May

Not a false start, hope for the spring

Guess what’s coming back May 1-May 31? The Ungodly Hour Writing Club.

A walk with Sara around Ditmas Park last spring.

I am pinning some serious spring writing hopes and dreams on that 5:30am hour. Lately I have been busy at work and have slipped into a bad habit of skipping Morning Writing Club to try to knock out work tasks before anyone is on Slack. I know, I know.

Protecting my writing time means setting boundaries that no one will hold but me. While I work on that, having accountability at both 5:30-6:30 and 8:30-9:15 helps in case the later time gets gobbled up. Ideally I show up at both…

This week in writing

I spent all of this week revising chapter one of the pond novel. It’s going okay! Lots of big decisions to make early on that will affect the rest of the book. Once those decisions are made, I *think* the rest of the revision will go quickly.

At the same time, I found out my Leave notes will be coming in early May, and I’m going to be traveling until the end of April, so I’ll probably pause the pond novel to focus on Leave and its related essays.

It’s not a false start! On the contrary, I think getting back into the pond novel for a week and then being pulled back out is actually just what the project needed. Some of the larger plot questions that came up this week need time to marinate.

This week in reading

I’m still reading and really enjoying Stay True by Hua Hsu. Also this week, I read the excellent story X-Acto by Kate DiCamillo, which was the March issue of One Story.

I’m also reading a couple of books I don’t like. One I will probably put down — I believe that life is too short to read books that aren’t for you — but the other I may finish because I want to figure it out. What is it that feels off to me? How would I have done it differently? It may grow on me yet.

I rarely mention here the books I start and don’t finish, and I will probably never mention one by name. (I also believe that life is too short to shit on other people’s art.) But it is worth saying that sometimes it’s the wrong time or place for a book, and much more often I’m just the wrong person for a book.

Speaking of the right place for a book: later today, my family leaves for a week in Italy, and I think I will drop every other book and do a Natalia Ginzburg reread. Happiness, as Such? The City and the House?

Next weekend, I predict I will be recovering from jet lag / too much pasta and gelato, so I’ll talk to you in two weeks. Happy reading, writing, art making, protesting, fiercely loving, hopefully getting enough sleep. <3