Crafting a writing life isn’t all about knowing where to put commas and how to develop characters. It’s also about engaging with other humans. This week I’m in conversation with Larissa Sjarbaini, a high performance coach, about how to do that and why you might want to, even if you’re an extreme introvert. And stay tuned for an opportunity to develop your own game plan for a writing life
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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.
Something I do with the StoryADay Superstars, is get together once in a while for writing sprints.
During this next couple of weeks, when everyone is isolating physically, I thought it might be helpful to open that up to the whole community. So you’re invited to join us for some writing dates!
Last year I got together with Marya Brennan, the director of NaNoWriMo’s Young Writers’ program to talk about short stories.
We had so much fun that we decided to do it again this year. This time we took a close look at Flash Fiction. Here’s a replay of the livestream.
If you have any young people in your life, they may want to enter the NaNoWriMo YWP’s Flash Fiction Contest, running now (closing date: May 31)
I’ve been stalling on writing this blog post for about two weeks.
Don’t worry, it’s not bad news or anything. I just couldn’t write it.
You know the feeling, right? You want to work on a project, but every time you sit down, something is wrong. You can’t find your way into the story, or you are seized with a sudden urge to research the perfect lamp for your desk…
To get this post going, I used one of my favorite, sure-fire tricks:
Continue reading “What I Do When The Writing Stalls”
Recently I was an invited speaker at a reading featuring local authors.
I got some laughs (phew!) and sold some books. It took nerve to do it, but I’m so glad I did.
In the breaks, I talked to other writers whose stories I had enjoyed immensely. And guess what? They knew who I was and told me they’d enjoyed my story. Some of them even asked questions about the status of the novel I’d read from at a similar event five months ago.
Can you imagine how that felt?
These great writers and performers remembered my work?!
Some of these writers have connections with a wider circle of writers in the area, some of whom are pretty big deals in their genres.
And now I have a connection to that wider world.
I want to talk to you today about how you can build and expand on YOUR network of writers
I got my opportunity because of a tiny decision I made about 8 years ago, to turn up at a local writers’ group’s critique night.
That group has been one of the best ways for me to get embedded in the local writing scene, and a wider writing scene. We share tips about conferences, contests, scholarships, events, blogs we’ve liked, podcasts we’ve discovered, basically anything to do with improving our craft. Sometimes we become friends
But Julie, I hear you say, I thought you said it was a critique group.
It is!
There’s a vulnerability and trust in the act of sharing your work, that encourages deep connections to grow.
I know I’m lucky. I live in a densely-populated area with lots of over-educated people, many of whom want to write.
You may not be so lucky.
Except that you are, because we live in the future, and we can do almost anything online that my group does in the physical world.
And this is the bit where I finally get to the point.
This time last year I offered a ten-day online critique group. A dozen writers showed up, critiqued each other’s work and received a full critique of a story (or 3000 words of a longer piece) from me and at least three other members of the group.
And I’m doing it again this year.
and I’ll send you my Critique Group Primer so you can always have the best experiences no matter where you get your critiques.
