Day 10 of #1000wordsofsummer 2020

Hi friends,

Today you will write 1000 words. It is the tenth day of this project and you are still here, and you want to finish this goddamn thing. I see you out there. I know how focused you all are. You are committed, you are all in on your writing. You are claiming these words for yourself. And you can do this, you got this.

But –

It’s rainy here in New Orleans this morning, and the streets are empty. A storm is coming later, but for now I can just pretend it’s a simple, quiet, damp summer morning. The rain is good for my garden. Coffee in my hand, dog snoring at my feet.

Today I will write about family a little bit, a pleasant thing to contemplate. (For me, anyway!) I decided to give myself a little gift this morning, skip ahead to something easy in my essay collection, something that I knew would flow easily, that would be nice to consider for a while. Sometimes it’s OK to just let yourself write the thing that makes you feel good for a moment, whether it’s a different subject matter or form or genre or style. This is a hard thing we are all doing here together. If you need to, if you want to, if you’re able, can you give yourself a writing reward today?

Today’s guest contributor is one of my favorite people in the world, Maris Kreizman, who is the host of the highly recommended literary podcast The Maris Review.

“I need my surroundings to be just right in order to write. Get in the right headspace, get my favorite table at my favorite coffee shop, get my coffee order just right, hope that no loud conversations take place near me. Only then can the words tumble out of my head and onto my laptop in the order I desire. Finding an ideal space in which to write now seems like a distant dream, a fond memory from a different life. Especially if you’re stuck in a Brooklyn apartment like me. And yet I still need to get the words out of my head and into my Google Doc, even if the circumstances in which I write are out of my control for now. Here’s to finding new ways to get in the right headspace. Sitting on the couch with my dog begging for treats at my side and my husband (loudly!) recording a podcast in the next room, I take a moment to feel grateful for my current situation even as I attempt in my head to be somewhere else entirely.  Let the words find me no matter where I am.”

Maris asks that you consider donating here.

Have a nice Sunday, whatever you write.

Jami