July 15
It’s easy, in a creative life, to be pulled all over the place, in 759 different directions. It is my biggest flaw, this lack of focus, this damaging belief that I must do it all, ace it all, and somehow have it be effortless.
For now, I’ve decided that in addition to the day-to-day of my work (freelancing + this daily newsletter), I can only work on one additional creative project at a time.
Next week, that’s finishing up an old essay.
July 18
I’d forgotten how much I enjoy freelancing until I got four commissions from three different clients on Friday and felt that familiar joy of doing work that matters, on my own terms. I also managed to go to the beach and a movie over the weekend and make progress on a book, so I’m feeling pretty aligned and happy. It’s reminded me that when this career works, there’s absolutely nothing like it.
If it’s not working for you (yet), remind yourself of why you’re doing this. And if you’re struggling with a particular aspect and need help, hit reply and let me know. I’m eager to create resources that will help.
July 19
I’ve decided that this is going to be my summer of reading actual, physical books. I’ve got a Kindle that I love and I read in between work breaks on my computer, but I miss lying in bed with a book. I tend to blame it on a busy schedule, but that’s an excuse and I know it.
So I’ve picked up my second hardback this month—Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club—and plan to spend my evenings with it.
What are you reading right now? I’d love to know.
July 20
The UK passed 40C for the first time ever yesterday and it’s being reported that it was the busiest day since World War II for London’s firefighters. We’ve been cooler here in Brighton, with highs of 33C. Last night we had monsoon-like rains and, if I close my eyes, I can pretend I’m back in India, in my home in Delhi, which I haven’t returned to since the beginning of the pandemic and that I miss terribly.
It’s strange, being in the UK and feeling like I’m back in India. It’s the first time my two worlds have merged in such a physically obvious way.
I hope you’re feeling comfortable, wherever you are.
July 28
- I have two stories due today.
- I vacuumed just now for the first time in weeks.
These two things may or may not be related. That is all.
July 29
I spent the morning sitting in the sun, the cat on my lap, reading Kevin Wilson’s short stories. I think that’s exactly how I’ll spend the rest of the weekend, too.
August 5
For the last few months I’ve been writing ten articles a month, in total, for three content marketing clients. None of them are bylined. It’s consistent work, it pays the bills, and it affords me the freedom to build this business and figure out next steps for my books. But let’s be honest, if it weren’t for the money, I wouldn’t be doing it.
I started writing a new novel last week. I wrote 5,000 words in two days, and then I had deadlines, so I had to step away. I’m usually pretty good at balancing the art and the money work, but I was on a roll with the novel and being forced to stop frustrated me no end.
Still, it’s been a while since I was excited about a new project and just writing with no expectations of myself or the work has been incredibly freeing and creatively satisfying.
I’m reminding myself that, at least for me, the joy is always in the moments when I’m writing. In the hours I spend doing the work. The publishing, the agents, the desire for recognition is all ambition. The writing, though? That’s pure joy.
August 8
I’ve never had this happen with a novel, especially so early in the process. I’ve outlined this novel twice, each time getting closer to my vision of what I want it to be. But as I started writing, literally everything I had planned went out the window. Two new characters showed up on page 2 and started doing all manner of things for reasons I didn’t know.
Now, see, I’m a control freak. I like knowing where my story is going. I outline extensively because it makes me nervous to not know the basic facts about my characters and their motivations.
But I decided to trust and just go with it. And, over the weekend, they began revealing themselves to me.
I’m still nervous. The last time I wrote a novel like this, it took seven years. But, and I admit this begrudgingly, it does feel like a better way to arrive at a deeper story. As long as it doesn’t take another seven years, that is.
August 9
I’ve set myself a goal to read fiction every day. Even if it’s just a chapter, even if it’s just a page. It’s important to me, as someone who hopes to not just write novels full time but to get better with each one, that I know what’s being published, what people are enjoying reading and what I personally like and dislike. Plus, there’s nothing I’d rather do than read, so this feels like a “cheat” item on my to-do list.
This article in the New York Times inspired me to grab my book and head outside.
August 10
I signed on a new freelance client yesterday, which was unexpected and exciting because I love the work they do. My current mix of work is 10-12 articles a month for two B2B and two nonprofit clients, this newsletter, and my current novel-in-progress, which I hit 10,000 words on over the weekend.
