Hi friends. Greetings from London, where I am tuckered out, but happy to be alive, feeling shifted a bit, understanding some new things about myself. The most I can ask for from travel, truly. A few bits of business first: This week’s donation is going to
My big WIP is research-based narrative NF. The research is not far enough advanced for me to use it during this time. So I am going to concentrate (1000words/day) on bits and pieces of the memoir that has been nibbling (gnawing) at me, and make a deep dive into it every day -- unless a compelling poem comes along and demands to be first. The focus on the memoir will be the deep dive, because I spent too many years writing picturesque little memory pieces about my picturesque childhood to entertain my writing buddies. Memoir pieces retrieved by deep diving will be better than the memory pieces.
How do I sign on to the #1000wordsofsummer 2022? I am an educator and want to sign on. Thanks for letting me know....I plan to dig through my years of journals to find nuggets and then to write to them, prompt by prompt, bird by bird. The bigger plan is to tell my story.
First timer of #1000wordsofsummer. I'm an executive coach and author of the memoir, Carrying My Father's Torch. My goals 1) start a new journal, 2) resume timed, intentional morning writing, and 2) complete and submit 1-2 articles for publication. Get back to the roots and rigor of writing to publish. P.S. I love writing by hand, with a graceful pen.
My goal for #1000words of summer is both simple and daunting: resume work on the manuscript that I started in 2014, during a workshop with Dani Shapiro. It began life as a memoir, but recent grapplings with the text have convinced me that what I'm really writing is an autobiographical novel. I plan to work on a composite character I've devised. His name is Ray, and he's responsible for the action that set one of my central characters into a tailspin, thus defining the trajectory of his life. I know that I (and the character who is me in the book) don't like him very much. But I've learned from enough teachers to know that I need to write about him with some kind of understanding...maybe even compassion. This will be difficult. I plan to work on Ray during the two weeks of #words, then seam him into the larger manuscript. My bio doesn't state this, but I just turned 66. My larger objective is to complete this novel (and find an agent and publisher) before I enter my 7th decade. I'm grateful for the opportunity afforded by your vision, Jami. Thank you.
i plan to use #1000wordsofsummer to revise my manuscript (i wrote a whole novel last summer!).
but would love any advice on space for writing when working from home.
once covid hit i wrote and did work on the same computer in the same room and while that clearly still worked i'd prefer to have some visible or tangible distinction. i have a work laptop and a personal desktop computer. my house is not at all big lol.
Taking your suggestion, I plan to use #1000words of summer to make what I hope (!!) are final edits to my forthcoming book, although on many days my goal will be to cut 1000 words. It's time to reduce the thin broth of my wordy manuscript to a thick, rich gumbo-y book!
Thanks for sharing this Jami! I’m just at the beginning of a book project and I’m sure defining my goals for the next month and getting all the little ‘prep’ bits done will free up my mind to write. Looking forward to June 4th!
I haven't participated in #1000wordsofsummer yet. I could give you 1,000 reasons but they would all be lies. This post (and the lovely replies) made me think maybe this time I'll throw off my excuses and join in.
I just gave birth to twins and, ironically, I’ve never been more productive. Before when I had the whole day sprawled before me I could make all the false starts, holding out for perfection (ha!), or procrastinate. Now I write a paragraph when I can and no looking back until I’m finished with this draft. By the end of the day I can usually squeeze in about two pages. The twins are almost six months old and I’m almost done with the draft I’ve been puttering with for two years! All of which is to say, my strategy for getting words down: ever onward! Editing is for when the draft is finished!
May 4, 2022·edited May 4, 2022Liked by Jami Attenberg
I used to think I should be able to write at my mother’s house even with all the noise of her three TVs blasting, but I do need to get out of the house, and the half mile walk to the library or cafe gives me time to empty my mind, and the different noises around me do help. I wear noise cancelling headphones at the cafe sometimes, with my own music playing when the cafe’s music is terrible.
nabbed a new journal gifted to me at the holidays, slapped a post it on it "#1000 words of summer" and committing to 1 hr each day. Jami - thanks for inspiration!
I’m so glad you sent this! Helps me begin to wrap my head around another challenge (I just finished a 40 day one that provided a ton of revelation on my current memoir-in-progress). When will it officially start? I want to go ahead and get it on the calendar, and alert my partner as well haha.
