This a manifesto, thanks, Kate! As I push through the 5th draft of my novel, I think I am somewhere between VI and VII; hope to get to the latter in the start of the new year. It just feels impossible enough, even as long as I've worked on it (close to two years) that I know it's right and good to keep going a while longer.
Many new writers often see writing as something that looks hard, or a struggle or something that seems impossible. But this is really not the case. The best writing you'll do is already 'there' around you, you just have to be open to receiving it. You'll become a conduit for it to flow through. It's not something you need to overthink. You just need to trust that it will come naturally, when it is ready to do so. Good luck to you all, whatever stage you're at in your writing career... :)
I loved every word of this but felt this especially hard: “If it has returned to you, uncrowned, sit with it for a while.”
I am so scared of my manuscript coming back uncrowned, and sometimes I let the fear freeze me. It’s helpful to not hide from that worry but to sit with it, to remember that even if my ms goes uncrowned, it’s not over. There will always be a next, and a next, and a next thing. There will still be writing. As long as I’m here. That’s the best and worst thing ever!
Printing this out to hang on my wall. If anyone makes this into a poster for sale on Etsy, let me know ❤️
This one goes into the "Saved" folder - love these three especially...
VIII
If you’ve sent it off into the world, good job.
You’ve done another incredibly hard thing.
IX
Let it have the life it is going to have out there.
You can’t control it once it’s out of your hands.
X
Write the next thing, even if that too is impossible.
You already did it once before.
This a manifesto, thanks, Kate! As I push through the 5th draft of my novel, I think I am somewhere between VI and VII; hope to get to the latter in the start of the new year. It just feels impossible enough, even as long as I've worked on it (close to two years) that I know it's right and good to keep going a while longer.
Going to print this out and hang it next to my desk
thank you so much, Kate. this is exactly what I needed to read today. and everyday.
all the best to you!
Rochelle
Many new writers often see writing as something that looks hard, or a struggle or something that seems impossible. But this is really not the case. The best writing you'll do is already 'there' around you, you just have to be open to receiving it. You'll become a conduit for it to flow through. It's not something you need to overthink. You just need to trust that it will come naturally, when it is ready to do so. Good luck to you all, whatever stage you're at in your writing career... :)
Bookmarked
“The hard things are the good things.
It feels even better when you’re done.”
YES 🙌 🙌🙌🙌
I keep this in mind every time I post on Substack. I like to lean into the tough/uncomfortable.
Michael Mohr
Sincere American Writing
https://michaelmohr.substack.com/
👍👍👍
Ok so maybe I should make a print of this, hmmm?
I planned to print it, yes.
Gonna print this and stick it on the wall. Thank you!!
This sums it up ever so well.
I love this, but I'd take a different tack:
I
Among twenty unfinished manuscripts,
The only moving thing
Was the TV remote.
II
I was of three minds,
Like a auction
In which there are multiple bidders.
III
The reject letter whirled in the autumn winds
like a child screaming at a pantomime.
IV
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and an agent
Are one.
V
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of notes
Or the beauty of praise,
An author weeping
Or just after.
VI
Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass
because I threw my broken laptop
through it.
VII
O thin men of Haddam,
Where is my royalty check?
VIII
I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But the copyeditor knows
The Chicago Manual of Style.
IX
When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It crapped on the edge
Of one of many useless social media circles.
X
At the sight of assistants
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out, Pay them!
to end the strike.
XI
The publisher rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
that this ride
he couldn't expense.
XII
The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.
Still no response to my query.
XIII
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The writer sat
In the cedar-limbs,
waiting for inspiration.
Needed this reminder this week -
I loved every word of this but felt this especially hard: “If it has returned to you, uncrowned, sit with it for a while.”
I am so scared of my manuscript coming back uncrowned, and sometimes I let the fear freeze me. It’s helpful to not hide from that worry but to sit with it, to remember that even if my ms goes uncrowned, it’s not over. There will always be a next, and a next, and a next thing. There will still be writing. As long as I’m here. That’s the best and worst thing ever!
I love this. It would be wonderful to have it beautifully printed and framed!