The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday
On doing hard things and not blaming technology for people problems
Hello friend, 👋🏾
The first draft of a new book is hard. As a plotter, I have carefully mapped out the route I’m going to take to get to the end of my novel, but as soon as I took the first steps, my map was already obsolete.
Now I’m stumbling my way over brambles and up rocky trails. I’m running parallel to my carefully planned path—I can see it through the trees—and I might even make my way back to it sometime soon. But for now, there’s a bit of bushwhacking involved.
First drafts are my least favorite part of the process. When you actually have to go from imagining this perfectly constructed story in your mind to actually building it, you swiftly realize it’s going to look nothing like that pristine, imagined version. And that’s okay. It’s part of the process.
Accepting the reality that what you end up with will be very different from what you planned, but it’s still good, and is, in fact, what was supposed to happen, is part of the work of the artist. Of course, it’s all easier said than done.
Today is Memorial Day in the U.S., and it’s reminded me of the Navy SEAL saying that goes, “the only easy day was yesterday.” We can (and should) do hard things. People doing hard things is the only way anything ever gets done.
So embrace the difficult and work your way through it. I’ll be at the writing desk tomorrow with my metaphorical machete, creating a new path. And I’ll see you on the other side of it.
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📝 Advice to Our Younger Selves
Romance author Angelina M. Lopez had a great post, “Advice I would give to baby author me,” chock full of advice perfect for those just getting into the industry. (And honestly, great reminders for those of us who have been at this for a while, too).
From the very first tip, “You’re not going to be special,” to the last, “Remember: The books you write are your legacy,” I was nodding along while reading this the whole way. My favorite is #16:
There is no such thing as perfect. You will never reach the top of the mountain, not in your writing or career, because there is no such thing. Once you reach the mountain top, the clouds clear and there is just another peak or valley. Or a new mountain. So don’t strive for perfection. Strive for a good writing day. Try something new. Learn more. Share something with someone who needs to hear it. That’s far more satisfying than the mirage of perfection.
📝 Living with AI
I loved this article from Tara McMullin’s excellent newsletter, “It's Our World, AI Just "Lives" In It,” responding to a question about AI anxiety.
Our hopes and fears about what AI might lead to are based on our own needs…plus a conscious or unconscious concern about how other people might use the same technology to meet their own needs. We trust ourselves that we'll use it for good, but we're suspicious of how anyone else might use it.
…We're suspicious of the people behind the program. We're suspicious of the people who wrote the content the large language model is based on. We're suspicious of how others will use it. It's a people problem.
This idea really resonates with me. Scammers haven’t needed ChatGPT, but they’re using it now that it’s here, just like they used click farms in other countries or legions of ghostwriters or any other number of other “tools” to circumvent natural limitations or corporate rules.
Technology problems are general people problems. We already know what people are capable of and fear that technology assisted nefarious actors will continue to ply their trades. Well, they will. They were always going to.
Everything that we worry about with AI already exists in the world.
And that’s comforting to me, in a misanthropic sort of way.
💡Struggling to Figure Out Your Story?
If you’re not clear on your story idea and having a hard time taking it from inspiration to a fleshed out narrative, the Story Seed Mini-course can help!
You’ll get a blueprint for setting a strong foundation for your story with a process that I use on my award-winning novels. The PDF workbook and video lesson guide you through a proven method to get clear on your idea, flesh it out, and start writing faster. Start today!
🚀 Quick Bites
If you’re advertising on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and more, you may want to check out the Plai app. They offer a single place to create, manage, and run your ads, and have AI assistance.
The Wellspent app is helping me to keep to my self-imposed social media time limits a lot better. Set how much time you want to spend on various apps and it will throw up a helpful (or snarky) screen to remind you to get away from your phone.
If you need a map of a real location for your writing, check out Snazzy Maps. I’m using it to create a styled Google Map and set markers of fictional locations in the post-apocalyptic version of San Francisco in which I’ve set my new fantasy series. And it’s free!
After we terrorize ourselves with self-doubt, our only relief is to get moving again.
— Twyla Tharp
🎙️ My Imaginary Friends: Episode 219
The My Imaginary Friends podcast is a weekly, behind the scenes look at the journey of a working author navigating traditional and self-publishing, where I share insights on the writing life, creativity, inspiration, and this week’s best thing.
Watch on YouTube | Listen to the podcast
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