Building a Writing Career Around a 9-5: Ann Foster's Creative Method
How Murder, She Wrote and Evening Hours Power Vulgar History
Hey, welcome to Methods—the series where we explore the creative habits of fellow Substack writers.
This week, we’re featuring Ann Foster.
Ann has been writing feminist history pieces for nearly a decade, initially on her website (and for a few magazines) and now for her Substack, Vulgar History a la Carte.
She’s also the host of Vulgar History, a podcast that blends feminist history with humor, bringing to life scandalous and lesser-known stories from the past.
In this interview, Ann Foster shares:
The surprising role TV plays in her writing process
How humor helps her bring historical figures to life
Her strategy for balancing writing with podcasting
Enjoy!
Writing by Night: Finding Time in the Evenings
I work a 9-5 job so by necessity, my writing is done in the evenings and weekends.1 I've never been able to wake up early, so that's not an option. Sleep is sacred to me and I always try to get as much of it as possible!
On a weeknight, ideally, I get home from work at around 5:30pm. I usually start both supper and writing at around 7pm.
I live in a small one-bedroom apartment, so every space is multi-use. My kitchen table is also my work desk, so while the water is boiling for pasta or while I'm cooking something in the oven, I can be across the room typing in those moments.
My meals are usually quick to eat, and then I get to work writing some more, it's probably like 8pm by this point. On a weekend, it's honestly usually pretty similar. I often have appointments and things to do during the day, so I get to writing at around dinnertime as well.
How Ann Let’s Her Unconscious Mind Fuel Her Writing Process
I'm currently on deadline to write Rebel of the Regency, a biography of Britain's little-known Queen, Caroline of Brunswick.
The way that I'm approaching this project, which is very research-heavy, is that I often spend the whole day pre-thinking about what I'll be writing about that night. This could mean I know I'm going to focus on one thing like the connection between Caroline of Brunswick and the Napoleonic War, or the role of fashion in her story, or the way that she used the tabloid press to her benefit.
Thinking about that topic through the workday, just in the back of my mind, gets me in the right mood so when I'm able to write I can get right to it.
How TV Plays a Crucial Role in Ann's Writing Routine
With my current book, and this is going to sound odd but it works for me, I like to put on an episode of Murder, She Wrote on my iPad. I've seen every episode so it's soothing background noise for me. Each episode is also 60 minutes, so I'll write for the length of one episode, then get up and stretch and maybe wash the dishes, then write for another episode or two.
It functions as both a timer and helpful background noise for me. I can never write in silence, and I find music more distracting than voices talking. I know some writers like to cut themselves off from social media or the outside world while writing.
For me, I like to keep some tabs open in the background so when I need to zone out a bit I can pop onto Threads or Instagram to see the latest Moo Deng video or whatever. I find it more distracting not to be able to quickly check those things than to just pop over for a few minutes. So ultimately, the goal is to write for about 2 hours every day. Sometimes more, sometimes less.
Creative Workspace: A Cozy, Cluttered Environment
As I mentioned, my kitchen table is also my desk. It's also a catch-all storage space for random papers and objects so it's nothing you'd seen in a "how to set up your desk" Pinterest. But it works for me, as I don't mind clutter.2
I keep my laptop on an elevated stand, and then my podcast mic is next to it. I have a wireless keyboard that I can quickly move in and out of the main table surface (which is also where I eat my meals, when I'm not writing).
My cat, Hepburn, will sometimes hop up and want to parade around on the table, which makes it useful to be able to move the keyboard as well. My iPad or phone are on a stand just next to the laptop, so I can play Murder, She Wrote off to the side. I'd love one day to get an ergonomic chair, but again for space reasons, I just sit on a wooden IKEA kitchen chair (which is also why it's so important for me to stand up every hour or so, or else my body would get even more sore!).
As I finish working with a specific book, I move it out of sight (specifically, into a pile on a suitcase I keep in my hallway, not sure how that became the spot they go). Having them nearby but not visible helps me feel more accomplished, as the shelf of books to read gets emptier and emptier as I go — but the books are nearby if I need to quickly check a fact again.
Tools of the Trade: Ann's Essential Writing Materials
I've always written directly onto a computer, ever since I was a child writing stories. I'm not fast enough writing by hand to get my thoughts out as quickly as I think them. It has taken me MANY years and MANY unused notebooks to accept this about myself.
For this project, I've bought several key research books because I needed to highlight them and keep them close by. These include two volumes of Caroline of Brunswick's letters, which are incredibly important as I want to put as much of her voice and thoughts into my book as I can. So those are always nearby.
In terms of other research sources, I have four or five biographies of Caroline that I keep on-hand; two in print, and three as eBooks. The eBooks are helpful when I come across a name and forget exactly who that is, as Ctrl-F is faster to search than flipping through the index of a print book.
