A couple of things happened this week that I wanted to share with you, my dear writer friends.

Saying ‘No’ For The Right Reasons

Firstly, we’re gearing up for Critique Week here at StoryADay, which means some writers were saying ‘yes!’ to the opportunity to share their work and get feedback. 

And some writers said ‘no’.

They said ‘no’ for all kinds of reasons from: ‘Life is too busy’, to ‘I haven’t written anything for a while’, to ‘I can’t face it’. 

But some writers in the StoryADay community let me know they were saying ‘no’ for the best of reasons: because they were busy working on projects that don’t need feedback yet. 

(Hooray! More stories!)

There are so many opportunities out there to take classes, join groups, and generally get distracted by busy-work, that I’m celebrating those writers who said ‘not just now. I’m busy, writing!’

Piecing Together A Writing Life

In my eternal quest to help writers Actually Do The Thing (™), I scheduled a few extra ‘write with me’ sessions on Zoom for folks taking part in my Polish & Submit Sprint, leading up to Critique Week.

What happened next? 

All those little 25-minute ‘sprints’ added up to 543 words here, 200 words there, a climax written, and stories that had been languishing on a hard drive, actually being finished.

Me? I chipped away at a scene that has bothering me for an embarrassingly long time…and had a breakthrough that allowed me to finish and submit a piece I’m pleased with.

I, and every one of those other writers felt AWESOME, because we showed up for our writing, and made incremental, sometimes startling, progress.

Lesson learned: show up often, focus on finishing things, have the courage to lean on your community…and writing—and sometimes writing breakthroughs–will happen.

What will you do, this week, to give yourself the gift of time to focus on your writing?