114 Comments

Why is today not a national holiday?!

This is my sixth year. Thank you, Jami! Bonne chance to all of us!

Expand full comment

National #1000wordsofsummer day!

Expand full comment

I’m a first-timer and I will write a memoir. That sounds awfully pretentious. Because who am I write a memoir? 😊

Expand full comment

Hi Teri. I'm excited for you! My memoir is being published in October of this year. I'm still not sure who I am to write a memoir (the audacity, right?) but it's done.

Expand full comment

Congratulations! That’s wonderful!

Expand full comment

Congratulations, Denise. What is the title?

Expand full comment

Thank you! It's called Italian Blood.

Expand full comment

Every time I hear a woman say this, I offer one directive: the lives of girls and women, especially our INNER lives, are still not well known. This blankness in our culture allows other narratives to get written over our own stories. That affects everything from political power to scientific research. So get busy, for all of us!

Expand full comment

That is so true. As a woman of a certain age, I was taught to be small, to be quiet, and to please people. Elizabeth Lesser wrote a book called “Cassandra Speaks--When Women Are The Storytellers, The Human Story Changes”. I need to reread it.

Expand full comment

Great book!

Expand full comment

It is not in our culture only, Alicia.

In fact, I wonder which culture doesn't do that, the matriarcal societies of Amazon excepted.

Expand full comment

Excellent point!

Expand full comment

Because no one has lived your life yet everyone has lived your life. Write on and tell your truth 💕

Expand full comment

Because the personal is universal

Expand full comment

You are a writer, that's who! Memoir is such a critical genre and you deserve to add your voice to the commotion. It's gonna be great! 💕

Expand full comment

I did. You can!

Expand full comment

Bravo, Jennifer.

Expand full comment

You are not pretentious.

You are someone with a story you want to share.

Your story.

And I am ready to bet it is interesting.

Good luck.

I do not have this courage.

Expand full comment

First time for me, too! And I’m excited at the idea of embarking in this projects with so many writers all around the world! Ciao from Tuscany!

Expand full comment

Just finished my first 1000 words of summer. Im taking Jami's approach and handwriting 8 pages first thing in the morning and then type up and edit in the afternoons. My creative writing professor had a saying last semester: Talk to the page and the page will talk back. Im using this as my affirmation this week and let me tell you, the page had some interesting things to say today. I'll be exploring a specific territory and a few storylines over the next couple weeks. Excited to see where this ends up 14 thousand words later!

Expand full comment

I like that saying - talk to the page and the page will talk back. It's true! I like the surprises that happen along the way.

Expand full comment

I've been here since the beginning. Some years I've done great and others I've fallen out of rhythm after just a day or two. Some years I've skipped entirely. This year, I'll be on vacation for the back half, so I started my own little challenge last week. So far, I'm doing okay. I've missed a couple of days but the most important thing, to me, isn't the number of words but feeling the energy and spark of digging my hands into the work, touching it a little every day, figuring out what the shape of it is.

Wishing all of you that feeling of work well done over the next two weeks!

Expand full comment

<3

Expand full comment

I've been here since the beginning too, but only thanks to Jill, because she told me about it! So happy 1st-6th #1000wordsofsummer to all who observe!!! Seconding Jill on wishing everyone the good writing vibes and the energy and spark!!!

Expand full comment

LET'S GO! This is my very first time trying this out. I'm going to write 1000 words by 9pm tonight, starting now, 4:56pm!

Expand full comment

You and this #1000wordsofsummer are what I need, thank you. Not sure I can do this but already your words are inspiring me to make my words.

Expand full comment

Got my thousand this morning. Felt so good. My first time time was in 2021 to kickstart a novel I’d had on the back burner. Still going on it--front burner for the next two weeks. Thank you again, Jami, for championing writers in this way.

Expand full comment

I'm back for my sixth year of #1000wordsofsummer. Thank you, Jami, and thank you to this awesome community. Let's do it!

Expand full comment

First time participant, hearing up for a great first day! Thanks for the inspiring words Jami!

Expand full comment

Ciao a todos 🌞 this is my first time doing #1000wordsofsummer. It couldn’t have found me at a better time ! I am currently writing my first book and had been feeling a bit overwhelmed with the process, however being here reminds me why I stared. Looking forward to knowing more of you and being part of such a wonderful community of writers ✨ greetings from Mexico

Expand full comment

Really excited to participate for the first time! For me, it's all about letting go of the impulse to micro-edit every sentence or paragraph. I'm not sure what to expect exactly, which is actually very motivating. I look forward to seeing which insights and revelations arise along the way.

Expand full comment

I am back at it with y'all. Thanks for your inspiring words Jami!

Expand full comment

I had such a busy day, but sat down to write this evening and this was the most productive I've been in months--with part of a chapter I am feeling good about! This is my first year trying this, but this is such a gift; thank you, and my best to all of the other writers! Can't wait for my Father's Day 1,000!

Expand full comment

this is spooky - because I just finished writing a substack piece (well over the 1k words) and had forgotten all about this - so YAY - I've done something (two things?) without realising it! Double YAY. Of course I'll probably forget tomorrow - it's my neurospicy mind, not me.

Expand full comment

Neurospicy! 🔥 could not love that more.

Expand full comment

I did the mini 1000 in wintertime, and the result was my Substack! Since then I’ve published something in the neighborhood of 1k words each week on the project of cultivating family, whether biological or chosen. It began as a way to re-franchise the all-too-common grief of pregnancy loss (often a disenfranchised grief) and became something more beautiful and expansive. My goal with the summer 1000 is to see if there’s a book in this, so I’ll be writing part of the proposal today. That said, I’ve learned to be open to what comes up on the page each day with this. As Cheryl Strayed once said in a workshop I took -- you can outline and plan all you want, but be prepared for a horse you once killed to show up uninvited. Thankful for this community as I do -- the friends I’ve already made here, and the new ones I hope to find this time around!

Expand full comment