00e9s, tropes, tired perspectives\u2013 these don\u2019t feel genuine. When there is no soul, or it sounds generic, that is when an essay fails. For example, write about what you love about Italy, but don\u2019t write about<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">the pasta being good, about the wine being delicious, the evening light being pretty. Write about when those things meet your soul, about all the experienc- es that brought you there to appreciate those things, because that alchemy can never be replicated by anyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lauren:&nbsp;<\/strong>You have a regular weekly, newsletter called \u201cBe Soothed\u201d &#8211; tell us a bit about it and what inspired you to start writing it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Norah:&nbsp;<\/strong>It is an exploration of time, mem- ory, human connection, human dignity, frustration, nostalgia, shame, growth&#8230;. all reflected through architecture, de- sign, philosophy&#8230;and sort of whatever I am focused on at the time. It comes out each week covering such wide-ranging<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">topics such as the joy of writing out \u201cBOOBIES\u201d on your calculator when you are a kid, to the confusion of defining who you are without any concrete titles. It ranges. I hope it\u2019s funny and interesting and engaging. I started writing it because I was stop- ping myself from producing any work because I felt like I wasn\u2019t ready, as a writer. I didn\u2019t want to fail, so I did nothing at all. Starting this newsletter became a way to be forced to formulate ideas and to give myself permission to put what I create out there because that is more important than if my writing is perfect. I\u2019ll tell you now, it is far from perfect!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lauren:&nbsp;<\/strong>What are some essayists or essay collections you love\/admire?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Norah:&nbsp;<\/strong>Here\u2019s a list:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Taffy Brodesser-Akner is an amazing essaist and her profile of Gwyneth Paltrow in the New York Times is one of the funniest and most human things I\u2019ve read in the last few years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>\u201c<\/strong>Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion\u201d by Jia Tolentino is modern and crisp and delicate.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Noble Rot\u2013it\u2019s a wine magazine but it really is about life, eating, drinking, travel- ing, family.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>\u201c<\/strong>Here Let Us Feast\u201d by M.F.K. Fisher it is a book of essays about eating and drinking.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>\u201c<\/strong>Slouching Toward Bethlehem\u201d by Joan Didion. You\u2019ve heard of it and maybe read it, but read it again. Subtle, prickly, distant. She reveals herself through her observations.And now a few non fiction books or what I really think of as long essays:<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>bell hooks, \u201cAll About Love\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>James Baldwin, \u201cThe Fire Next Time\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ta-Nehisi Coates, \u201cBetween the World and Me\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Robert Sapolsky, \u201cA Primate\u2019s Memoir\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">75<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lauren:&nbsp;<\/strong>Writing is often described as a \u201cspiritual practice\u201d &#8211; do you agree or disagree?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Norah:&nbsp;<\/strong>I disagree. For me it feels compulsive. It follows me around, haunting me until I exorcise whatever it is out and onto the page. Maybe if I was more disciplined and treated it with the ritual worthy of a spiritual practice it wouldn\u2019t build up like a demon inside me? I\u2019ll probably never know&#8230;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lauren:&nbsp;<\/strong>Tell us about your writing practice&#8230; do you favor discipline? Inspiration? Music? Silence? Time of day?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Norah:&nbsp;<\/strong>I have literally no schedule or discipline at all. I write early in the morning, late at night, after dinner, quickly between meetings, during a run I stop to jot things down. I used to read a lot about writers\u2019 routines and how they wrote and it made me feel like I had to do that, like in order to be a writer I also had to wake up at 4am or something. But that made me concentrate on the wrong thing, because the schedule doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re writing. All that matters is the writing. If you want to, you will\u2013if you don\u2019t want to, you will find a way not to, no matter how many times you put it in your calendar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And I can\u2019t have any sounds of any kind. No music, no TV in the background\u2013noth- ing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lauren:&nbsp;<\/strong>What is some great writing advice you\u2019ve received? Or life advice you could apply to writing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Norah:&nbsp;<\/strong>My best advice is instantly going to disqualify itself but: listen to yourself. If you have a message or a story or vision you want to convey, do it. And if the people you show it to don\u2019t understand, just keep going, refine it or evolve it, but never doubt the worthiness of your work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lauren:&nbsp;<\/strong>Does art change things or does art reveal changes?&nbsp;<strong>Norah:&nbsp;<\/strong>Both!