Happy New Year, WriteByNighter! Now that the holiday madness is in our rearview, we can buckle down and do what we really want to do: Flop onto the couch and watch
TV! I've never been much for resolutions. I want to write more this year than I did in 2022. I want to make good progress on this novel I've started. I'd like to write for at least fifteen minutes nearly every day. But that's it. No musts. No reward/punishment system. If I miss a day, I miss a day. (And I've already missed several days.) I suppose I do have something of a larger goal:
To reclaim my time. It's something my fellow Yak Babies and I talked about in a recent episode. When I quit work for the day, I don't really quit working: I check email on my phone throughout the night; I often return to my computer to respond to something that can definitely wait until
the morning. But to paraphrase Brick in the episode: Work already takes 40 to 60+ of my hours a week. I don't need to let it rob me of my leisure time too. So that's my main goal for 2023: To not allow myself to let work cut into my off time. Regardless of whether I use that time for writing, reading, watching TV, or simply staring at the wall. Your Turn: 2023 Writing Goals This week's question: What is your no. 1 goal for 2023? And what is your no. 1 writing goal for 2023? Reply to this message to let me know your goal and how you'll reach it! Next time in this space I'll run a few of our favorite answers. January Promotion: Strategy Session Get unstuck, finally! In your very own strategy session, you
and one of WBN's wonderful coaches & consultants will discuss how to improve your current writing life to achieve maximum productivity and ultimate success. During your 60-minute strategy session, you and your coach will: - Identify problem areas and apply solutions
- Find out what's holding you back and learn how to move forward
- Discover your optimal writing
process
- Brainstorm ideas for what to focus on
- Hatch a plan for making 2023 your best writing year ever!
A lot of you (OK, OK... a lot of us) had trouble writing during what turned out to be a tumultuous year.
But 2023 will no doubt carry its own tumults. Now's the time to make a plan and hit the ground running. That's why we're knocking $21 off the regular price. So click the button below to book your very own strategy session for only $99! WriteByNighter of the Week: YOU! Because although we have some great success stories in the hopper, I need to refill it. So this week, I'm putting out a casting call of sorts. Did you publish a book in 2022 or do you have one coming out early in 2023? If not a book, then a story, poem, essay, etc., that you're particularly proud of and think our readers should check out? Reply to this message to let me know about your accomplishments! And please
include any relevant links. WBN Coaches' Corner: Jules Vasquez This week let's introduce you to new coach & consultant Jules Vasquez. Jules comes to us from Great Falls, Montana, where in 2022 they co-authored three books and worked as editor at HockSpitSlurp. They're interested in working with fiction writers of all kinds, but particularly those who write fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and anything that might be
described as dark. Jules got their start as a writer during what was "a low-key spiritual experience": A panic attack brought on by the suicide of Hunter S. Thompson. "The thought persisted that I would never get a chance to meet him now," Jules
tells us. "Long story short, the panic peaked and I decided I had to start writing." As far as writer origin stories go, that's a good
one. Reply to this message as soon as you're ready for Jules to read your fiction!
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Lately I've been giving my morning reading time over to word games, and it pisses me off. In our latest yakker, "Wordle and Word Games," I grouse about it to my pals
and we discuss strategies for quitting. But then Old Irish Nico alerts me to the fact that Wordle has a "hard" version....
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Click to listen
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January Promotion #2: Me! OK, it's not really a promotion, but I'm finally out of the weeds enough that I'm ready and eager to take on a new writer. If you're looking for a beta read or critique of your novel, ideally literary, reply to this message with a sample and your total word count and I'll see if we align well. (If there's a WBN coach who'd make a better fit for you, I'll be up front about it.) If you have no idea who the hell I am, well, join the club! (I'm its founding member.) But feel free to AMA. You can also read this brief Q&A. What Am I Writing? What Am I Reading? Last time out, I mentioned a 5,200-word prologue thingy I wrote for my novel. Since then, I've been working on slowing it down. Because maybe it's not a prologue at all, but instead is the first few chapters of the book? I'm kind of
plodding along right now, but that's kind of appropriate for what the work is. I'm reading Renata Adler's Speedboat. I really like it so far, though it's early days. I finished Dana Spiotta's Stone Arabia. I'll talk about it on an upcoming Yak Babies yakker, but... I didn't love it. But when I first read (and reviewed) it in 2011, I did. This only furthers my argument that there's no use in labeling a book "good" or "bad." How can Stone Arabia have been good in 2011 but bad in 2022? Obviously I've changed,
because the book sure hasn't. What are you writing? What are you reading? Writerly Quote of the Week "If you don't see the book you want on the shelf, write it." -- Beverly Cleary David Duhr
Co-founder, WriteByNight
P.S. If you know someone who might benefit from today's message, please feel free to forward this email along. Go on, help a writer out. Resources Find a home for your creative work Carve out writing time from your busy
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