The Thursday! Newsletter 1-18: Do Your Stuff
Volume 1, Issue 18
I've had a weird past couple of months.
Okay, you can stop laughing now. Most of us have had a weird couple of months, right? I am not special.
You're right. Except give me a minute here. Let me explain, or at least sum up. Since the first of the year, both of my parents have had cataract surgery and I was their wheelman for all the surgery appointments and a a few follow-up visits to the doc. My wife's work schedule has been...unsteady, in that she's working six days a week with the occasional last minute schedule change and I'm her wheelman as well. My own work schedule has had a couple unexpected twists and, of course, I'm my own wheelman. My normal routine has been disrupted so often that I wasn't sure at times whether I could even call it a routine anymore. Add to that the usual head congestion that plagues me around this time of year plus a couple three-round bouts with the blues and you'd excuse me if I didn't get anything else done, much less anything creative.
That's not what has happened though.
What has happened has been the highest creative output of my entire life. As of the end of last week, I've put 19 stories on my web site. I've had my first book published, my co-creator is doing the art for our second book, and I'm not far from writing the poems for our third. I had planned to publish Thursday! three weeks out of four, instead I publish every week. What's more, I think I've made some tweaks that'll make the newsletter even better for me and for you. Much like Parliament, l have a real kind of thing going down getting down; there's a whole lot of writing going 'round.
This is not at all a boast, not even a humblebrag, because I don't have a particularly thrilling explanation for how I'm doing it. I couldn't write a best-selling productivity book about it or even sell it as a blog post to one of those creativity gurus -- you know the folks I mean. There's no gimmick here.
I told a friend last week that I don't know what I'm doing. In a sense, that's right because I don't have a grand plan. My work isn't consistent enough nor have I built enough discipline to have a grand plan. What I have is two or three ideas for bigger things I'd like to do later in the year. All the things I want to do require a bunch of good stories and the work ethic necessary to keep producing good stories. Now, I'm no great judge of whether the stories I've written so far are good, but they are at least written. That's better than nothing and I'm learning how to get the good ideas out of my idea pot (remember that?) faster and more efficiently. I'm learning by doing, story by story, with big gaps where I might forget things I need to remember. I'm building writing habits by stubborn repetition. I write two stories a week. Or I did. Now, I'm writing three stories a week (or poems or a combination of them all). Most of them are good. Some of them are rubbish. I'm learning, though. I'm digging a groove in the ground called "writing" to replace the groove I dug over many years called "wishing and hoping".
The year has been weird but I'm still doing my stuff. That's the secret. That's the thing. Do your stuff.
If you're a writer, write. If you're an artist, make art. If you're a singer, sing. If you're a podcaster, make those episodes. The year can be as weird as it wants, but you have stuff to do. You have habits to build by doing your stuff over and over. Don't think of it as work, even though it is. Think of it as being you, actively. Carry that notebook for practice paragraphs or 100-word stories or quick poems or a cheeky limerick. Are you a novelist? Heh. No you're not. You're a writer and you can write anything. Get the creative side of your brain used to being on standby whenever you need it! You never know. You might write a cool greeting card or a book of children's poems or a whole web site full of tiny stories that you could turn into a regular podcast.
The year is weird? Fine. You can't change the year. You can't make it not weird.
All you can do is your stuff.
Then show me what you did. I like to see cool stuff. It makes my day better!
(And wouldn't *that* be an interesting subject for a newsletter some week, hmmmm?)
Autographed Book Alert: I finally have the shipment of books for which I've waited, like the heroine of a gothic romance tale waits upon her taciturn but hard-working husband who went to sea many months ago and whose ship was rumored attacked and consumed by a giant squid! It took far too long, thanks to at least one USPS mishap that Amazon made right as quickly as it could.
But that's all in the past. We are here now, with books! One book is $15 and two is $25. I'll sign and inscribe them to whomever you wish and ship them to you Media Mail in a nifty brown envelope on which I will draw a happy face. All you have to do it leave the money in my PayPal account (jimmiebjr@gmail.com) along with your address and to whom you'd like the book(s) signed.
I only have 25 copies right now. It is my hope they'll go quickly, so jump in now. I can order more if I run out (PLEASE make me order more!) but it'll take two weeks, give or take, to get to me. Cool? Cool!
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What I Wrote and Read Last Week.
"Disappearing Days", a story about an unusual man with a usual complaint.
"I Dreamed of Ogre", a poem told by a young man who wouldn't mind being a monster for a while.
"The Old Man and His Watch", a small story about a quiet night and a fond memory.
My reading has been a bit thin this week, but I'm very much enjoying Moe Lane's new book of short stories that take place in one of the most original and interesting settings I've encountered in a long time.
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Here Are the Arts and/or Letters I Promised.
This, believe it or not, is a walrus (warning for some unpleasant description of "morse" hunting methods). I"m not sure what else I can add to that.
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One Last Thing
To borrow a phrase from another smart author, Thursday! is free, but it is not cheap. To show your support, forward it to someone who'd like it or order my book. If you like it, you can add your review to these. Is this your first time seeing my newsletter? You can read previous issues and subscribe right here.
If you'd like to talk back to me, encourage me, suggest something you'd like to see or you'd like me to write about, you can always hit the reply button! I can't promise I'll always answer back, because I'm quite forgetful, but I'll read everything you send.