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1,000 Words of Summer, Day Four

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Day Four: Done. 1,034 words, divided over two sections of the manuscript.

I continue to be amazed at how this story is developing as I push myself to write more. Shortly before the pandemic, I’d discovered a pair of new characters, but I didn’t know what to do with them. Now, because I’m committed to adding a thousand words to their tale every day, I’m finding out so much about them and how they interact with my main character.

It’s like all those articles say: don’t wait to be inspired. Sit down and start putting words on the page, and the ideas will show up. Thanks, #1000wordsofsummer!

How are you doing? Have you written your 1,000 words yet today? If so, let us know!

1,000 Words of Summer, Day Three

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How I feel right now

Day Three: Done. 1,011 words on my novel-in-progress.

If it hadn’t been for this challenge, I wouldn’t have written today. Spent five hours on billable work, plus time checking social media for updates about the protests, and the to-do list is still long—pay bills, feed cats, do submissions for contests and journals with midnight deadlines, put away laundry, take out garbage and recycling for pickup tomorrow morning, fix dinner—and that’s just what’s coming to mind now, at 8:46 p.m.

Nope. No way I’d have written without this challenge, but I’m glad I did because the story is taking an interesting turn. Thanks, #1000wordsofsummer!

1,000 Words of Summer, Day Two

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It’s spring, and the toilet paper is (finally) in bloom!

Day Two: Done. 1,016 words on a potential blog post.

It’s a glorious day here on the back porch, and I’d love to keep writing. Alas, I need to mow the lawn, do the laundry, and do billable work to replenish the bank account after this morning’s grocery expedition (see above).

How did you do on Day Two? (If it’s Day One for you, no problem–just keep your own count.) Let us know in the comments!

#1000wordsofsummer

1,000 Words of Summer, Day One

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I truly didn’t feel like writing today, not after talking last night with a friend who lives in Minneapolis and seeing online everything that was going on in her city, a few short miles from her idyllic home on a quiet side street.

I really didn’t feel like writing fiction. I figured that if I wrote anything, it would be a blog post or essay or journal entry about the dumpster fire that is our current reality.

Continue reading →

Word by Word

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writing spot 5-8-15

We’ve all read by now that Shakespeare wrote King Lear during the plague. The takeaway seems to be that public health emergencies are conducive to great (albeit really, really depressing) art. Continue reading →

On Turning 60 Without Having Published a Book (Yet)

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Yes, friends, it’s true: I shall reach the exalted age of sixty soon. Very soon. Very.

hourglass

Recently, I watched an episode of “Sex and the City” in which Charlotte announced that she was not going to turn 36 on her birthday because “I’m just not where I thought I’d be at 36, so I’m sticking at 35.” Granted, she was in a tough spot: her marriage had crumbled under the stress of infertility, and her efforts to resume the career she’d paused for babymaking had proven fruitless. Still, it set me to wondering: am I where I thought I’d be at 60? Continue reading →

Feeling Like It

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(Magnet on the whiteboard over my desk)

* * *

There are at least a dozen things I need to do today, but I’m writing this blog post instead.

Why?

Because I feel like it. Continue reading →

A Couple of Reasons to Take a Class

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writing

There are tons of excellent reasons to take classes, including:

  • You can learn something;
  • You can improve a skill you already had;
  • You can meet people who are interested in the same things as you;
  • You can have fun.

Another reason, less frequently touted, is this: you might write something that gets published and earns you a few bucks. Continue reading →

Submitting Stories: A Few Thoughts

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This afternoon, I woke from a nap and checked my email (as one does). Among the messages, two stood out.

One was a very kind rejection from a literary magazine.

The other was an acceptance from Intrinsick, an online literary journal.

Continue reading →

Frozen

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ice

Last weekend, I did something unusual: I ate breakfast at the coffee shop near my house. Continue reading →