The Writers and Thinkers Who Shaped Ann's Craft
As a history writer, I'm such an admirer of Emma Southon. She writes VERY funny history nonfiction about the Roman era. Reading her work was the first time I thought, "Oh, it's possible to put jokes and swear words in a history book."
Part of what my work is, both for this book and my podcast, is often to look at more traditionally-written history books and find a way to make them feel fun, and of interest to a contemporary person who's not necessarily a history fan.3
In terms of my overall approach to writing, which involves treating each subject with respect and without judgment, it's very influenced by a past mentor of mine, Jacob Clifton.
I worked very briefly with Jacob for a TV-writing site where he was the editor, and I think that time really brought my writing up to a new level.4 He approaches his writing with such a big, open heart. Looking at a TV show, he doesn't think "oh this episode is bad," he thinks, "what are they trying to do, and why" and that really affected the way I view not just my writing, but also people I interact with in my real life.
Looking at who people are, and why they are doing what they are doing, rather than jumping to judgment. I find that really important in history work, and is part of the core of my podcast, Substack, and this book. People in history are still just people.
I also want to mention the work of
. She's a culture writer now, with a really popular Substack, Culture Study . I first encountered her writing a decade ago, when she was writing a series called Hollywood Gossip, Academic Style. I really appreciated the thoughtful way she wrote about actors of Golden Age Hollywood, treating them with respect and curiosity, rather than just as personas.Those pieces were the first time I saw how someone could take fairly well-known facts but re-tell them in a new way, where the author's voice becomes as important as the facts themselves. Anyone could look up Artemisia Gentileschi or Caroline of Brunswick on Wikipedia or in a google search and browse some articles that state the facts of their lives: where they were born, when they died.
What I try to do in my work is to bring my own voice and sense of fun to these stories, and in so doing, make them entertaining and resonate more with a reader.
Ann’s Creative Method: What Works (and What Doesn’t)
Talking to people is extremely crucial for me in my creative process.
I write fiction as well, and my other fiction-writer friends are incredibly important to help sort that out. Writing nonfiction comes easier to me, but fiction is in my heart, and I really value my friends' support as I try to figure out how to make my story ideas work.
With the Caroline of Brunswick project, I've also been talking things through with some of my friends. I'm lucky to have friends with various specializations who can help me figure things out, like medical historians who can help me find good articles about leeches, or obstetrician friends who can help me decipher what happened in a childbirth gone wrong in history.
My friend Lana Wood Johnson is as big a fan as I am of Caroline of Brunswick, and she's maybe the only person who knows as much about Caroline as I do at this point. So when I need to figure out why Caroline made a choice that confuses me, Lana is always able to help me figure out how to interpret it.
When I really need to vent about something in the story and I notice my IRL friends' faces are politely blank because I'm getting way in the weeds, I record a special podcast for my Patreon followers where I can just yell about whatever is annoying me in the book.
It's so important for me to live in a community where I know people understand what I'm talking about, and every time I have a challenge, talking it through with a writer friend always helps.5
Role of exercise
Exercising really, really helps me with thinking and I can't count how many times a run has helped me figure out just the right approach for a chapter I've been struggling with.6
Ann’s Creative Method: What Works (and What Doesn’t)
I've never done well with assigned writing or assigned writing practices.
I think this may be because I started writing so naturally as a very young person that I figured out my own methods on my own. With non-fiction, my natural style has served me well so far so I don't see any need to adapt to another method.
With fiction, though, I have had to work hard to learn story structure and how to plan out a plotline. I've done speed-drafting in the past, and it always ends in a huge mess because I need to work really hard at plot structure.
For a fiction project I'm working on now, I've been reading other books and breaking down their structure to see how I can fit my project into that same structure.
I worked with The Novelry last year, which is an online writing community where you get lessons and work one on one with a coach. That was incredibly useful, as I find practical help on an actual project more helpful than just reading vague writing tips that may or may not apply to my actual writing challenges.
Evolution of My Creative Process
As a child, I wrote stories.
Then as a teenager and young adult, I wrote plays which I then directed and had my friends act in.
Throughout all that, I was going to school and writing essays, which always came naturally to me but I never thought about writing non-fiction for fun. I did an undergraduate history degree, where again the essay-writing came naturally, but I still had a mental separation between school-writing and the writing I did as a hobby and hoped to make my career. So it's been interesting to find myself now writing non-fiction almost exclusively, but with the sense of fun that I enjoyed in my plays and stories.
Doing my podcast really helped me find my voice as a non-fiction storyteller, which is what I'm working on bringing to my book now as well. And it's been helpful for me to be doing my Substack at the same time, too, to write for readers instead of for listeners, and keep those muscles strong and flexible.
