Marie Beauchamps: the (academic) writer

Marie Beauchamps worked as an academic teacher and researcher until 2021, exploring interdisciplinary contexts across the humanities, social sciences, and law. Since 2021, she has worked as a creative entrepreneur, exploring research from new perspectives. In addition to her work as a poet and writing workshop facilitator for academic researchers, she offers advisory services regarding writing and research. Marie is certified in creative writing from the International Writers Collective, Amsterdam (2019–2023) and she pioneered the Deepening Creative Practice programme of the Tavistock Institute for Human Relations (2020–2021). She holds a PhD from the Amsterdam School of Cultural Analysis, University of Amsterdam (2015) and is also an Associate Researcher there.

Do you see yourself as a writer?

I do see myself as a writer, although it’s an identity that I don’t always find easy to articulate. When I was still working as an academic, writing was part of my job description. Working now as a creative entrepreneur, writing has become an activity that I need to claim as my own. That comes with a sense of freedom that I couldn’t find within academia, and yet it also requires reclaiming that space and time again.

How did Creative Writing for Academics come about? What was the push behind it?

Designing the workshop series ‘Creative Writing for Academics’ emerged from an extensive reflection on academic writing practices and the epistemological references they convey. For a long time, I felt trapped in academic writing – a genre that didn’t allow me to fully express myself or develop my own voice. As I began experimenting with creative writing as part of a broader research endeavor on creative methods, I discovered that it offers simple and concrete techniques to invigorate writing practices without sacrificing the precision of our findings. I am even convinced that, in some cases, creative writing allows for a more accurate representation of an argument than the ‘neutral’ genre of academic writing taught in traditional academic writing classes.

I turned these reflections into an article, ‘Doing Academia Differently: Loosening the Boundaries of Our Disciplining Writing Practices’, which was published in Millennium. In it, I discuss the importance of incorporating the multi-layered narratives of our research and writing. Writing the article naturally led me to consider how to carve out space, within academia, to introduce creative writing as a tool in our academic practices.

Did your writing style, routines, processes, approaches, and feelings change when you made the shift from ‘academic’ to ‘creative entrepreneur’?

Certainly. I found myself becoming a poet, which comes with so much joy. I think leaving academia was a turning point that allowed me to give myself permission to embrace my identity as a poet and explore how I could integrate that aspect of myself into various situations. The creation of the ‘Creative Writing for Academics’ workshop series aligns with this poetic exploration, blurring boundaries and delving into gray areas and ambiguities. This spring, I am launching a new workshop series in collaboration with the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, titled ‘Writing with the Poetic Lens’. It invites professionals to engage with their work through writing using a poetic lens, while paying attention to embodied, sensory knowledge. It pretty much sums up my approach to writing since I shifted from being an academic to being a creative entrepreneur.

Do you have a writing routine that works for you? Does it change depending on the kind of writing you’re doing?

I’ve personalized the Morning Pages from Julia Cameron as a minimum of a writing routine. Julia Cameron says that those morning pages are not so much about writing. It’s true – it’s much larger than that. Free writing daily is the best teacher there is for learning to go with whatever comes on the page. Start somewhere and see where it leads you. There is always a thought, an association, an image, that will trigger something that rings true. In my experience, free writing is the best antidote against agonizing about finding the best word. Through free writing, I not only get rid of all those prefrontal cortex loads of daily chores and distracting to-do lists; I also come in tune with a subconscious undercurrent of sensations and images that, when on the page, help me identify the right thing to do. The best part of free writing is those encounters with fantastical images. A bit like night dreams, but in a state of consciousness. As a poet, I’ve found much of my material in free writing sessions. 

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

The hardest part of writing is making space for it, and taking that space seriously. I try to start my active day with 20 minutes of free writing. The discipline of doing that gives me a reminder that writing exists in my life, and it generates a space to slow down and enter the poetic space.

Then again, writing is not only sitting at a desk and putting words on a page. It’s also about all those activities that contribute to what comes on the page, including spaces of inspiration, quieting, conversations, and reflections.

What do you do when you get stuck?

Playing the piano is a fantastic way of shifting gears and getting unstuck. And physical activity in general. Taking a walk. Cooking. Getting out of my head and into my body.

How do you feel about the blank page when you’re starting a new project?

If I’m aware enough to start with a session of free writing, the blank page is nothing else than an invitation to write the first word and see where it leads me.

Do you enjoy the writing process?

I used to have a love-hate relationship with writing. As an academic, I felt an urge to write, but at the same time, hated the process: it felt like a form of torture to find the right words to express what I had to say. When I discovered creative writing techniques, the torture slowly disappeared. Creative writing techniques have allowed me to approach writing from an embodied experience, paying attention to the sensory elements that contribute to what I have to say. Tuning into the sensory is, for me, an entry point for coming into a flow. Regardless of how dark the topic I write about can be, there is so much joy when reaching that state of flow.

Are there any tips you have for writing or editing your writing?

I find paying attention to the stories that inhabit your work immensely helpful in seeing the overall argument and identifying the things that need to stay and those that can go. Of course, identifying a story is about making choices in terms of which perspective to tell. Starting with the question: “Who or what is the main character in the text and/or research?” is very helpful in identifying which story is actually being told.

Are there any books on writers or writing that you have particularly enjoyed and would recommend?

I know Stylish Academic Writing by Helen Sword has already been recommended, as it should be. Her approach is a wonderful opening. Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott has also influenced me in many ways, as it helped me in demystifying the writing process, and making it my own. Meander, Spiral, Explode by Jane Alison is a wonderful inspiration for thinking about forms of narratives.