Book Talk: Talking as Fast as I Can

As I’m writing this, I think it’s important that you’re aware of my surroundings. I’m sporting a crewneck that says “Honorary Gilmore Girl,” there’s a framed vintage looking drawing of Stars Hollow next to my dining room table, there's a water bottle in the kitchen that has nothing but Gilmore Girls stickers on it, and next to me is Lauren Graham’s Talking as Fast as I Can. My sister lent me Graham’s autobiography after one of our routine discussions of the show Gilmore Girls, a show that is very near and dear to both of our hearts. I’m not sure if it’s because of the idea of quaint, feel-good Stars Hollow or because of how much I’ve always identified with one of the Gilmore Girls, Rory, but Gilmore Girls has become one of my comfort shows and I was excited to read Graham’s book.

If you have never seen Gilmore Girls and are completely lost right now, no worries! I’ll give you the abridged, SparkNotes version now (but just the important parts which really doesn’t include the later seasons or the revival episodes because literally what were they thinking). The show begins with 32-year-old mom, Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and her 16-year-old daughter, Rory. They live in the quaint town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut, Lorelai working as the manager of the local inn and Rory attending private school in the hopes she’ll one day get into Harvard. We see everything from the two form deeper relationships with Lorelai’s estranged parents to the two’s dating lives. We also get a whole cast of quirky townsfolk, which absolutely makes me wish that Stars Hollow was real. There, I think that’s pretty much all you need to know!

Now for the book!

I expected Graham’s autobiography to simply be detailing the original production of the show in the early 2000s compared to the production of the revival episodes that came out in 2016. However, the majority of the book was a reflection on her acting career and how that’s transitioned into an additional writing career. I was even more surprised when Graham included an entire chapter on writing tips from screenwriter Don Roos that Graham herself has implemented into her life.

Roos’ method of writing is called “Kitchen Timer,” and is what it sounds like: setting a timer for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour and writing for that entire time. You treat this time exactly like an appointment or meeting, creating a space for it in your schedule and not letting in interruptions (calls, texts, Internet, reading, music with words, or anything other than writing). Writing is confined to this scheduled time as to not exhaust oneself, but it’s important to set aside time each day. Graham used this method to go back and forth between writing in her journal and writing her book, but I think it’s a wonderful approach that even the non-writer could use just for personal, private journaling!

I enjoyed Graham’s anecdotes and advice (ranging from relationships to fashion to writing) and encourage you to read her book if you’re a Gilmore Girls fan— and if you’ve never seen the show, what are you waiting for?! The “Kitchen Timer” method reminds me of my goal of mindfulness, and I’ve been trying to implement the purposeful, scheduled writing time into my daily routines, whether it’s for the blog or journaling. What I thought was just going to be a read about one of my favorite shows turned out to provide advice on writing and mindfulness!