Local Writer Explores The Territory Between The Dream And The Doing

By Nancy K. Crevier

Sophfronia Scott has never been afraid to dream. “That’s where I’m going,” she declared to her first grade teacher when she read of Helen Keller’s longing to attend Harvard.

Editor, novelist, e-zine author, personal coach, daughter, sister, wife, mother — and Harvard graduate — Sophfronia Scott has come a long way from her roots in the steel mill town of Lorain, Ohio.

A Newtown resident since last January, along with her husband, Darryl Gregory, and 15-month-old son, Tain, Ms Scott is a powerhouse of energy, ideas, and positive thinking. Time magazine’s youngest cover story writer in the early 90s and a successful editor at People Magazine and Teen People, in 2003 she left her position at the magazine to pursue a career in fiction writing and to develop her life-coaching business. “At Harvard,” she says, “I learned to dream big.” Writing a book was just one more dream to pursue.

“I hadn’t written any fiction since college,” she confesses. “Time consumed my life. I didn’t even read anything besides newspapers or magazines for seven years.” It was a chance meeting with actor Keith Hamilton Cobbs while at People Magazine that put her back in the writer’s chair. “I talked with him about life choices, and he introduced me to his acting coach. She was part of a Women and Take Out group that met the first Monday every month. There were writers and actors. They were inspiring and sparked my creativity.” The writing group offered her the opportunity to reconnect with a desire to write fiction again. “I knew it was time,” she says, “That I could start telling stories again.”

She started to develop a novel while still at People Magazine, even though devoting herself to writing was difficult at first. “Then I met an agent at a Harvard class reunion and we had a serious discussion about my book,” she recalls. She recognized that this could be a new opportunity.

Ms Scott returned to Manhattan, where she lived at the time, determined to make time to finish the novel she had begun. The Writer’s Room in Greenwich Village provided her with the peaceful space she needed to concentrate, and three to four evenings a week were devoted to crafting her book. Gradually, her first novel, All I Need To Get By, took shape.

The idea for All I Need To Get By had stirred around in her head for a long time before she put the words to paper. “I had the first sentence in the book in my head for years,” she says. “It came from a dream I really had, where my brother died. I knew that a key theme to my book would be about a family that takes care of each other. Then I started asking myself questions, like ‘What if someone doesn’t hold up their end of the deal?’ Asking yourself questions is important in writing.”

In 2004, St Martin’s Press published All I Need to Get By. She has been thrilled with the book’s success, which she credits to the hard work she put into the writing, promoting, and marketing of it. The novel sold out of its initial 10,000-copy printing, and is currently in its third printing. There are thrills associated with publication that go beyond any monetary recompense, as well. “Walking down the street and seeing a big Barnes & Noble poster of my book in the window, now that’s exciting,” she exclaims, adding, “I cannot tell you how happy I am just to have the word ‘author’ associated with my name.”

The publication process of her novel was not always smooth or what she had anticipated, but it was a huge learning experience for her. Realizing that there were many other writers who weren’t clear on how to get that word “author” attached to their name, she was inspired to start an e-zine (a magazine online), The Book Sistah (www.TheBookSistah.com). She wanted to share with other aspiring authors the ups and downs and ins and outs of getting a book off the ground. “I’m all about writers understanding their craft. If you really understand your work, you know that things can change,” says Ms Scott. “That’s what I got from five years at Time: there are ways to make your writing better.”

The free reports and tips issued in The Book Sistah benefit her in ways that are not monetary. “As a writer, it is fascinating to talk about the writing process. I put information out there and reach people. I wanted to answer questions people had.”

Helping people answer questions is another aspect of this writer’s life. When she left the magazine world to write, she realized that she would need an additional way to earn a living. “I knew I wanted to work for myself and I knew I wanted to be at home. That really hit home after 9/11. I didn’t know what that business would be, but I knew my best product was me,” she says. She enrolled in a course at the Learning Annex in New York. “How To Become A Personal Coach” was a perfect fit for her. “I knew immediately I would do it and become successful,” she claims. In the class she learned to channel what she knew into skills that could help people change. “We learn to listen,” she says of her personal coaching skills. “We learn how and what to listen for. And we do a lot of personal development for ourselves, so we can serve as role models for our clients.”

The e-zine was her answer to one of her own questions, “How can I blend two jobs?” She loved writing and she loved coaching people, but she wanted one job. The Book Sistah uses her skills and experiences as a coach, as well as those she is learning as a writer.

A spin-off of her e-zine is another book, The Book Sistah’s 21-Step Guide to Writing, Publishing and Marketing Your Book. The book, which includes a workbook and eight CDs, will be published in early 2006. She is also creating an audio CD, Unleash the Writer Within, and will visit book clubs and writing groups.

While it seems that the e-zine and its offshoots occupy a large part of Ms Scott’s time, she has not set aside fiction writing. She is presently working on her second novel, tentatively titled A Family of Widows. The novel is a period piece, she says, that takes place during the Harlem Renaissance. Her main character is based on Madam C.J. Walker, who created hair care products in the early 1900s. As with her first novel, the book will revolve around family relationships.

“I’ll always be writing about families,” she says — and dreaming big.