Writing About Writing Again to Procrastinate Actually Writing
Currently reading:
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
1000 Words by Jami Attenberg
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
Books finished this week: 2
★★★★★
Where this book came from: I was given a copy to peruse and accidentally forgot to give it back. A few Gansetts may have been involved. (But I also preordered my own copy, I swear! Support your favorite authors!)
Why this book: My friend wrote it! (Also, I love a mystery.)
Thoughts: Wow wow wow wow. First off, this isn’t about the book itself, but I am just blown away by the talent of my friend and I want to take a moment to say congratulations again to SJ, for publishing a book and for having it be such a fucking damn good book. Admittedly, this one deals with some very dark topics, so it may not be easy for some to get through. But the visceral opening and the numerous twists and turns throughout will keep you moving, keep you guessing, and keep you thinking.
[INTERIOR CHINATOWN photo]
★★★★★
Where this book came from: browsing Yu & Me Books during the Lower East Side book crawl back in October
Why this book: Britt suggested it! (Hi, Britt!)
Thoughts: This book made me choke up in public, specifically in a coffee shop on a Saturday morning, while killing time before heading to my floral design class. It is so funny, with a unique format and narrative style, and it is also poignant and has so much to say about race, class, immigration, family, community, dreams and ambitions, and so much more. Read it.
Library updates:
So, as you can probably tell by the fact that I’m still “reading” both of the writing books listed up there in Currently Reading, my writing has stalled a bit this month. I had a good night about a week and a half ago (thanks, Shut Up and Write), but I haven’t found myself motivated to do much more. There’s always something else, some excuse: work was exhausting, there’s reading to do and discussion responses to be drafted for school, I have a blog post to write (uh oh).
But a very wise person recently said, “Just fucking write it,” and I’m going to try to live by that maxim. Conveniently, that witty little line also allows me to transition seamlessly into talking about Sarah-Jane Collins’ Radiant Heat. I know I have my two cents above already, but I was so pleased to spend a little time celebrating the official pub day with SJ on Tuesday night, and then to attend the full launch on Thursday at the spectacular Powerhouse Arena. SJ made sausage rolls, fairy bread, and meat pies, as if you needed another reason to love and support her. Read her book!!
Anyhow, it was SJ who was talking about getting words down on the page during her launch event, and I found that very inspiring (though I, admittedly, have not put it into practice just yet). Shit is always going to be happening. If you have a story or an essay or a blog post (UH OH) you want to write, you have to prioritize it whenever you can. Daydreaming and planning are important parts of the process, but no one else will ever get to enjoy the story unless you just fucking write it, no matter how uncomfortable the sex scene or potentially boring the exposition conversation. Whether everything you write on a given day makes the cut or not, it will lead you to being done, so it will all be worth it.
Also, I went to another floral design class this weekend and I am so ready to make it my entire personality.
Closing thoughts:
Do you have something you have to or want to write? Yes? Well, are you writing it yet?
