Some excellent posts worth pondering
These tabs have stayed open on my browser all week
Hi there!
This isn’t going to be a full post, but this week I’ve run across a number of fantastic articles that speak to some of the things we’ve been pondering over here. So, instead of hoarding them all for myself, I thought I would pass them along.
First, though, a quick announcement if you didn’t see it in my reader newsletter.
I’m teaching a thing!
I’m teaching my comprehensive beginner romance writing course for the only time this year starting June 25th.
This is a 7-week online course where I walk you through writing a romance step-by-step. If you can’t make the live calls, they’re recorded for playback later, so you can do it at your own pace.
If you’re interested and want to grab your spot before it fills up, I’m offering a $30 off early bird coupon if you sign up before June 18th (code: EARLYBIRD30). Click below to find out more and sign up.
I’d love to see you there!
Okay, on to the articles…
On Reading Like a Writer
We’ve been talking about reading like a writer, so this post on The Biblioracle Recommends was perfect. How about this opening quote?
One of the first things I tell students in my writing courses is that when it comes to writing there is no such thing as terminal proficiency, meaning there is no point at which you exhaust your ability to continue to improve as a writer.
This is both great and terrible news.
I love the term “terminal proficiency” and he goes on to say the same about reading. We can always become better readers.
On the Quality of Your Writing and Working to Improve
And that wasn’t the only great post I found over on his Substack. He also had great thoughts about writing and A.I. in his post “Speed and Efficiency are not Human Values.” (see below)
I really like the analogy he uses about guitar playing and also his idea of creating art/writing that is “non-disposable".”
“We’ve brought the discussion down to a practical, actionable level, but we still have this looming issue of how we’re supposed to just set out to make ‘Art,’ which still feels pretty intimidating.
This is where I try to chop ‘Art’ down to size and tell students that rather than worrying about making ‘Art,’ let’s endeavor to create something that is ‘non-disposable.’”
On Making Writing Fun
We’ve talked about burnout here and the stress of writing, so I really appreciated this article from author Katie Williams about leaning into the things you find fun in your writing. It also made me think of my recent post about boring yourself.
“You know the workshop saying that if you were bored writing it, your reader will be bored reading it? I think the same concept applies if a writer is smitten. I mean, can’t you tell when you’re reading about something a writer loves?”
—Katie Williams, It’s Okay to Have a Love/Hate Relationship with Your Writing
On Writing Longhand
This post from Nishan Jain of The SneakyArt Post really spoke to what I’m trying to do when I write longhand.
“I type very fast. Too fast for my own good. A thought is only half-formed in my mind before it appears onscreen. I edit it several times as I run through the first, second, and third iterations. For every satisfying sentence, I see three iterations that I do not like. Is this why I remain unhappy with my writing? (For reference, I have edited this paragraph
fivesix times.)I picked up a fountain pen because I needed to slow down. Scratching a pen nib against real paper imposed a useful physical speed limit on the process of thinking, articulating, and expressing. I ran through multiple iterations of every sentence in my mind even as I wrote it out.
💡 The ability to go faster does not guarantee better results and can, in fact, be detrimental to your process.”
I also really liked his post about focusing on process and not results. He explains that if you’re focused on process, you get to enjoy each day because you are doing process. If you strictly focus on results, you only get a brief moment of happiness when you complete something. (Boy, am I familiar with that cycle.)
This is an ongoing mind shift for me (and not easy as someone who loves a gold star), but I have the line “The reward is the process not the outcome” pinned to the bulletin board next to my desk.
Alright, that’s all I have for you today. I hope you found some things worth pondering!
How are things going for you? Does any of this resonate?
Great highlights and tips. I know when I'm in a flow it's because I'm enjoying the scene I'm writing.