My big WIP is research-based narrative NF. The research is not far enough advanced for me to use it during this time. So I am going to concentrate (1000words/day) on bits and pieces of the memoir that has been nibbling (gnawing) at me, and make a deep dive into it every day -- unless a compelling poem comes along and demands to be first. The focus on the memoir will be the deep dive, because I spent too many years writing picturesque little memory pieces about my picturesque childhood to entertain my writing buddies. Memoir pieces retrieved by deep diving will be better than the memory pieces.
How do I sign on to the #1000wordsofsummer 2022? I am an educator and want to sign on. Thanks for letting me know....I plan to dig through my years of journals to find nuggets and then to write to them, prompt by prompt, bird by bird. The bigger plan is to tell my story.
First timer of #1000wordsofsummer. I'm an executive coach and author of the memoir, Carrying My Father's Torch. My goals 1) start a new journal, 2) resume timed, intentional morning writing, and 2) complete and submit 1-2 articles for publication. Get back to the roots and rigor of writing to publish. P.S. I love writing by hand, with a graceful pen.
Thanks for this Jami! I’m a first-timer and I love the idea of handwriting being freeing - don’t suppose you know how many A4 pages makes 1000 words?
My goal for #1000words of summer is both simple and daunting: resume work on the manuscript that I started in 2014, during a workshop with Dani Shapiro. It began life as a memoir, but recent grapplings with the text have convinced me that what I'm really writing is an autobiographical novel. I plan to work on a composite character I've devised. His name is Ray, and he's responsible for the action that set one of my central characters into a tailspin, thus defining the trajectory of his life. I know that I (and the character who is me in the book) don't like him very much. But I've learned from enough teachers to know that I need to write about him with some kind of understanding...maybe even compassion. This will be difficult. I plan to work on Ray during the two weeks of #words, then seam him into the larger manuscript. My bio doesn't state this, but I just turned 66. My larger objective is to complete this novel (and find an agent and publisher) before I enter my 7th decade. I'm grateful for the opportunity afforded by your vision, Jami. Thank you.
i plan to use #1000wordsofsummer to revise my manuscript (i wrote a whole novel last summer!).
but would love any advice on space for writing when working from home.
once covid hit i wrote and did work on the same computer in the same room and while that clearly still worked i'd prefer to have some visible or tangible distinction. i have a work laptop and a personal desktop computer. my house is not at all big lol.
Taking your suggestion, I plan to use #1000words of summer to make what I hope (!!) are final edits to my forthcoming book, although on many days my goal will be to cut 1000 words. It's time to reduce the thin broth of my wordy manuscript to a thick, rich gumbo-y book!
Thanks for sharing this Jami! I’m just at the beginning of a book project and I’m sure defining my goals for the next month and getting all the little ‘prep’ bits done will free up my mind to write. Looking forward to June 4th!
I haven't participated in #1000wordsofsummer yet. I could give you 1,000 reasons but they would all be lies. This post (and the lovely replies) made me think maybe this time I'll throw off my excuses and join in.
I just gave birth to twins and, ironically, I’ve never been more productive. Before when I had the whole day sprawled before me I could make all the false starts, holding out for perfection (ha!), or procrastinate. Now I write a paragraph when I can and no looking back until I’m finished with this draft. By the end of the day I can usually squeeze in about two pages. The twins are almost six months old and I’m almost done with the draft I’ve been puttering with for two years! All of which is to say, my strategy for getting words down: ever onward! Editing is for when the draft is finished!
I used to think I should be able to write at my mother’s house even with all the noise of her three TVs blasting, but I do need to get out of the house, and the half mile walk to the library or cafe gives me time to empty my mind, and the different noises around me do help. I wear noise cancelling headphones at the cafe sometimes, with my own music playing when the cafe’s music is terrible.
The walk home is also a great way to decompress.
Glad I never learned to drive!
What are the dates, please? BTW, I made huge progress on my project with the mini1000 in February and still going!
Love your books. ❤️
Thank you for taking the time to help us fledgling writers.
nabbed a new journal gifted to me at the holidays, slapped a post it on it "#1000 words of summer" and committing to 1 hr each day. Jami - thanks for inspiration!
Every nugget in here is excellent and inspiring advice. Thank you for making the time to share it!!
I’m so glad you sent this! Helps me begin to wrap my head around another challenge (I just finished a 40 day one that provided a ton of revelation on my current memoir-in-progress). When will it officially start? I want to go ahead and get it on the calendar, and alert my partner as well haha.