Day 5, Fall 2024 Mini 1000

Hi friends.

Today we will write 1000 words. All of us. We showed up here these past five days to accomplish something special, even if only lasted a little while. Because we believe in the power of the written word. To create change in the world, to help us transform our lives and the lives of others, and to help us to communicate our deepest feelings. Potent stuff, all of it. But maybe we’re here today most of all because we believe in ourselves. That we can do this. We can write.

I just want to muse for a bit on five days in a row of writing. I believe you can do this all the time. If you have a full-time job or family commitments, it might not be 1000 words every day—but I bet you can get a few hundred in regularly. And if you stay in it, stay in this state of revisiting your work and building upon it on a regular basis, you can sustain momentum. And then, if it’s important to you to get across the finish line (and I’m making presumptions about why you’re here writing on a long holiday weekend, my fellow nerds), I believe you can make it.

I encourage you to consider committing to at least a few days a week of writing—if not more—for the rest of the fall. I think you’re going to feel great, confident, focused, ready. I know it’s a busy time in the atmosphere. But returning to your words will always feel like home.

Thank you all for your subscriptions. I’ve donated $500 to Doctors Without Borders in your honor.

A reminder that my tenth (!) book, A Reason to See You Again, is coming out. It’s on most anticipated lists from The New York Times, People, Time, Associated Press, Real Simple and more. I would be thrilled and grateful if you would pre-order it from your favorite independent bookstore, or anywhere else you might buy books. I would love to tell you that this job has gotten easier as time has gone on but that is simply not the case. (Though I’m obsessed with the act of writing more than ever!) So your support truly helps me out. And also you just might enjoy the book.

See you in this space sometime next year. And good luck with your writing. I’m glad we had this time together.

Jami

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.