A book launch
Listening to published writers talk about their craft.
At a book launch event at Greedy Reads last week, author Temim Fruchter said something that gave me chills. When they were writing their (just released!) debut novel, it wasn’t a novel at first. They described circling it, getting ever closer, until towards the end of writing it finally revealed itself as a book.
They was describing a dance, a way of being in relationship with your writing and yourself. As if your writing is your dance partner, and you’re allowing them to play the lead while you follow. When you allow someone else to lead, it’s an act of trust and emergence. You don’t know what the next step will be or how the dance is going to come out. You’re allowing the dance to take shape on its own timeline and in its own way. You trust your dance partner and they trust you.
And the thing is, if you mess up, it’s ok. It’s just dancing.
Temim talks a lot about trust and finding themselves as a writer in their recent essay for Lit Hub. They write,
A story, after all, is made up of millions of tiny little decisions, and so few of us are certain of anything. Sometimes, a decision is simply a good guess. And sometimes, it’s just leaning toward curiosity—if I open this door or this window, what will I find behind it? Sometimes, it’s just asking a simple question of the night or of the page and listening closely for some kind of answer.
Immediately after Temim said those words about circling their novel during the book event, I started rolling them around on my tongue like a marble, repeating them so I wouldn’t forget. They felt sticky and true. When I describe my novel writing to anyone, I tell them that it’s a novel, maybe, probably. But I’m just getting to know my dance partner and myself. We’ll see where the dance takes us.
What I’m writing
This week, I worked on showing up! I haven’t had a consistent writing practice since the summer, so showing up around 5:30 am five days in a row was an accomplishment. I took a break on Saturday and was back at it on Sunday.
I have a busy week coming up where I’ll be traveling to Boston for work. I’m going to try to keep some writing consistency in my mornings, but an added 45 minute morning commute to the office will eat into my writing time. Keeping my goals high but my self-imposed pressure low.
But what did I write? I didn’t write much, but I was working on my writing. I’m feeling a little stuck in my story, so I watched some recorded lectures on narrative structure, momentum, and stakes and scribbled lots of notes. I sketched out a rough timeline of my story to start plotting key character moments. Maybe there will be a few timelines in the book… 2024-ish, 2050-ish, and 2080-ish…
What I read
Temim Fruchter’s Lit Hub essay, linked above!
What I’m reading
Made progress on The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson. Halfway into the book, it took a hard left turn off the highway and is, frankly, blowing my mind. Will share more once I finish it.
Resumed listening to Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power. This book is beautiful but heaaaaavy. Had to take a break for awhile but I want to finish it. CW: indigenous residential schooling, child abuse, murder, alcoholism.
I picked up a copy of 1000 Words by Jami Attenberg so I can dog-ear all the pages and mark up all my favorite helpful things.
Obviously, I also brought home a signed copy of Temim’s debut novel, City of Laughter. It’s about ancestry, Jewish diaspora, queerness, spirituality… oof! Can’t wait to read it. In her latest post about book tours, Rebecca Makkai writes, “it’s really fun and at least 20 karma points to support authors on book tour.” Joy and karma points unlocked!
Other helpful things
In addition to my morning Zoom accountability practice, I also track my writing time in a Google spreadsheet. This bolsters my self-esteem (Look at all the writing I’ve done! Wow, I’m great!) and also reminds me of where I’ve been and what I might want to focus on next. (I share this spreadsheet with some other writer friends, which is why I log my name.)
My friend Ash asked me how I manage to read so much. I don’t think I actually read that much, although as each year goes by, I read increasingly more. When I got back into reading around 2018-2019, I read 10-15 books that year. That felt like a lot at the time, and it was! Now, I read about 40-50 books a year. Here’s my advice. First, set aside time to read each night, and really stick to it; don’t get sucked into TV or work or TikTok. Better yet, charge your phone in a room that isn’t your bedroom and plug it in and forget it around 8pm. Second, audiobooks are your friend. I listen to them in the morning when I’m unloading the dishwasher, feeding my cats, feeding myself. It’s a nice way to wake up and an easy way to listen to 30-45 minutes of an audiobook each day. You can easily finish a 10-hour book in 20 days or less. That’s a book a month!
I know all of TikTok is on the Stanley Cup train, but hear me out—the Owala 40 oz. tumbler is just better. Trying to stay hydrated during 6 am writing sessions is a serious job.