Day 2, Fall 2024 Mini 1000
Hi friends.
Today we will write 1000 words. Because with these words we can surprise ourselves. And we long, with our creative minds, for freshness and originality. But also just to entertain ourselves. One of the worst things in the world is to feel bored. But I am never bored when I’m writing, are you? When I’m in it, in the moment, in the zone, I am excited, I am happy, I am making something new, at last. And what a fucking thrill that is!
If you would like a cure for boredom, try inventing a whole new universe with your words. And that starts with 1000 words. Today.
Writing this just now made me think about how when I was a kid my mother used to carry some paper and pen with her wherever we went, and I would always be happily entertained when she gave that to me. I don’t know if that worked on every other kid but it sure worked on me. Still does.
Hope your first day went well. As we ease into this weekend remember to stay hydrated and read something good for your brain. Here’s a nice poem from Jericho Brown to start, followed by his gorgeous letter from this year’s #1000wordsofsummer. His words are always a reminder to be generous and expansive with our work.
If you’ve got a favorite poem to share, I’ll take it below. And then go, write, please.
Jami
p.s.
I just wanted to say a quick thank you to the people who have given a paid subscription. It is absolutely not necessary but it is much appreciated. Doing this is just a fun little lagniappe for the nerds out there, and it truly is helpful to me to write with all of you. Anyway, thank you. That’s really nice of you. I will find a good charity to donate a portion of it to on your behalf.
You are reading Mini 1000, an infrequent newsletter encouraging you to write from Jami Attenberg. My main newsletter is Craft Talk. I’m also on twitter and instagram.
1088 and now I'm off to work on some edits. Hope it's going well for everyone!
Here's a favorite of mine!
For The Young Who Want To
By Marge Piercy
Talent is what they say
you have after the novel
is published and favorably
reviewed. Beforehand what
you have is a tedious
delusion, a hobby like knitting.
Work is what you have done
after the play is produced
and the audience claps.
Before that friends keep asking
when you are planning to go
out and get a job.
Genius is what they know you
had after the third volume
of remarkable poems. Earlier
they accuse you of withdrawing,
ask why you don’t have a baby,
call you a bum.
The reason people want M.F.A.’s,
take workshops with fancy names
when all you can really
learn is a few techniques,
typing instructions and some-
body else’s mannerisms
is that every artist lacks
a license to hang on the wall
like your optician, your vet
proving you may be a clumsy sadist
whose fillings fall into the stew
but you’re certified a dentist.
The real writer is one
who really writes. Talent
is an invention like phlogiston
after the fact of fire.
Work is its own cure. You have to
like it better than being loved.
Marge Piercy, “For the young who want to” from Circles on the Water: Selected Poems of Marge Piercy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1982).