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Published in Open Doors Issue N. 3 April 2022 Norah is the author of the weekly newsletter \u201cBe Soothed\u201d an exploration of time, memo- ry, human connection, human dignity, frustration, nostalgia, shame, growth as\u00a0reflected through architecture, design, and philosophy. Lauren:\u00a0If I told you, I have three incredible essays I want you to read, what would you hope they are about? Norah:\u00a0I hope they are about something I know nothing about. I want to read an essay that takes me somewhere I did not expect to go, or puts ideas together I would never have paired with each other. Also, I find negative reviews to be very interesting because when someone doesn\u2019t like something but they still have to write about it for work, there is a very incredible delicacy and vagueness that emerges which is such a skill, and also like a little secret if you can read between the lines. Finally, there are so many essays right now about motherhood and the nuances and shifts that role is going through. I would love to read some essays about how fatherhood is changing, too\u2013it must be, right? Lauren:\u00a0What are your top three tips for writing a great essay? Norah:\u00a0Do not hide who you are when writing an essay\u2013I think sometimes peo- ple think because it is not fiction, this style of writing needs to be informative and emotionless. Truth is the ultimate key to an essay, and that truth includes how you really feel, as well. Not how you want to feel, not how you would casu- ally explain the experience at a dinner party, but how you deep down, ugly feel. Don\u2019t be afraid to rewrite. I often get to what I think is the end only to realize, oh, what I thought I was writing about is irrelevant and the last paragraph is what I was really trying to say. It\u2019s tempting to hold the reins tight to the original thought because you\u2019ve spent time in that direction, but if it\u2019s not strong or not conveying what you really mean, chuck it. It\u2019s still getting you where you want to go, so not wasted at all. Structure. More than another other type of writing, essays are about structure. In a sense, you are making an argument. I always think of learning how to construct a convincing five-paragraph essay in high school\u2013this is the same. Say what you are going to say, say it, then say it again. Every sentence must support your thesis, your argument, your main thread. Sometimes I write what I think is a lovely sentence, or there was a moment I want to describe that felt relevant to me but in the essay seems out of place\u2013if it doesn\u2019t support what I am trying to say, remove or rewrite. Lauren:&nbsp;When does an essay not work? Norah:&nbsp;I think this applies to any writing, but an essay doesn\u2019t work when the writer is trying to write with the hallmarks of writing. Clich\u00e9s, tropes, tired perspectives\u2013 these don\u2019t feel genuine. When there is no soul, or it sounds generic, that is when an essay fails. For example, write about what you love about Italy, but don\u2019t write about the pasta being good, about the wine being delicious, the evening light being pretty. Write about when those things meet your soul, about all the experienc- es that brought you there to appreciate those things, because that alchemy can never be replicated by anyone else. Lauren:&nbsp;You have a regular weekly, newsletter called \u201cBe Soothed\u201d &#8211; tell us a bit about it and what inspired you to start writing it! Norah:&nbsp;It is an exploration of time, mem- ory, human connection, human dignity, frustration, nostalgia, shame, growth&#8230;. all reflected through architecture, de- sign, philosophy&#8230;and sort of whatever I am focused on at the time. It comes out each week covering such wide-ranging topics such as the joy of writing out \u201cBOOBIES\u201d on your calculator when you are a kid, to the confusion of defining who you are without any concrete titles. It ranges. I hope it\u2019s funny and interesting and engaging. I started writing it because I was stop- ping myself from producing any work because I felt like I wasn\u2019t ready, as a writer. I didn\u2019t want to fail, so I did nothing at all. Starting this newsletter became a way to be forced to formulate ideas and to give myself permission to put what I create out there because that is more important than if my writing is perfect. I\u2019ll tell you now, it is far from perfect! Lauren:&nbsp;What are some essayists or essay collections you love\/admire? Norah:&nbsp;Here\u2019s a list: 75 Lauren:&nbsp;Writing is often described as a \u201cspiritual practice\u201d &#8211; do you agree or disagree? Norah:&nbsp;I disagree. For me it feels compulsive. It follows me around, haunting me until I exorcise whatever it is out and onto the page. Maybe if I was more disciplined and treated it with the ritual worthy of a spiritual practice it wouldn\u2019t build up like a demon inside me? I\u2019ll probably never know&#8230;. Lauren:&nbsp;Tell us about your writing practice&#8230; do you favor discipline? Inspiration? Music? Silence? Time of day? Norah:&nbsp;I have literally no schedule or discipline at all. I write early in the morning, late at night, after dinner, quickly between meetings, during a run I stop to jot things down. I used to read a lot about writers\u2019 routines and how they wrote and it made me feel like I had to do that, like in order to be a writer I also had to wake up at 4am or something. But that made me concentrate on the wrong thing, because the schedule doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re writing. All that matters is the writing. If you want to, you will\u2013if you don\u2019t want to, you will find a way not to, no matter how many times you put it in your calendar. And I can\u2019t have any sounds of any kind. No music, no TV in the background\u2013noth- ing. Lauren:&nbsp;What is some great writing advice you\u2019ve received? Or life advice you could apply to writing? Norah:&nbsp;My best advice is instantly going to disqualify itself but: listen to yourself. If you have a message or a story or vision you want to convey, do it. And if the people you show it to don\u2019t understand, just keep going, refine it or evolve it, but never doubt the worthiness of your work. Lauren:&nbsp;Does art change things or does art reveal changes?&nbsp;Norah:&nbsp;Both!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=946"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":948,"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/946\/revisions\/948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.opendoorsreview.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}