Thanks, Laura, for sharing your life and books. Having just resurrected, reworked and publicly read a few poems, i am considering a writing commitment in addition to my other art forms. And I am resisting putting pressure on myself and just sitting with considering whether I have a full bodied yes. I bought a new large journal yesterday FOR WRITING and it is sitting across the room right now reminding me I wrote my name in it and the date and wondering why I did that if I
am not going to …… blah blah blah. I think I will go paint for a bit and just see what wants to move after that. ☮️➕💜
Oh Tam! I feel this. Whenever I set those intentions, and I miss one session, or have to adjust the commitment, because LIFE, I get cranky. I, too, have eyed blank journals from across the room, with great intent and a bit of trepidation! I really did intend to start a regular newsletter; I just never set dates on the calendar or insisted I follow through. Because nobody was there making me, and I couldn't imagine that FEWER or OCCASIONAL would even be noticed.
Painting sounds like a grand plan. I love when we can move into another space--whether a different art or moving our bodies or even getting laundry done--and that opens the creative tap again. Enjoy your creative time!
Once again, your humanity wins the day. I love what you said about being focused on those first weeks after publication and then sharing where you are a year later. The gifts that keep on giving. You give me heart here at the front end, a few months from launch. Thanks always for your wisdom and insights. Your "presence."
The actual publication feels so big, but there's so much more to the journey than that. I never looked around, three months in, and thought, WAS THAT IT? because I hadn't focused entirely on the first weeks of buzz. I know you'll be able to do the same--appreciate the rush and the ride of the first weeks, and then settle in for the long haul and the next book.
I love reading your posts, Laura. I always find them insightful. And, you know, I'm almost 70 and have been writing since I was 35 and have yet to publish a book. But I'm okay with that. The insight of old age, I guess. I still hope someone will pick up the novel I'm working on, but really the joy is in the writing itself, and not just the day to day labor of hammering out words--also the thinking, the planning, the creation, the work gives meaning to my life. Not that it's not difficult. And I do doubt myself--I can now see that there was a reason my two book-length manuscripts went nowhere. But I find learning is part of the process, part of the art.
Also, for Oenobooks, my Substack newsletter--thank you for the recommendation-- I've given up on regular postings. I write a review/pairing only when I feel inspired, when a book moves me, such as your novel "Singing Lessons of the Stylish Canary". So delightful!
Thanks, Laura, for sharing your life and books. Having just resurrected, reworked and publicly read a few poems, i am considering a writing commitment in addition to my other art forms. And I am resisting putting pressure on myself and just sitting with considering whether I have a full bodied yes. I bought a new large journal yesterday FOR WRITING and it is sitting across the room right now reminding me I wrote my name in it and the date and wondering why I did that if I
am not going to …… blah blah blah. I think I will go paint for a bit and just see what wants to move after that. ☮️➕💜
Oh Tam! I feel this. Whenever I set those intentions, and I miss one session, or have to adjust the commitment, because LIFE, I get cranky. I, too, have eyed blank journals from across the room, with great intent and a bit of trepidation! I really did intend to start a regular newsletter; I just never set dates on the calendar or insisted I follow through. Because nobody was there making me, and I couldn't imagine that FEWER or OCCASIONAL would even be noticed.
Painting sounds like a grand plan. I love when we can move into another space--whether a different art or moving our bodies or even getting laundry done--and that opens the creative tap again. Enjoy your creative time!
Once again, your humanity wins the day. I love what you said about being focused on those first weeks after publication and then sharing where you are a year later. The gifts that keep on giving. You give me heart here at the front end, a few months from launch. Thanks always for your wisdom and insights. Your "presence."
The actual publication feels so big, but there's so much more to the journey than that. I never looked around, three months in, and thought, WAS THAT IT? because I hadn't focused entirely on the first weeks of buzz. I know you'll be able to do the same--appreciate the rush and the ride of the first weeks, and then settle in for the long haul and the next book.
I love reading your posts, Laura. I always find them insightful. And, you know, I'm almost 70 and have been writing since I was 35 and have yet to publish a book. But I'm okay with that. The insight of old age, I guess. I still hope someone will pick up the novel I'm working on, but really the joy is in the writing itself, and not just the day to day labor of hammering out words--also the thinking, the planning, the creation, the work gives meaning to my life. Not that it's not difficult. And I do doubt myself--I can now see that there was a reason my two book-length manuscripts went nowhere. But I find learning is part of the process, part of the art.
Also, for Oenobooks, my Substack newsletter--thank you for the recommendation-- I've given up on regular postings. I write a review/pairing only when I feel inspired, when a book moves me, such as your novel "Singing Lessons of the Stylish Canary". So delightful!