What Inspired Me to Write this Week

A hello plus a new writing prompt

Hi friends.

I’m closing in on 60,000 followers here, so I thought I’d re-introduce myself. I’m the author of ten books, most of them fiction, one memoir, and one creativity book inspired by the group writing accountability project I run here every June called #1000wordsofsummer. I live in New Orleans, I have a small dog named Leo, and I have nice friends that I love. I’m 53 years old and sometimes I feel 100 and sometimes I feel 30 but mostly I am just happy to still be alive. Like every goddamn day I wake up happy to be still alive, and that is the truth.

Sometimes when I compose these letters I wish I could tell you more about what I’m writing, how I’m writing it, my instincts, the specific craft choices I’m making. And I do try to do that when I can, but more often I can’t explain what’s really happening with my work until I’m well on the other side of it. It can be challenging to correctly parse the present tense of the creative moment.

Right now, for example, I’m writing a first-person narration and sometimes it’s all just gut and instinct and the voice leading the way. How do you explain in three easy steps, “Just listen to your character closely and they will show you the path.” It’s hard to define that kind of feeling.

But what I can do is tell you what inspired me every week, made me think, made me want to write. Even if I never use my prompt-related output in the final product, it’s still helping me get to the end of this draft because it got me warmed up for the day. And one of the purposes of me writing to you is I want you to feel inspired and warmed up and ready to write consistently.

So OK, so here’s what inspired me to write this week: