1000 Words of Summer 2025 prep
It’s my favorite time of year! 1000 Words of Summer time!
This year’s 1000 Words runs May 31 to June 13. This will be my EIGHTH 1000 Words, and I have come to view these two weeks as a critical annual recalibration of my creative priorities. I use the weeks leading up to 1000 Words to clear out things I don’t need and make space for creative energy multipliers. Less social media, more music. Fewer people-pleasing obligations, more books.
This year’s prep list:
Print and read the novel project — done
Make a list of scenes that are missing — in progress
Choose books to read that vibe with the novel — to do
Start going to bed earlier so I can wake earlier — to do
Minimize phone-related distractions — in progress
I just got one of those brick devices to turn my phone into a “brick” during writing time. I haven’t figured out my flow with it yet — you can set up different modes, so I can have a “writing” mode that only allows Bear and Scrivener, a “work” mode that only allows email and Slack, a “family” mode that only allows photos and music, etc. I’m going to experiment with it this week, and in the meantime I also set my phone screen to grayscale. Going back to an old flip phone doesn’t seem feasible to me at this moment, but it does seem possible to create stronger boundaries around the thing to make it less parasitic.
This week in reading
I finished Us Fools by Nora Lange and it was so, so good. Now I’m reading Nicole Haroutunian’s Choose This Now and Brian Gresko’s You Must Go On. Next up might be… The Power Broker? Is it time? It might be time.
This week in Leave news
We were literally on the news! Brea Walters from WIFR interviewed me and
on Friday afternoon and the segment aired that night with an accompanying article online. (Side note: the TV news turnaround time is wild!)This was following our event at Maze Books last weekend, where Rachel and I got to gush at each other and talk about Leave and celebrate with all my Rockford friends and family. It was a dream come true, and Sean Burke took photos!
I have two events left on what I am thinking of as my “book tour,” and they are both this week:
05.27.2025 | 11:30am | Queens, NY | Storytime for Caregivers at Astoria Bookshop
05.28.2025 | 8pm | Brooklyn, NY | Ditmas Lit at The Urbane Arts Club
There will be more events later in the year, but I need this arbitrary demarcation so I can immerse myself fully in the novel. I am SO excited to cap things off at Ditmas Lit, where I last read back in 2017, when I only had one published story to my name.
And then: 1000 Words. At this moment, when hundreds of arts organizations have abruptly lost their NEA funding, it’s important to remember that continuing to make art is a radical act.
Are you doing 1000 Words of Summer? Let me know and we can cheer each other on.
Love,
Shayne
Ooh. I keep seeing ads for this brick thing but felt skeptical. I really want the music but then find myself on Reels for 8 hours.
I love your spiral! 🌀 I too have retaken some space from social media and my phone. I deleted all my social media apps and other apps that were drawing me in too much. I started getting sucked back in during a stressful time where I did need to be on Facebook, but that time has passed and I am already feeling better after deleting everything. The creep on time and energy is so real!
I switched to YouTube for some of my content entertainment and have enjoyed watching people make art. There is a woman that makes paintings she calls zentangles which can be comforting to watch. I mimic this style with my own twist and find it to be a structured and enjoyable way to be creative. They are very swirly!