Photo credit: Quince Creative on Pixabay
As my research into indie publishing continues, I’ve come face to face certain less-than-pleasant truths, such as how much it costs to publish a book that looks like . . . well, a real book, as opposed to something I printed on the ancient laser printer in my home office and hawked on Instagram.
Turns out, indie publishing ain’t cheap. Continue reading
I discovered this lovely artwork last week. Talk about perfect timing!
This gorgeous piece was created by author Meagan Schultz (@meaganschultzwrites on Instagram) and is used with her gracious permission. Thanks, Meagan!
Photo credit: Sincerely Media on Unsplash
The most important thing to know is what you don’t know.
In my case, this includes a wide array of topics. Luckily, I’m a researcher by trade and by nature. This has upsides and downsides.
The upside is obvious: people pay me to research things, which pays my bills. Having the time, experience, and inclination to dig deeply enables my clients to advise their clients of their options and rights. Knowledge is power, or so Sir Francis Bacon is believed to have said. Continue reading
Prelude
All the signs were there.
As a teenager, when I pictured my someday home, I imagined a cottage in the woods. Peaceful and serene, with a typewriter, a piano, and a cat. No children running around; no husband interrupting my concentration. Just me, on my own, writing books. Continue reading
Photo credit: Chris Galbraith on Unsplash
Once upon a time, I awoke on a Wednesday morning in August. The sun was bright and summer-hot. My workload was summer-light. I called my friend, K, who was also a freelancer, and said, “Let’s go to the beach!”
“When?” she asked reasonably.
“Now,” I replied. Continue reading
Once upon a time, there was a lovely glass of inexpensive pinot grigio:
The glass sat next to a statuette made from the ash of Mount St. Helens:
The clumsy person who was drinking the wine tipped the glass over. She reached for it, but not before it knocked against the statuette. At first, it appeared that all was well, but what the drinker didn’t know was that the impact of the fragile glass against the rock-hard statuette was fatal to the wineglass.
Moments later, just as it seemed all was well, the bowl of the wineglass fell off, and the wine poured out the hole in the bottom of the bowl
Moral of the story: if you’re in possession of fragile glassware and rock-hard figurines, there are benefits to drinking white wine rather than red:
Last week, I found the end of the rainbow.
Turns out, it’s in my front garden. At least, it was.
Allow me to explain. Continue reading
Photo credit: Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash
Is there anything more delicious than a new word?
Yes: the moment you realize that a true artist has used that new word. Brilliantly. Continue reading
For fourteen days, I wrote 1,000 words every day. Regardless of whether I had anything to say, I wrote. I produced words, sentences, paragraphs. I met the challenge.
I expected that at the end, I’d have developed a new writing practice that would have me writing 1,000 words a day forever.
What I didn’t expect was to be so freaking exhausted. Continue reading
Chariots of Fire, 1981
Day Fourteen: Done. 1,017 words.
Challenge completed.
So, that’s it. For fourteen consecutive days, I’ve written 1,000 words every single day. Some fiction, some material for blog posts, some stream-of-consciousness. No matter how I’ve felt—good, bad, energized, tired, inspired, dry—I’ve written.
I don’t know yet if this was a good challenge for me. Certainly it came at a hard time, but it’s not as if we’ve had any particularly easy times in the past few months. Still, before I decide whether to keep pursuing it on my own, separate and apart from the official challenge, I need to assess what occurred over these two weeks.
Certainly some good has come out of it. I’ve begun what I think will be a novella but could, in fact, be more. So far, I like it. Would I have done this if I hadn’t felt compelled to write something every day? Unlikely. So that’s a point in favor of this challenge.
On the other hand, I’m grateful that it’s over. Forcing myself to write 1,000 words every day creates in me the fear that I could end up hating writing. Maybe a completely unwarranted fear, or maybe a very reasonable concern. Again, something to think about.
In any case, I did it. Many, many thanks to everybody who has participated with me—those who’ve written, those who’ve read these posts or tweets, those who’ve commented, those who’ve come alongside in spirit. Writing is a solitary business. It’s good to have friends cheering you on, none more so than Jami Attenberg, the creator of this challenge who sent out daily emails to inspire us all and keep us writing.
Thanks, everybody.
Photo credit: Anna Tukhfatullina (Unsplash)
