Author of "Bad Naturalist" Paula Whyman wants you to write what you don't know

"To me, it's more writing what I want to know more about."

Feb 19, 2025

This week my guest is Paula Wyman, author of the new book, Bad Naturalist: One Woman's Ecological Education on a Wild Virginia Mountaintop. Paula's book is a blend of memoir, natural history, and conservation science, and it's a chronicle of her attempts to restore 200 acres of farmland long gone to seed in the Blue Ridge Mountains, despite the fact that she never excelled at gardening.

I had many zings of insight while talking to Paula, but I think the zingiest was when she said that she got so into trying to restore that land that she forgot all about the novel she’d been writing. She can’t even tell you now what it was about. But luckily she realized she needed to be writing about her re-wilding attempts and now we have Bad Naturalist.

Paula’s first book is You May See a Stranger, an award-winning, linked collection of short stories that won praise from The New Yorker and a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly. Paula's stories have appeared in McSweeney's Quarterly, Ploughshares, and The Southampton Review, and her nonfiction has been featured on NPR, in The Washington Post, and The Rumpus, among other places.

Paula surrounded by about-to-bloom wildflowers on the Blue Ridge mountaintop she writes about rewilding in *Bad Naturalist*

Listen to Paula’s episodes

Paula Whyman, practical matters: Guidance for knowing whether you really want to turn that idea into a book
Paula Whyman, inner stuff: Why “write what you know” is misguided advice
Paula Whyman, what’s next: Link coming when this episode is released on Friday!

Or, get the complete interview in one episode by becoming a paid subscriber and supporting my work and becoming the recipient of my undying gratitude:

We covered:

How having a pet praying mantis as a kid is directly related to her naturalist exploits
In praise of doing deep dives into random subjects
How a manageable dream of restoring a small meadow to its natural state ballooned into rehabbing a 200-acre mountaintop
The novel she was writing that she can’t even remember what it was about now
How hearing a young Howard Stern shaped her career path
The power of doing deep dives
Turning scribbles and bad doodles into a book
One of the cliched pieces of writing advice that young writers often get is write what you know. But I have to say, I am more interested in writing about what I don't know, but what I'm curious about. I pick a thing and I explore it by writing. I ask questions by writing. So to me, it's more writing what I want to know more about.
A plug for using the writing software Scrivener
Making the switch from fiction to non-fiction–and how that changes the conversations you have with readers to be less about the work
How working as an editor can make writing harder
Allowing yourself to blurt, stare off into space, meander, and walk away
Editing and revising as procrastination
How writing about failure is more interesting than writing about success
Staying active and strong as you get older
A love letter to scientists
Why planting native plants in your yard is so impactful
Her favorite cheesy 70s song
The upside of winter
Why she’s looking for American kestrels (a small raptor) every morning
A longing for sheep
Getting less frustrated by setbacks
The books she stays up late reading with a flashlight so as not to wake her husband