Busting through

With a little help from friends and #1000wordsofsummer

Welcome! You’ve reached Spark. If a book club married a writer’s group, this community would be their child. Learn more here or just read on. Thank you for joining us.

In this issue:

• Breakthrough!

• Dogs I have a crush on

• My latest addiction and other good reads

• Discovering Zen in Hay-on-Wye

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The Breakthrough

“Today you will write 1000 words. You will write them because you are trying to cement some kind of change in your life with your words.” - Jami Attenberg

I never felt it coming. I was walking my usual morning route last Sunday morning, keeping up a decent pace, trying to observe the day instead of the inside of my own tired brain when the three main characters from my novel-in-progress joined me. 

We walked in companionable silence for a short while and, as usually happens, I began to perceive how differently each would regard this moment if they were, you know, real. I wished they were because I’d been struggling to fill in a plot element that would, to paraphrase The Great Lebowski, tie the whole story together. I would ask them what their problem was because I sure as hell was stuck. 

It sounds crazy but I could hear their collective sighs of frustration at my stupidity (so much like my own, only in triplicate). Then, in the next step, the answer rose up to meet me. I could summarize it in a couple of sentences. Instantly, everyone relaxed. Well, not the three women I’d been carrying in my head. They now had a bigger problem than they’d started out with but it was the key that would help us all get to the end of the story. I left them in the dust and almost skipped home to jot it down. Then, on Monday…

The Words Started Coming

... I wrote 700 new words. On Tuesday: 1,198, Wednesday: 1,128, Thursday: 1,488; and Friday: 468 and counting (I’m taking a break to write to you). 

They are not good words. They are not in the order they will be in when I’m finished. They may even disappear altogether in the next draft but without them, I could not advance. I could not finish. Now, for the first time in a long time, I think I can finish this novel. I have re-learned that the difference between a good day and a bad day is about 1,000 words or whatever I can get done. All that matters is that I produce some. 

The Inspiration 

By coincidence (although really, is there such a thing?), Monday was the first day of the fourth year of #1000wordsofsummer, the heartchild of author, reader, cheerleader, and dog-parent to Sid, Jami Attenberg. She understands the value of getting the words down and in 2018 started a Twitter hashtag inviting writers to join her in writing 1,000 words a day. From Monday May 31 until day end on June 13 I am one of thousands including big name writers, beginners, and everyone in between using this time to bang ahead. BTW: Meet Sid:

jami attenberg @jamiattenberg

Just a ridiculous creature and I love him so

Want to try it? It’s not too late

You can start tomorrow. You can start now. There is one week left and that could mean 7,000 new words on whatever you are working on - essays, memoir, that novel you want to start or finish, articles, poem, exposé, or a long letter to someone who may never see it because you just need to get something out of your head and onto a page where you can take a fresh look. 

Every day for two weeks, participants receive a letter of encouragement from Jami or another talented writer who has been through all this. The letters can also be accessed here or on Twitter at #1000wordsofsummer. This week, in addition to Jami, we heard from Rumaan Alam,Kristen Arnett, Leah Johnson, Elissa Washuta, and Lauren Oyler. 

Here are ways to connect: 

• About #1000wordsofsummer on Jami Attenberg’s Craft Talk 

• The First Six Days (it’s not too late)

• You can also jump on and engage as much or as little as you want on  #1000wordsofsummer on Twitter and Instagram, 

Community: Comfort or Challenge?

I believe wholeheartedly in community and being held accountable but the truth is, writing with a group is always a struggle for me. Community, a person I respect once said, is a package deal: there is comfort in knowing you are not alone but a community also challenges its members and that is not always comfortable. I’ve been in three writers groups and have loved each of them. We had time to develop trust, to get to know each other but then, we learned to help each other by reading closely, being honest (not to be confused with unkind). I seize up, though, when in a group of folks who write together in person, on deadline and then, (gasp), share their work. 

This two-week challenge combines the comfort and support of others on Twitter, Slack, or here, but each day brings the fresh challenge of writing new words. The fact is, my daily goal is 1,000 words or more each day but before my “breakthrough” I felt myself seizing up again. I didn’t participate in #1000wordsofsummer last year. This year, I knew it was coming and I think that as I approached the start day, my desperation mingled with all the material I’ve generated in the source of writing this novel and the friction caused a spark to ignite (see how I worked that “Spark” thing in?). It feels like a new beginning, a jump-start on the summer I’ve set aside to re-write this whole thing into a coherent draft. 

Here goes. 

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Latest finds

Speaking of finding like-minded souls, I’ve got two new newsletters to share: one for writers and one for readers. 

For Writers

Literary novelist Elle Griffin wants to publish her novel, a “gothic novel written in the French style,” the way Charles Dickens did back in the day: one chapter at a time. In her newsletter, The Novelleist, she explains why she wants to do a serial, what she is learning, and how other writers of fiction can learn from her research which includes pretty daunting data along with the understanding that data never stopped a motivated writer.

“Almost a third of Americans don’t read books at all. And, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ones that do spend only 16 minutes per day reading. Compare that to the average Netflix watcher who spends close to three hours per day consuming video content. At that pace, a watcher might get through 681 movies in a year while a reader gets through only 16 books—and that’s presuming those 15 minutes are spent reading books.”

You can read more in this post: No one will read your book (and other truths about publishing). Elle delves into The New York Times Best Seller list—and why your book won't make it—in this excerpt from her weekly newsletter about writing (and other things) called The Novelleist.

