September 2022 Writing Check-In
It's time for our end-of-the-month writing check in!
September was really productive for me in some ways, and not as productive in others. I am working on launching a podcast (stay tuned, because I'm really happy with how things are shaping up!), but in an effort to get all that stuff ready, my writing took a back seat. Sort of.
I had to write the podcast intro. Writing the intro to a podcast is like the equivalent of writing a Twitter pitch for a novel. You have to distill everything down into a 30-second clip - what the podcast is about, who you are, why people should care, and tie it all together by conveying the mood and tone for the show. Did I mention fitting it all into 30 seconds, and these 30 seconds will be repeated over and over again with each episode?!? Confession: It took me about 8 hours and 8 pages of scribbled notes and drafts to draft my intro. (So much crossed out material. Seriously, it looked like a toddler grabbed my notebook and attacked it with a pen.) And you know what? After wrestling with it for days, I stopped trying to be cute with it and said what I wanted to say, and just like that I finally had an intro I was happy with. The moral of this story: brevity and clarity always win.
I'm looking at my writing goals for October. I'd like to write another guest post for an external blog, so I've been thinking of some possible topics to pitch. I also really need to send out some picture book queries. And I say "need" because I'm just sitting on them. They've been ready to go for a while.
October will also mark the 20th year since my dad died. These types of anniversaries tend to make one reflective. I haven't written or spoken a lot about the circumstances around my dad's death, because it was Traumatic (yes, with a capital T), but I think I may be ready to process some thoughts with pen and paper. I haven't decided if I will share any of it publicly, but I'm leaning towards doing so because maybe I can help someone else going through a painful time. We'll see.
How about you? How was your September? You can reach out through my contact form and let me know. I invite you to brag about your successes (no matter how small) AND your failures, because both are a necessary part of the process!
Have a great October!
