4 Lessons On Writing From Watching Anna Delvey

Inventing Anna digs hard on personal narratives and blogs

I can’t stop thinking about the scene in Inventing Anna, when reporter Vivian Kent shames the value of personal stories.

Vivian’s sole purpose is to be the first to break the story on Anna Delvey, and her anxiety rockets when she learns Vanity Fair has released their article before she has finished her research.

But then, she realizes it might not be such a big deal after all, when she reads Rachel DeLoache Williams’ personal story:

Vivian: Wait, she wrote it herself? It’s a first hand account. She wrote it herself. This is good. This is really good for us.

Some office banter, then Vivian continues..

Vivian: I’m not insulting the Vanity Fair piece, I’m not saying it’s bad journalism, I’m not saying it’s not journalism at all. Because Rachel wrote it herself. She’s not a writer or a journalist.

(Inventing Anna, Netflix)

Ouch.

Rachel’s piece in Vanity Fair is really entertaining. I gobbled it up.

Vivian Kent is slamming the value of individual experience.

But she’s right.

The scene continues:

Vivian: No this is not scooped. It’s not a real article. There’s no facts, there’s no research, there’s no interviews. She’s just complaining about her friend. It’s basically an email girls trip gone wrong.

Paul: Which goes to my point about lack of content and interest in a story like this.

Vivian: Paul, her piece lacks content. Rachel is in the dark. She’s got no clue about the banks, the law firms or the true scale of what Anna did.

(Inventing Anna, Netflix)

Ummm…what are we to do with this?

There are a lot of us in internet-land burnishing our souls on personal narratives about misadventures, frustrations, losses, and discoveries.

It made me cringe to think that all of my stories basically hinge on my small experiences.

I am in awe of the doggedness and integrity with which Vivian Kent pursues her story on Anna Delvey.

So as writers, what can we learn from this scene?

1. ) Research: Vivian Kent spends months researching her article. Some articles need to simmer, ferment, percolate, whatever you want to call it, while you gather information to speak with authority and skill.
2. )Connect your personal stories to a larger context: My favorite writing promotes engagement, empathy and community. Readers want to feel connected to a narrative larger than themselves. This means having an awareness of the “big picture” or over-arching story that your life takes place in.
3. )What is a “real” writer anyway? To me it’s someone who courts the blank page with consistency. Note, I’m not saying “publishes” — the two are not the same. However, there is a qualitative difference in the essay I spend weeks or months developing, versus the article I develop quickly for a platform. But I rely on both strategies to develop my writing in the long term.
4. )Be clear about your mission, and be okay with it. If I could do life over again, I would love to be a reporter like Vivian Kent. But sitting on my couch typing, with my daughter nestled at my feet home from school with a cold, the million errands I have to run this afternoon, the board meeting I need to prepare for…becoming Vivian Kent is not on my agenda. And that’s okay.

I’m an essayist: I try to harness thoughts into paragraphs and bridge ideas and connect with other humans. Through writing, I try to make sense of the world. That’s not journalism, but it’s necessary all the same.

I’ve been enjoying hate/loving Inventing Anna with fellow Medium writer Melissa Marietta. Check out the German heiress stuck in her head:

Want some more unlikely writing advice? Read these other pieces by me:

And another piece about Anna Delvey…

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