For Readers

Here’s my latest addiction: What to read if… In this newsletter, Elizabeth Held invites you to share your mood, a movie, or a song and she will recommend a book for you. In the meantime, enjoy the crisp entertaining recommendations she is making for everyone else. She also shines when it comes to brief, engaging Q&A’s with readers and writers, featured twice a month. Here’s a little info about the newsletter and Elizabeth and here’s her latest issue: What to read if...you’re ready for summer reading season. 

Okay, one more for writers

I was going to save writer, teacher, and “writing practice provocateur,”  Judy Reeves for a future issue but then I received her latest newsletter and realized that if you are a writer you are out there looking for ongoing inspiration and community, connect with Judy. She played an instrumental role in helping me finish and find a home for my first (so far only) novel, Casualties. We’ve been in two writing groups together and she, along with Steve Montgomery run Thursday Writers, one of those scary (for me but for no one else) writing groups that gather, receive a prompt and then write like crazy for a half hour or more. Then they share, if they want. Before the pandemic, the group met here in San Diego at a coffee shop but for now it continues to be virtual so you can do it from anywhere. I’m looking forward to having a cup of coffee with her one of these days and finding out more about her memoir which she talks about here. You can find Judy’s books at the Spark Community Recommendation Page on bookshop.org.

Books by Judy Reeves, Writing Provocateur

Short Reads: Saeed Jones and...Familect? 

• Saeed Jones wrote the prize-winning memoir, How We Fight For Our Lives, the poetry collection Prelude to Bruise, and holds more than 200 thousand twitter followers in the palm of his hand. For me, though, it’s all about this story of how a 14-lb dog named Caesar came into his life. This is Caesar, master of the eye-roll:

• What’s your familect? When my son was a toddler, he introduced the term ‘glove department” into the family lexicon. My stepdaughter and her husband have an entire language of short-hand based on movies they can quote in their sleep. Kathryn Hymes wrote this short, fascinating piece about the language of families -- the “familect”-- here.

Books!

Lauren Hough’s book, Leaving Isn’t The Hardest Thing, came out on April 13 but it’s been on my TBR list since before it was published. I caught glimpses of what it might hold  on this thread “When I was doing cable…” in her Twitter feed and the excerpts that appeared at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018 in the Wrath-Bearing Tree. Her interview with Elizabeth McCracken (we will be talking about her and her latest book next week) sealed the deal. Hough is drop-dead funny, deeply insightful, occasionally raunchy, and always compelling to read. She has had many identities, according to the dust jacket of the book: “an airman in the U.S. Air Force, a cable guy, a bouncer at a gay club. As a child, however, she had none. Growing up as a member of the infamous cult The Children of God, Hough had her own self robbed from her. The cult took her all over the globe--to Germany, Japan, Texas, Chile—but it wasn't until she finally left for good that Lauren understood she could have a life beyond "The Family." 

This is how it begins:

“The truth is, I am a liar. If you ask me where I’m from, I’ll lie to you. I’ll tell you my parents were missionaries. I’ll tell you I’m from Boston. I’ll tell you I’m from Texas. But those lies, people believe. I’m better at lying than I am at the truth because the lies don’t make me nervous. It’s the truth, the thought of telling it that triggers my nervous laugh and my sweating palms, makes me not want to look you in the eye. I know I won’t like what I’ll see.” - Lauren Hough, Leaving Isn’t The Hardest Thing 

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Sparkers are reading…

• From Michelle D, FL:  I have been re-reading Anne Lindbergh's  book-  Gift from the Sea.  It is so beautiful.  I have also recently been enjoying two of Anne Lamott's books- Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith and her newer book, Dusk Night Dawn (on revival and courage).  ! (Check out this interview with Anne Lamott conducted by Caroline Leavitt at The Mighty Blaze). 

• Jen from NH: The World That We Knew  by Alice Hoffman, a historical novel about a mother’s sacrifice during World War II and the resulting relationship between her 12-year-old daughter, Ettie, and the golem who was brought to life to safeguard her. 

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Before I go…

This:

Jax @LadyJayPersists

Good Friday morning, beasties 💙

It’s been a good week. I am grateful. Thank you for being there so I can tell you about it. Please let me know how you are and, of course, what you are reading, what you want to read and, while you are at it, what you’d like to see more of or less of in this newsletter. Browse away in the Spark Community Recommendations page on bookshop.org where the books here are listed and every sale helps local bookstores. Any commission we make there will go to support a literacy program we choose together.

Thanks. Peace. Be well. See you next week.

Betsy

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P.S. And now, your moment of Zen...finding rapture in Wales

This comes from Janet G. whose sister, Mary, found Nirvana in Addyman Books, on Lion Street in Hay-on-Wye, her “all-time favorite bookstore in her all-time favorite town. The book she is holding is called, appropriately enough, The Happy Ending.

Calling for Your Contribution to “Moment of Zen”

What is YOUR moment of Zen? Send me your photos, a video, a drawing, a song, a poem, or anything with a visual that moved you, thrilled you, calmed you. Or just cracked you up. This feature is wide open for your own personal interpretation.

Come on, go through your photos, your memories or just keep your eyes and ears to the ground and then share. Send your photos/links, etc. to me by replying to this email or simply by sending to: elizabethmarro@substack.com. The main guidelines are probably already obvious: don’t hurt anyone  -- don’t send anything that violates the privacy of someone you love or even someone you hate, don’t send anything divisive, or aimed at disparaging others. Our Zen moments are to help us connect, to bond, to learn, to wonder, to share -- to escape the world for a little bit and return refreshed. 

I can’t wait to see what you send!