Jessica French

Jessica French is a co-owner of The Sidetrack Bar & Grill, a staple of Depot Town in Ypsilanti. View Jessica's feature poster [PDF].

What do you write?

“Currently, I write a lot of technical [communications] for my job. I get to write missives to my friends who live across the country, and those tend to get more creative. I also write a newsletter for Sidetrack, and I have a partner who helps with that. We’ve been doing it for about a decade. At this point, it goes out to 17,000 people a month. It’s a daunting ‘send.’”

Why do you write?

“I’m definitely a better writer than I am a communicator through speech. I think writing gives you a chance to be really purposeful in the words you use and the ways in which you’re structuring what you want to say. Writing is a way for me to make sense of my thoughts in a way people can understand. It’s a therapeutic task. I also write because words are absolutely awesome. There’s not much more interesting than the English language.”

What is the most memorable thing you have written?

“When I was a senior in high school, I wrote a slam poem that qualified me for the National Youth Slam Poetry team. I think that was a more memorable moment because it became public. My wedding vows would be an equally important and memorable experience. I don’t think I’ve ever struggled with something in the way I struggled to write my vows. It wasn’t about being concise or proving my point or persuading the reader. It was solely about communicating the way I felt about someone.”