10 Things So Lit
"We cannot cross until we carry each other..."
“Never again?”
writing to make sense of the horrific events in Israel and Gaza. The images, the children, the weeping mothers leave me gutted.
“What will you do with that history degree?!” THIS. One of my favorite writers
being interviewed in NEW HAMPSHIRE. “Never again” has a chance when we know what occurred. That’s what we can do with with a history degree.The transcendent act of running by
“It’s hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners…The competition is ultimately against your very self, its discouraging inner voice, the longing to quit.”The secret to “getting along better”? Take a position, not a side. I’m still thinking about this.
Yeah, it will be hard. Thirteen Ways of Looking at That Thing You Want to Write by literary agent Kate McKean of
How Being STRUCTURED makes you creative. I love this. Thank you,
Listen as Kate DiCamillo Transforms Children’s Fiction on The Book Case podcast with Kate and Charlie Gibson.
NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is next month. ARE YOU IN? If you write 1,667 words every day in the month of November, you will have a 50,000- word novel. It will be bad and it will be GLORIOUS. My secret: I’ve already started…(feeling ahead of the game is the best kind of positive psychology). Every story matters - let’s start writing yours.
“If you’re trying to chase the things that the world values, then becoming a writer is not what you want to do. If you want to be famous, don’t be a writer. If you want to be rich, I’d avoid being a writer. But if you want to write and you have things to say, then I’d say, Sit down and do your work. For whatever it may be worth, I’m rooting for you and your sublime vision.” Min Jin Lee still believes in truth.
And finally, a poem and a prayer, Exodus-inspired.
“Red Sea”
We cannot cross until we carry each other,
all of us refugees, all of us prophets.
No more taking turns on history’s wheel,
trying to collect old debts no-one can pay.
The sea will not open that way.
This time that country
is what we promise each other,
our rage pressed cheek to cheek
until tears flood the space between,
until there are no enemies left,
because this time no one will be left to drown
and all of us must be chosen.
This time it’s all of us or none.
-Puerto Rican Jewish poet and activist Aurora Levins Morales
I always like to hear from you.
Amy
The Rest:
ICYMI: Some favorite Substackers told us about their writing habits.
Dropped: Four months old now, The McNifficents has a price drop. Want a signed bookplate? I’m always happy to send. And this book is a happiness boost :)
Reading: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. Her name is not spelled with an “e” and she’s still divine.
Love the article on Omniscient narration. I have seen this done very well at times.
Beautiful list, Amy. I’m bookmarking this post and saving the stunning poem.