Day 13 of #1000wordsofsummer 2023
Hi friends.
Today you will write 1000 words. Because life is a gorgeous and whirling mixture of sounds and images and feelings, and writing these words is one of the best ways for you to access it, participate in it, contribute to that joy, joy, joy. Because you are a writer. That is what you do. That is how you connect to it all.
Do you know that about yourself? That you’re a writer. Are you able to comfortably and confidently call yourself that? Don’t be shy. Be courageous. Own who you are. Own that you are here. That you have shown up for this project. That these are your words, you put them on the page. No one else did that. Just you.
That’s it today, for the letter. Just these words from me, encouraging you to give yourself love and respect. I want you to acknowledge what you’ve accomplished thus far. I want you to recognize what you’re capable of doing in the future. You are here. You are writing. Sit with this feeling for a moment. You are a writer.
One more note: the kindness you have extended each other on the slack, twitter, and elsewhere is incredible. Watching how everyone supports each other gives me a sense of peace and grace every single day. Thank you.
See you tomorrow for the final day.
Jami
You are reading Craft Talk, the home of #1000wordsofsummer and also a weekly newsletter about writing from Jami Attenberg. I’m also on twitter and instagram.
Still hanging in there. I look forward to your letter each day. They motivate me. I’ve fallen a bit behind but at 8000 words to date I’m so close and it feels good to accomplish that.
"Just these words from me, encouraging you to give yourself love and respect. I want you to acknowledge what you’ve accomplished thus far. I want you to recognize what you’re capable of doing in the future. You are here. You are writing. Sit with this feeling for a moment. You are a writer."
This is my first time doing the two week #1000 words of summer. I did the short one this winter and found it easy. As we are nearing the end, I'm giving myself a hard time. I've finished a first draft of a short story and today am editing/revising parts of it. I wrote 500 words in response to another's writing. The competitive part of me says I have to do 500 more words--revision doesn't count. And then I read Jami's words of encouragement. And it helps me back off myself. 1000 words is a nice round number. It's a good number in order to feel like one has written. But it's not carved in stone. I've done well today, I deserve my love and respect. I have finished a short story (well a first draft anyway!! but still, that's one more than I had this time last year!) So I just will keep talking that competitive part of me off the cliff and give her love and respect also. Thanks everyone.