Um, one of THE most helpful posts ever!! I laughed at the Marvel reference and cried at the MAGA. Bit THIS MAKES SO MUCH CLEAR and obvious SENSE. A master! You always are.
Thanks for this post! Super helpful reframe. I’ve been getting stuck recently, worrying that if I share an idea on an Instagram post, in a Substack post, or in an essay, I can’t include it in my book — and vice versa. I think part of overcoming this stuckness is trusting myself to find new, deeper insights and new ways of sharing the same experiences. Thank you!
“One of the things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.” ― Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
[I used posts and essays in my book...you can use 10% of previously published material, which ends up being a lot. If you read books' Acknowledgements, you'll see that authors almost always previously publish material in the book that they revise for the book.]
I came across this on the day I most needed it in my life!!! I’ve been writing all morning, berating myself for writing the same thing over and over. And that “thing” is ways I have rejected myself. Your piece made me realize I was doing it again. This is mind-blowing! Thank you. I will keep telling my story OVER AND OVER AGAIN even though it’s already been told by many. Phew!!
Um, one of THE most helpful posts ever!! I laughed at the Marvel reference and cried at the MAGA. Bit THIS MAKES SO MUCH CLEAR and obvious SENSE. A master! You always are.
I've been sitting on the story of my hysterectomy forever because I feel like such things are saturated.
And then there's the story of my financial abuse in my previous relationship that I talked myself out of because too many people have it worse.
But this reminder makes me question my thoughts. 💙
“Many people have it worse” is a huge writing blocker for me as well.
Love this whole thing and especially the phrase: Write until your glasses hurt.
I love the permission here. Thank you!
Almost every writing issue is a permission issue, imho!
Thanks for the reframe/perspective shift!
Thank you for this amazing post!! This is a very helpful reframe!
Thanks for this post! Super helpful reframe. I’ve been getting stuck recently, worrying that if I share an idea on an Instagram post, in a Substack post, or in an essay, I can’t include it in my book — and vice versa. I think part of overcoming this stuckness is trusting myself to find new, deeper insights and new ways of sharing the same experiences. Thank you!
“One of the things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.” ― Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
[I used posts and essays in my book...you can use 10% of previously published material, which ends up being a lot. If you read books' Acknowledgements, you'll see that authors almost always previously publish material in the book that they revise for the book.]
Love this. Annie Dillard puts it so well! Definitely gonna hold onto this quote.
I came across this on the day I most needed it in my life!!! I’ve been writing all morning, berating myself for writing the same thing over and over. And that “thing” is ways I have rejected myself. Your piece made me realize I was doing it again. This is mind-blowing! Thank you. I will keep telling my story OVER AND OVER AGAIN even though it’s already been told by many. Phew!!