I’m through caring about what publishers want. Instead, I want us to focus on writing stories that matter. And, as you might expect, I have some thoughts on how we go about doing that.
LINKS
The 3-Day Challenge: https://storyaday.org/3dc
SWAGr for July 2022
It’s that time again: time to make your commitments to your writing for the coming month. Join us!
Welcome to the Serious Writers’ Accountability Group!
Post your goals for this month and let us know how you got on with last month’s goals.
Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.
(It doesn’t have to be fiction. Feel free to use this group to push you in whatever creative direction you need.)
Did you live up to your commitment from last month? Don’t remember what you promised to do? Check out the comments from last month.
And don’t forget to celebrate with/encourage your fellow SWAGr-ers on their progress!
Download your SWAGr Tracking Sheet now, to keep track of your commitments this month
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Examples of Goals Set By SWAGr-ers in previous months
- Finish first draft of story and write 3 articles for my school paper. – Courtney
- Write on seven days this month – Clare
- Extend my reading and to read with a ‘writers eye’- Wendy
- write 10,000 words – Mary Lou
So, what will you accomplish this month? Leave your comment below (use the drop-down option to subscribe to the comments and receive lovely, encouraging notifications from fellow StADa SWAGr-ers!)
(Next check-in, 1st of the month. Tell your friends!)
A Fresh Pespective
Vacations can give us a much needed fresh perspective, as writers and creators, but you don’t have to cross an ocean to see things a-fresh.
LINKS
StoryADay.org/episode254
Take the 3-Day Challenge: StoryADay.org/3dc
What is Your Legacy, As A Writer – Episode 253
Writers don’t just write for themselves, we write to be read, and with that we leave a legacy. in this episode I tell the story of two writers who left an impact on me, and invite you to think about your legacy
LINKS:
The 3-Day Challenge – https://storyaday.org/3dc
I, WRITER Waitlist – https://stada.me/iwriter
Music credits: Alan McPike, https://standardstrax.com/
Video credit: (Tony Conaway) Gary Zenker, Main Line Writers’ Group (full video https://youtu.be/1R0rqla54hk)
SWAGr for June 2022
It’s that time again: time to make your commitments to your writing for the coming month. Join us!
Welcome to the Serious Writers’ Accountability Group!
Post your goals for this month and let us know how you got on with last month’s goals.
Leave a comment below telling us how you got on last month, and what you plan to do next month, then check back in on the first of each month, to see how everyone’s doing.
(It doesn’t have to be fiction. Feel free to use this group to push you in whatever creative direction you need.)
Did you live up to your commitment from last month? Don’t remember what you promised to do? Check out the comments from last month.
And don’t forget to celebrate with/encourage your fellow SWAGr-ers on their progress!
Download your SWAGr Tracking Sheet now, to keep track of your commitments this month
****
Examples of Goals Set By SWAGr-ers in previous months
- Finish first draft of story and write 3 articles for my school paper. – Courtney
- Write on seven days this month – Clare
- Extend my reading and to read with a ‘writers eye’- Wendy
- write 10,000 words – Mary Lou
So, what will you accomplish this month? Leave your comment below (use the drop-down option to subscribe to the comments and receive lovely, encouraging notifications from fellow StADa SWAGr-ers!)
(Next check-in, 1st of the month. Tell your friends!)
The cost of not writing
I hate interviews where authors say things like, “I simply have to write, it’s like breathing.”
I don’t know about you, but I find it pretty easy to not-write.
I just sit there. Or I eat more. Or I doomscroll.
It feels easier, in the moment, to not-write, because writing can be hard.
Vulnerable.
Scary.
But what’s the real cost of not writing?
Gnawing envy when some other writer succeeds?
Growing older and slowing down, with your stories still buried inside?
Never again experiencing the thrill of soaring on the updraft of inspiration?
Forgetting who you are?
Being forgotten?
Not living as an authentic version of you?
Are you really willing to pay that cost?
What’s Your Legacy?
One evening at university when I should have been reading a dry history text, I instead lounged in a threadbare armchair in my rented apartment, reading a paperback historical mystery about Richard III. My friend walked into the room and did a double-take.
“Oh!” she said. “That’s my great-aunt’s novel!”
The author, Josephine Tey, is long departed and I haven’t seen that friend for more than 20 years, but I can never hear anything about the Tudors (and I’m a history buff, so this comes up a lot for me) without thinking of my friend, and her great-aunt. They live alongside each other on a shelf in the permanent collection of my memory.
That’s Josephine Tey’s legacy.
I treasure the memory of my friend Tony, big voice booming out at a local open mic night, trying out stories that might never be published, making me laugh and, later, being generous with his writing advice. It makes it feel like he’s still here with me, even as I miss him.
I’m glad he took the chance on all the stories he wrote.
That’s Tony’s legacy.
Who might be grateful for your legacy?
(Hint: it starts with you, but it ripples out from there to the people who love you and the people who will never meet you, but stumble across your story at exactly the right moment in their lives.)
Your stories will never be perfect. They don’t have to be. They just have to be told, to make an impact. On you and on others.
If you’re ready to take a chance on yourself and your writing, I have the framework that will support you. You’ll find it in the I, WRITER Course.
Starting June 4, 2022, your legacy begins.
What story will someone tell, one day, about the day they discovered your legacy?
Join me in the I, WRITER Course
Registration ends today. And your new story begins.