STARTING WITHOUT CHOKING

I have many only once looked this smooth while running. Sadly, not that day.

HERE’S AN EMBARRASSING STORY

In my early 20s, I did my Masters in San Francisco, and one day toward the end of my degree, the urge to go for a run took over.

Let's be clear: athletic was not an adjective anyone had ever used about me. In gym class, I was always last when we ran the mile, with everyone forced by the teacher to clap until I reached the finish.

If anything could cement the story that running was not for me, it was struggling over that line just as the boys got out of class to witness my red-faced misery.

But, by the time more than a decade had passed, I had forgotten this humiliation and the idea of a run somehow sounded good, so I put on the only sneakers I had and burst out the front door, pounding down the sidewalk toward Mission.

A view much like on my run in Noe Valley.

I was going to make it happen this time. There was no stopping me. I was going to be an incredible powerhouse at last! I was -

Going to collapse.

Less than three blocks from my front door, I had nothing left.

Wheezing and humiliated, I shuffled back to my apartment, hoping to slip by my roommate unnoticed. I didn't run again for years.

Now, if we take out all references to running in this story and replace them with writing, I must ask...Have you ever started a project this way?

On fire, all your tools out and ready, despite not having achieved success before? Feeling like willpower was what you needed to get through to the other side, only to run out of gas and flop?

Years later, I transformed my relationship to running. I went from a frustrated and miserable runner to successfully complete a half marathon.

What made the difference? I switched to the Manageable yet Meaningful approach. I followed a plan made by an experienced runner, and which broke the process into small steps I could manage, even as a beginner.

A novel is much more like a marathon than a sprint.

If you've been hurling yourself into an intimidating word count and believing that the result is proof of whether or not you're a writer, please let that go.

If you're not achieving your writing goals, the structure of the goal needs to change, not you.

You won't finish your novel bursting out the door and running top speed without preparation. It doesn't have to be this painful and exhausting.

Going the Manageable yet Meaningful way means asking yourself, "What can I reasonably accomplish, given the schedule and commitments I have?"

"What can I say no to for the moment in favor of this goal?"

Build the writing plan into those windows.

Start small and greatness will follow.

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FOR THOSE CURIOUS ABOUT PODCASTING

The SLP in action. Want to get your own show going?

GREETINGS, PODCAST-CURIOUS ONE.

I never thought I’d write anything about the podcast process, but after 8 years of the Secret Library, it turns out I actually have a lot to say.

Podcasting, in my opinion, is the best marketing tool going for writers.

I started the Secret Library as a resource for the clients I was coaching about writing books. While the incredible guests I hoped to have on for interviews were a huge asset to potential clients, I never thought about how being the host of a well-regarded podcast would impact my own writing life.

It turns out, it impacted it quite a lot.

From the obvious benefits, from getting to ask questions of experts in my field of interest, to less obvious, more ephemeral benefits like feeling more part of the writing community, I am not the same writer I was when I began.

If you’ve ever thought about podcasting, consider these benefits:

• Podcast episodes endure way longer than social media posts. People listen to the SLP years after we record interviews and they still love the content.

• You can build a community who will later be interested in reading your books from the comfort of your home. (And even record in your bathrobe, if you choose to go camera off.)

• Combine researching your novel with marketing, by interviewing experts about topics you want to write about.

• The podcast recording and editing process has come along leaps and bounds from where it was when I started with my first-ever show in 2007. Starting now means a simpler startup process with a quick learning curve.

If you’re a writer who doesn’t love doing the song and dance on social media to get eyeballs on your books, a podcast could be a long term strategy that changes everything.

Interested in getting all the details about how we built the Secret Library from nothing into an award-winning show hundreds of episodes on? In honor of 8 years of the show, I created a training sharing all the lessons learned and my favorite tools for podcasting today. Learn more and get access here.

MAP YOUR WRITING YEAR 2023

Happy 2023!

After the past few years, we’ve grown quite the following for the Your Writing Year Planner. For 2023, we’ve made a few exciting adjustments.

Features of Your Writing Year:

• Instead of a September start date, as we’ve done in the past, we’re syncing up with the rest of the world with a January start date

• We have the full year calendar in month spreads as before

• Trackers and goal setting is present as from before

• We now include mapping templates to allow you to set your goals on actual physical maps

• In addition, there’s guidance on using actual maps you have at home for writing project maps

We hope you enjoy using the planner once again for 2023. Get your copy here!

YOUR WRITING YEAR 2021-22

YOUR WRITING YEAR IS BACK!

I’m delighted to share this year’s edition of Your Writing Year. We’ve refreshed the design to reflect how many of us feel about the past eighteen months- we’d like to erase them in many ways, but there has also been clarity that has come from this chaos and limitation.

What’s included in Your Writing Year:

• Prompts to help you clarify your writing vision for the next twelve months

• Monthly Academic Calendar, September 2021 to August 2022, perfect for stickers and stamps to mark your progress

• Treat Tracker to keep you motivated along the way

• My favorite writing tarot spread that I do most writing sessions

• Templates to use for a writing process journal

New for 2021-22:

This year, we’ve added a community challenge for the first month of the planner: September Sentences.
All you need to do is write at least two sentences a day during the month of September and then mark that day with a sticker or rubber stamp or whatever you enjoy in the planner. Prompts to keep you inspired will be available on Instagram @carodonahue.

Share your stamps with the hashtag #septembersentences and let’s cheer each other on!
Grab your copy below:

Yes, please!

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

I think we can all agree this has been a tough year.

What has gotten me through it is taking steps to make my everyday routines and rituals a little bit more enjoyable.

Whereas other years I've traveled, this year I've found some brightness in treats that liven up my writing routine.

In other words, I've become even more of a stationery junkie than before.