It’s a solid workload. However, if I want to continue running this business, I need to take more time to both grow and monetize it. But—and I’m extremely happy to say this—for the first time in years, I’m loving all of what I do so much that I wouldn’t even know what to give up to create that space.
I’ll figure it out, of course. As many of you know, it’s been a frustrating few years for me in terms of career. I gave up freelancing. Shut down my old business. Wrote two novels that attracted amazing literary agents but ultimately didn’t sell. Even temporarily got a remote job that I hated so much, I cried randomly in the middle of the workday.
This year, something shifted. I suddenly have clarity and I feel like myself again. I’m feeling incredibly optimistic about my future. And I can’t wait to discover what comes next.
August 11
I finally, after almost 2.5 years of moving into this flat, set up a corner as a writing spot and decorated it to my liking. It’s still a work in progress and you know me, as long as I have a computer, I can write anywhere. But I think sometimes about the Virginia Woolf quote about a woman needing a room of her own to write, and while a room has rarely been available, I’ve always been great at finding corners and making them mine.
Serious work needs serious commitment. And I’m serious about making this next novel the best damn one I’ve written so far.
And now I have a seriously cool space in which to do it.
August 12
I was on a Zoom call the other day with a marketing team and I said something I’ve said a million times before: I don’t want to complicate this. I want it to be easy. I’m not interested in hustle. I’m interested in lying on the beach and reading a book.
What’s funny is that I really, really meant it. Perhaps for the first time.
August 30
We ended up not being able to make it to Wales (train strikes), so we had an amazing staycation in Brighton instead. We went for walks, for dinner, to the beach. I drank masala chai all day every day, read four novels, painted a wall in the living room, Marie Kondo-ed my wardrobe, reorganized my bookshelves, and had a swimming lesson for the first time in my forty years of life. Oh, and hit 25,000 words on the new novel.
August 31
I started noticing earlier this year how so much of my reading choices had become limited to the US, UK, and India, which means my own growth as a writer has been limited by the storytelling traditions in these cultures. So, not entirely intentionally, I started reading more in translation. In the last two months, I’ve read books set in nine countries, including Pakistan, China, South Korea, and France.
One of the big differences between Eastern and Western storytelling, in my opinion, is that Western storytelling is often about closure, about tying up loose ends. In the East, and in my own novels, stories continue. There is a satisfying ending, but the story doesn’t necessarily end. The answers to “who did it” and “what actually happened” aren’t always provided.
I love ambiguous, open-ended storytelling and have been doing more of it in my own writing. It makes it a harder sell commercially, but far more satisfying creatively. For now, I’m happy making that trade-off.
September 2
I figured out the ending to my novel and while it’s possible, even likely, that it will change once I get into the weeds with it, I feel happy that the convoluted muddled mess in my head is beginning to make some sort of sense. This has been one of those stories where, despite all my planning, the moment I sat down to write, it just went in a completely new direction all on its own. And now that I know how it ends, I’m excited to dive in and get it there.
That’s my plan for today. Hoping to hit 35,000 words over the weekend.
September 5
I have four deadlines this week, each of them 1,500-2,000 word articles, one that needs three sources. And since I’m not working Friday, I have four days in which to do this. I’m trying not to panic, only because it will slow me down.
September 7
This year, more than 3,300 workers from 70 UK companies began the world’s largest trial of a four-day workweek. As someone who routinely works a seven-day week, I’m fascinated by this. Because I love my work and truly enjoy every facet of it, I rarely think of my days as being filled with “work.” I also don’t distinguish between work that I only do to earn an income and the work that I do to further my dreams.
But the experiment got me thinking. What if I made that distinction? And what if I had two days a week where I didn’t open up my computer at all?
So, I’m running an experiment of my own.
- I will work four days each week (Mon-Thur), on this newsletter and for my freelancing clients.
- Friday will be my weekly 10,000-word day. I’ll be writing my books.
- Saturday and Sunday are family days. I’ll allow personal writing, but ideally no client work.
For the first few weeks, I imagine this will be exceptionally difficult. But I really love my life in Brighton and I want to make more time to enjoy it. So I’m going to try.
September 8
When I started freelancing over a decade ago, most of my assignments were between 800 and 1,000 words. They were all for print publications and space was at a premium. Today, most of my assignments are between 1,500 and 2,000 words because clients, especially content marketing clients, want longer articles that work better for SEO.
Just something I’ve been thinking about lately.