My neighbors, the NYTimes bestselling author Sy Montgomery and acclaimed author Howard Mansfield, have been married for 37 years. In that time, they’ve built and sustained a writing life that’s produced about 40 books between them. And even though they’re a unit, they’ve dedicated their lives to separate creative interests. Sy writes on behalf of animals — she’s best known for her books The Good, Good Pig and The National Book Award Finalist, The Soul of an Octopus — and Howard writes about architecture, preservation, and history in his quest to understand the soul of American places.

And while they live in the same home, they usually don’t know what project the other one is working on.That’s because they give each other the space, support, and feedback that each other needs to do their best work. In a rare combined media appearance, Sy and Howard share how we can treat the artists in our lives and model how to pursue our own creative efforts.

Takeaways:

• Honor the artist in ourselves and in each other
• Create dedicated time for writing
• Provide useful feedback to fellow artists
• Repurpose work to find new ways to share stories, and
• Create connections through writing

Resources:

Check out their websites: Sy Montgomery and Howard Mansfield

Follow Sy on social media: Instagram @sytheauthor and Facebook @symontgomery

Follow Howard on social media: Instagram @howardmansfieldauthor and Facebook @howardmansfield

Learn more about composer Ben Cosgrove

View Howard and Ben’s short film: “A Journey to the White Mountains”

Listen to my conversation with Liz and Matt Meyer Bolton of the SALT project