Working through the rewrite of my novel during lockdown meant I spent a ton of time at my desk, and seeking out rewards at milestones made a huge difference to my motivation.

This enthusiasm must have been noteworthy beyond my house, because last month the lovely brand Galen reached out and asked if I might like to have a couple of items from them to try out in exchange for an honest review. I was ecstatic to have this chance, as they had been on my radar already, the folio pictured above in my wish list.

As stationery has taken such a huge place in my heart, I expect to have numerous posts to come on this topic. All of the items mentioned in this post I purchased myself, with the exception of two, which were gifted by Galen: the leather folio and the Writer's Box, which appears later in the post. There are no affiliate links in this post for any product.

When I wrote the earliest drafts of my current novel, I did so longhand, in a notebook.

This experience was helpful and made the story feel more physical and grounded. As I am wrapping up edits on this novel and the next one is starting to glimmer in my mind, I began fantasizing about returning to a notebook for the next draft. Some students in my course Dream to Draft opted to write in notebooks and this worked quite well for them. But, the choice then follow: what is the ideal setup for drafting a novel?

I prefer fountain pens both for ecological reasons, there being less plastic waste, especially when using bottled ink, but also for the variety of colors of ink to choose from. (Stay tuned for a whole post on this) I would absolutely plan to draft with a fountain pen, so the notebook would need to have paper that took ink well. After all the testing I've done, there was really only one choice: Mark + Fold. Their beautiful paper presents no friction at all to my pen, absorbs my wet medium nib beautifully, and doesn't blot. I had bought this Another collab notebook from M+F a while back and had been saving it... when the cover arrived from Galen, after trying several A5 options out in it, this one felt like a match made in heaven.

Here's a shot of the leather cover before I packed it up for comparison:

The leather is absolutely beautiful. I went for the undyed natural color, but they have many lovely options to choose from. I enjoy seeing the surface age and darken over time, however I must admit that I am still hovering over this one like the mother of a newborn because it is so gorgeous and pristine.

You can use any A5 notebook you like in this cover- I put in a Stalogy A5, a Midori MD, and a hardcover Leuchtturm 1917 easily - the insert has a horizontal split as well as the vertical sleeve opening, which makes it easy to get a cover in without having to struggle. The entire inner ride panel and inside cover is suede, which is a delicious texture, but one that also makes inserting and removing notebooks a cinch.

When I wrote my early drafts of my current novel, we lived in a very different world, and I loved sitting in a cafe with a cappuccino and piece of cake to write. Remember that? I can easily fantasize about bringing this cover to a cafe to write sometime in the future, but even in the current reality, the convenience of having multiple pens, pencil, and being able to tuck some notecards into the slots on the left would allow me to move throughout my apartment, just going to write on the balcony or in a different room, with ease and all my supplies together. The slots on the left aren't the full depth of the index cards- more credit card depth, but using the lowest slot and the top one was possible. There's also a full slot behind this panel that would hold more cards, or even stickers or other things you might want to have with you.

The elastic loops in the center held more pens, but would also hold looped cables if you were out, or wired headphones. I was able to get the case for my AirPod pros into the larger lower loop. Getting a travel inkwell might be an option for the top loops, although I am unlikely to be out long enough these days to have it.

I am thrilled to find this a gorgeous home away from home for drafting and can't wait to start my next book to really break this in. As compared to others I had considered, among them one by The Superior Labor, which I found prohibitively expensive, especially with import duty in Europe, I feel this one is its equal in quality at a much more accommodating price. It's worth every penny, and also the wait while they make it.

Here's a view of the pristine (for now) outside. I just need to let it get beat up, but I know that first mark is always painful...

Other items pictured in my setup above (all purchased by me):

• Mark + Fold Another Notebook

• Foglietto index cards from The Journal Shop

• Rotring mechanical pencil

• Lamy Safari fountain pen (white)

• Ystudio portable fountain pen, copper

• Baron Fig limited edition proofreader's pen

• Pilot Sign brush pens (black and purple)

• Lamy 2000 fountain pen

The second item from Galen was one I wasn't entirely certain I needed, but wow have I been won over:

The Writer's Box

While I was taken with the beauty of this box, I wasn't sure how it would integrate into my already packed desk area. However, I couldn't resist the challenge.

Upon its arrival, the dramatic woodgrain and the quality of the clasp and hinges were immediately noteworthy. The insides are lined and as soon as I started to play around with it, I realized that it was the perfect size for something that's long been an aspirational goal of mine: notepaper and cards for writing letters.

It's exactly the right size for both A5 notepaper and envelopes as well as A4 Envelopes along the side. It held all my wax seal collection as well as pens, stamps, and a guide I found to help keep my addresses written neatly:

Not only is it a brilliant place to store all my supplies for writing notes, there are two wooden supports that flip up in the bottom left and right corners so you can transform the box into a slanted surface to write on. The plaque on the outside works brilliantly as a ledge for paper and made me feel like I'd traveled back in time as I wrote. I am absolutely sold on this magical box, and being stuck at home gives me even more motivation to write letters than ever. As we face a holiday season when we won't be able to travel to the US to see family, nor welcome them here in Germany, letters are a tremendous comfort to write and to receive.

In the past, I've used all my writing energy on books and content for my site and newsletters, but this box makes it such a pleasure to take out a sheet of stationery that I expect my letter writing to take off like a shot this season.

I hope you've enjoyed this tour of some new favorites in my writing world, and if you listen to any episode of the Secret Library podcast in November, I've arranged with Galen to have a special discount code available the entire month... listen up for that starting on the 1st!

Take good care of yourselves, loves. As you write, don't be afraid to treat yourself to something that makes the process more enjoyable, especially as a reward for hitting a big milestone in your work.

I'll be back soon with more fun things to try... Happy writing!