How was your January?
Welcome to The Writing Rundown, a weekly newsletter that offers advice, short essays, and reading suggestions to help driven writers (like you!) improve their writing craft. It's nice to see you here! If someone forwarded you this email because they love your writing, you can subscribe here.
Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
“Look lak she been livin' through uh hundred years in January without one day of spring.” ― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
This January has felt different.
For the first January in years and years of Januarys, the month didn’t feel like it lasted 823 Januarys.
Anyone else ever felt that way?
The 31 days of January somehow drag on for. frickin’. EVER!
Trying to figure out what changes made this one fly on by. 🤔
Will report back!
What You Missed on Craft Your Content …
Our articles have the same mission we do — to help you to make your own words even better!
- (From the Archives January 2021) — One of the things I run into most frequently when chatting with writers about working with an editor is “But I don’t know what kind of editing I need?” This piece, from Sola Kehinde, goes over the 5 most common types of editing (and how they will improve your writing!)
CYC Elsewhere…
Other places we’ve popped up around the interwebs.
- I’ve been posting more of my off-the-cuff thoughts on LinkedIn (though my heart currently thrives on Threads.) Anyone else on LinkedIn? What do you think of this discussion on new books, wine, and carrot cake on dreich days?
In Other Reading This Week …
Need more insights and inspiration for your writing and mindset?
- Why do words look the way they do when they are typed? I love diving down these rabbit holes, and Struthless digs deep into the history of fonts and how they’ve evolved in this YouTube video.
- Speaking of weird wonderful interests and hobbies…they’re great, but how do you write about them? This piece from Dannye Chase has some great ideas for finding writing inspiration—from main characters to mystery—in your “thing.”
- This beautiful piece from Stephanie Land, who wrote the book and consulted on the Netflix series Maid, digs into those sparks that inspire from childhood, as well as an oft-misattributed (or unclearly attributed) phrase from Hemingway—and what makes a writer a writer.
- It’s always refreshing to see a breakdown from authors on what the self-publishing process was really like for them, and Nick Labonte lays it bare in this piece on what he learned publishing his first book (go pick it up and support a former CYC editor and writer!)
- The question of these days, with self-publishers hoping to get a traditional book deal: how much self-promotion is enough? What platform size will get me the contract? What kind of engagement? This piece from Rebecca Jennings on Vox explores how everyone is a sellout now.
Weekly Writing Tip …
A quick chance to learn from the masters.
“Make up a story... For our sake and yours forget your name in the street; tell us what the world has been to you in the dark places and in the light. Don't tell us what to believe, what to fear. Show us belief's wide skirt and the stitch that unravels fear's caul.” — Toni Morrison, The Nobel Lecture In Literature, 1993
Untranslatable …
Exquisite words from other languages.
Dreich [dree-K] (n.) – From the Scots language, dreich is generally associated with the weather, meaning a bleak and grey and wet sorta day. It can also apply to conversations, entertainment or personalities, but use it sparingly, as it can be a fighting word used this way! Sorta synonyms: overcast, blustery, woebegone
This Week’s Writing Resource …
Why not use the tools at your disposal?
Learn DMARC — Are you sending email from a custom domain? Through an email marketing service or simply through GMail/Outlook/etc? As of February 1st your email might be non-compliant. This is the best site I’ve found to check, and actually understand all that “tech talk”, without scaring your into a monthly monitoring upsell. (Thanks to The Fiery Well for telling me about it on Threads!)
For the Upcoming Week …
Because we all need a good chuckle to start things off right!
It’s like an indoor plastic fire walk!
'Til next time ~ Elisa