Breaking Superstitions: How Ann’s Creative Rules Have Shifted
For a long time, I used to think that I shouldn't talk about what I was writing because once I shared the story, I'd lose interest in writing the project. But now, as I said earlier, talking through my projects is a vital part of my creative process. So that's a superstition I outgrew.
I also used to keep my creative pursuits a secret. Like when I was doing acting, I wouldn't tell my friends when I was auditioning for a project in case I didn't get cast. Or if I entered a writing competition, I wouldn't let anyone know unless I won. But now, I really have learned that the solidarity I feel in sharing my challenges and attempts and failures with supportive friends (both writers and other friends!) helps me keep going.
The Books and Tools That Keep Ann Inspired
Two books I read ages ago but which I found inspiring are Stephen King's On Writing and Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird.7
I don't read much about writing or creativity at the moment, though again, the modules from The Novelry classes were really helpful to me when I was working with them. In terms of keeping my creativity going, I find the most useful thing is to read things for fun and that interest me.
For instance, this year I've been reading through all of Agatha Christie's novels, which is fascinating. She's such a prolific author, but not every one of her books resonates with me. But looking at them empathetically — why did she write this? What did she hope to communicate with this book? Has been an interesting project. And honestly, looking at other peoples' Substacks and other social media keeps introducing me to new points of view and ideas, which inherently enhances my creativity because it expands my scope of knowledge. There are some things in my Caroline book that wouldn't be there if I hadn't happened to read someone's Substack or Threads post that made me suddenly better understand the way other people think or how stories are told.
Balancing Writing and Podcasting
I've always thought of myself as a writer first, and starting this Substack has been a really helpful way for me to settle into that identity after having spent the past five years working on my podcast, Vulgar History.
Initially, I wasn't sure what sort of writing to put in the Substack. I didn't want to repeat what I was covering on the podcast, but to provide a sister publication to the show. I have a pretty good archive of my previous writing, which I realized I could re-edit and share in this new way. For instance, I wrote several pieces for the late Bitch magazine, which is out of print and has no online archive. But those pieces are still timely with a bit of a re-vamp, and I've been sharing those on Substack.
I've also written some new pieces, like my recent one on the Renaissance artist Artemisia Gentileschi. It was interesting posting that one, as she's got a really devoted fanbase, and it's led me to plan a podcast episode about her for the new year.
The tl;dr on VHALC is that sometimes I post an essay about feminist issues and sometimes I post a profile of a woman from history. Either way, there will always be lots of jokes along with the facts.
Ann’s Writing Ritual
One ritual it took me awhile to realize I was doing is that I have to pull my hair back in a ponytail or a bun to get going. It's like how in the Series of Unfortunate Events where Violet has to tie a ribbon in her hair to help her think; I can't get down to work until I've pulled my hair up.
Thanks, Ann!
Check out Ann’s Substack, Vulgar History a la Carte, her podcast, Vulgar History, and her Patreon for more of her witty, history-filled storytelling.
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Access the full archiveDocumenting the creative process. Written by Sam Mas
Breakdown of the writers interviewed so far regarding their preferred time of day to write:
Morning: 45%
Evening/Night: 35%
Flexible: 20%
See also: Hemingway Wrote His Best Books in a Messy, Cluttered Bedroom
It’s not just Ann who thrives in a cozy, cluttered workspace. Ernest Hemingway, the legendary author of The Old Man and the Sea and A Farewell to Arms, reportedly wrote some of his best work in his chaotic bedroom, surrounded by stacks of papers and half-finished projects. .
another history writer here on Substack has a very similar style that I love. You can read my interview with her here.
Toni Morrison On What Makes A Good Editor
Toni Morrison was known for her meticulous attention to detail as both a writer and an editor. In an interview, she shared some wise advice about what makes a great editor, and it’s not just about finding mistakes or typos—it’s about knowing when to leave the author’s voice intact. As Ann mentioned the influence of her mentor, Jacob Clifton, who helps her approach her writing with openness, Morrison’s words about editing are a reminder of the importance of trust between collaborators.
My interview with also explores the importance of community check it out here.
If you’ve enjoyed Ann’s emphasis on community and how she relies on her friends for support—whether it’s a fellow historian, a fiction-writing buddy, or her cat Hepburn—then you’ll definitely want to check out my interview with Anne of Baggebo. Like Ann, Anne (woah trippy) shares the ways a creative community can nurture and inspire you.
Two other writers that I’ve interviewed who also found exercise to be an integral part of their creative process: and .
So far in this series of interviewing fellow writers, "On Writing" by Stephen King has been mentioned 4 times and "Bird by Bird" by Anne Lamott has been mentioned 2 times. You can check out excerpts from both books in the following articles: