How Could (Academic) Writing Be Otherwise? With Helen Betya Rubinstein

Writer and writing coach Helen Betya Rubinstein joins me in the Lesche to talk about her new book Feels Like Trouble: Provocations on Writing, Teaching & Power (bookshop.org/p/books/feels-like-trouble-provoc…), which came out in October with the University of New Orleans Press. Helen is also a writing coach who works with writers in all genres, including academics.
Helen's website: link here (helenbetya.com)
Concepts mentioned
• Psychic Distance (unr.edu/writing-speaking-center/writing-speaki…) (John Gardner in The Art of Fiction): Framework mapping the five levels of narrative intimacy between the narrator, character, and reader.
• Writing with the Door Closed vs. Open (Stephen King): The rule of thumb that initial drafting should be done privately for yourself ("door closed"), while revision opens the work up to outside feedback ("door open").
• Critical Response Process (lizlerman.com/critical-response-process)(Liz Lerman): A structured, four-step feedback methodology designed to give creators control and agency over the critique they receive.
• Traditional Workshop Model / "Cone of Silence" (Frank Conroy / Iowa Writers' Workshop): Classic MFA workshop structure where writers sit around a table and the author must remain completely silent ("under a cone of silence") while peers critique the text. • Read Conroy's essay "The Writer's Workshop" here (english498.wdfiles.com/local--files/documents/…)

• Morning Pages (Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way): The daily practice of writing three pages of stream-of-consciousness longhand prose first thing in the morning to bypass self-censorship.
• Unconditional Positive Regard (Stanlay Standal/Carl Rogers): Psychological concept (borrowed here for reading and coaching) centered on offering total, non-judgmental acceptance and support to foster growth.
• Time Affluence (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_affluence) (Tim Kasser / Alexis Fecteau; popularized by Laurie Santos et al.): The concept of subjective psychological abundance regarding time, contrasting with "time impoverishment" or chronic time scarcity.
About our guest
Helen Betya Rubinstein is the author of Feels Like Trouble: Provocations on Writing, Teaching & Power and The Case Against Rubinstein: An Anti-Fiction (forthcoming 2027). Her essays and criticism have been published in Gulf Coast, The Kenyon Review, The Paris Review Daily, and frequently in Literary Hub and Jewish Currents. She is also the author of a booklet of lyric fictions, Because Sex Is a Story & Sex Is a Song. Helen is a writing coach in ongoing practice with writers across genre.
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Thanks for joining us in the Lesche!

Podcast art: Daniel Blanco
Theme music: "The Song of Seikilos (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seikilos_epitaph)," recomposed by Eftychia Christodoulou using Sibelius

This podcast is made possible with the generous support of Brown University’s Department of Classical Studies (brown.edu/academics/classics/classical-studies…) and the John Nicholas Brown Center for Advanced Study (jnbc.brown.edu). jnbc.brown.edu
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