Day 2, Winter 2022 Mini 1000

Hi friends.

Today you will write 1000 words. And so will I. Because we are deeply invested in building something special, that we can look at with pride.

I woke up in the middle of the night thinking of two words: structure and boundaries. I thought for sure I would forget them by morning, but they stayed with me, popped into my head first thing when I woke up. So I guess if I managed to remember them, I need to write about them for a minute. Them’s the rules.

I’m obsessed with structure because I love the way a story builds. And how you can hang so many little things on a structure to make something much bigger in the end. I love the structure of 1000 words of writing as much as what we construct overall in say, 75,000 words. Contemplating the architecture of even this short bit of writing we are going to produce so quickly today might lend a certain strength to our work.

As for why boundaries floated into my head — well, I guess I’m always thinking about those. As a single woman in modern America who is trying to make her art and her living and also trying to stay healthy and sane, my success is crucially dependent on the boundaries I erect around me so I can focus on getting my shit done.

Good luck with your writing today. Build what you need to build to get through your work every day. If you like, share one tip to stay focused in the comments. But don’t spend too long there. You have work to do.

Jami

p.s. If you would like to hear the sound of my voice, I was on the NYTBR podcast last week, talking about my new memoir, I Came All This Way to Meet You.

You are reading the #Mini1000, an offshoot of #1000wordsofsummer and the Craft Talk newsletter from Jami Attenberg. My most recent book is I Came All This Way To Meet You: Writing Myself Home available at all bookstores, and definitely your local indie.