Thursday! Between the Zines: Learning to Learn
V3, I32
Eyestalks? Really? All that work I did, writing and poetifying, and eyestalks is what got your attention, huh?
You’re a bunch of sickos, you are.
Isn’t it cool?
Every week I write one of these newsletters, I get a little better idea of what I want Thursday! to be. Does that seem odd? It does to me, and I’m the one doing it. It seems as if I should have had a grand idea, gamed it all out, had a detailed plan for “growing my list” and “going paid”, and executed it piece by piece. That is, at least, what the marketing gurus and newsletter experts say I should have done. Honestly, I have my days when I feel hopelessly incompetent at all this1. By professional standards, there’s no doubt I’m not all that great.
I am learning, though, and that’s a lot. With every edition and every experiment, I get a little closer to the shining, lovely ideal Thursday! that lives in my heart. I think I’m also getting closer to work you can love with wild2 enthusiasm.
The interesting thing, at least to me, is that I’m not necessarily learning technical things, but me things. I’m learning what I really want to do here, and what kind of writer I really am. I’m learning that I might be a better writer than I think, and that the biggest drag on me is me. I’m learning I can write more than one thing at a time when I need to — and I surely will need to, as I’ve taken on more responsibility in my church as a teacher. What I am learning is, in a lot of ways, “baby stuff”. It is what writers learn when they’re young and seeking their way, when they’re churning out the horrible first drafts, when they’re building confidence and resilience.
The big consequence of getting a late start is the overwhelming feeling to catch up to where you “should” be. I’ve fought that for all the time since I’ve come back to writing. The feeling is frustrating, leads to bouts of despair and desires to give it all up again. It’s hard to say, “No, Jimmie. You are where you are. You have to learn all the things, in the right order, at the right time. You can’t assume you “should” be in any particular place, nor is it possible for you to “catch up”. Time passed. You are here. Learn what you need to learn.” What I most need to learn, at least for my creative work, is how to learn better. It involves confidence and practice and doing stuff that interests me and…well…learning whether it can work or not!
And that’s a big chunk of what Thursday! really is: learning about learning. Every little change shows me a direction that works or not. Every big changes teaches me how much I know about what I want to do and what kind of creative work gives me the Big Happiness when I do it. All of it teaches me how to write better, create faster and more cleanly, and pass along the most worthwhile lessons to you so that, perhaps, you won’t have to muck about quite as much as I did.
At least that’s the plan right now.
I think I’ll be able to share some new stuff with you relatively soon. As I mentioned earlier, I’m taking a more active role in my church3, mostly as a teacher. You teachers out there know how much work goes into a good lesson and I really don’t want to shortchange anyone with what I teach. It takes time and a lot of thought, especially as I’m new to it. Preparation should take less time as I get more practiced, but there’s no telling how that will go. It’s taking a bit of time to learn how to write a story or poem in the same week I need to teach a class of one or two dozen people. Our adult Sunday School teacher4 also asked me to fill in on a regular schedule as well, so that’s even more teaching. I’m excited, but…learning, right?
At any rate, I want to write some new stuff for you very, very soon. Last week’s The Morning Hunt story5 required a bit of rewriting, which I didn’t expect but was glad to do. If you don’t write fiction or poetry or whatever your art of choice happens to be, you get rusty, even if you’re doing other work. I’m rusty, but I’m knocking the rust off steadily. Stick with Thursday! because it only gets better.
Fancy more stories and poetry? Read all you want at JimmieWrites.
Buy my picture book of poems about werewolves and atomic monsters!
Read “The Paper Swans of Ellendell” in Postcards from Mars!
ONE LAST THING! See the buttons down there? Click them and join in the shenanigans and tomfoolery. If you only want a little, click the heart. But if you click the comment button, you might find yourself adding real value to this crazy little community we’re building here, and wouldn’t that be grand?
*waves hands around Thursday!*
Perhaps even criminal!
If you attend church regularly (and I think you should), it’s my opinion you should also be an active participant in the mission and ministries of your church. Not a sermon (as a famous local pastor said quite often), just a thought.
The class is for adults, not that my teacher is an adult. Well, he is an adult, but…you know what I mean. Right? Right??
"Learning to learn" is one of the hardest but most valuable things I've ever done.