Amy Makechnie's Blog, page 11
November 28, 2023
#6 What to Read (two books I loved!)
from Elizabeth Wade on EtsyHello my friends.
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are full of pie and gratitude.
I am happily full of both (the best part of black friday is choosing which pie to eat first for breakfast).
And now it’s the last week of November (how?) and also the last week of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). With three days to go, we are sprinting to the finish line! Did you give it a try? Is it a someday goal?
The NaNo challenge is to write 1667 words every day in the month of November, and by November 30th, you’ll have your 50,000 word novel! BOOM.
We could list all of the reasons it can’t be done, why we don’t have time. It’s the middle of a holiday, for one! True true. Or we could say yes we can.
The phone being the first order of business: hide it, turn off notifications, bury it deep in the earth for a couple of hours a day and there you go: 1667 words.
If writing a book in a month had a recipe, it would include:
*a dream
*some resolve
*a pinch of discipline
*heaps of creative juggling while writing in parked cars or a waiting room (my setting today)
Here’s what you leave out (besides the phone): the demons that taunt you to stop.
It can be a minute-by-minute fight inside your head. BUT SILENCING AND PERSEVERING through the chatter is possible because the demons are not the boss of us.
And every once in awhile, like those rare moments on a run when you crest the hill after a steep climb and find the flow and nothing is hurting…wow.
Finally, you can let go and let God…or something that feels like it.
Like I said, it’s rare, which is why it’s so valuable - and so good. That rarity is enough of a thrill that you’ll keep climbing that hill. ie: writing that draft.
It’s a habit. And imagine if we consistently showed up for ourselves? Imagine if we believed the things we told ourselves we would do?
I struggle with this on the daily, in a hundred different ways.
The rough draft will be rough and have dozens of loose threads, typos, plot holes and characters named Brian who are suddenly named George three chapters later, but who cares, bc WE HAVE A ROUGH DRAFT and the magic of the premise is still there.
Last week I listened to the always-inspiring Ruta Septys say, “I tell myself that I’m not a writer - I’m a rewriter.” Which pretty much sums it up for me. Of course, to rewrite, you must have something to rewrite.
I heard Ann Patchett say that she cannot move on to another sentence unless the one before it is just right. I have a lot to learn from Ann Patchett, but my first 50,000 word draft in one month? I have to get it on the page - and quickly - before I lose my nerve.
And knowing that first draft is going be rough clears the way to write free and wild. There’s no time for editing or criticizing oneself into a deep dark hole of self-doubt. It’s only about getting the words on the page. Because remember dear writer: your stuff starts out just for you. And we are on our own side. RELENTLESSLY.
So that’s exciting.
Hey. I’m on your side, too. RELENTLESSLY.
Are you writing?
Amy ❣️
Book Recommendation:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by is a fantastic read. It’s read widely in schools across the country, and it’s banned plenty of places, too. In my mind, it qualifies as one of those *essential* pieces of literature. I will be thinking about it for a long time. BTW, it won the National Book Award in 2007, which is a really big deal. Is it a true story? Kindof. Our hero, Junior, is a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. A determined Junior leaves his troubled school and home life “on the rez” to attend an all-white local high school “where the only other Indian is the school mascot.” How does he get to school and back? He hitchhikes or walks the twenty miles.
It’s funny, heartbreaking, and wonderfully written. I really loved it. Thank you, Sherman, for persevering through the first draft and the second and the ones after that.
Part-Time Indian is another terrific example of ONLY YOU CAN WRITE THAT STORY (something else Ruta Sepetys speaks and writes about).
Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith (The Talented Mr. Ripley) was written in 1950, the same year my father was born (73 years ago), and was turned into a superb Alfred Hitchcock film in 1951. It’s lost none of what Paula Hawkins calls the “power to disturb.” Two men, successful architect Guy Haines and Charles “Bruno” Anthony, meet on a train one night. Bruno (a mentally disturbed alcoholic) has a fiendish proposal: he’ll murder Haines’ estranged wife if Haines will murder Bruno’s father. The hypothesis: under the right circumstances, ordinary people are capable of extraordinary crimes…it’s a page-turner written with incredible skill!
Another read I will be thinking about for a long time (wondering what you and I are capable of…)
That’s all she read in November (bc I was writing 1667 words a day and EATING PIE and being grateful).
What did you read?
Behind the Scenes:Submissions Wanted: If you love middle grade and YA literature, the School Library Journal is seeking guest posts.
Reading: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill. Coincidentally, I just found Barnhill’s 11/23 NYtimes Opinion piece entitled Rebuilding Myself After Brain Injury, Sentence by Sentence.
Watched: NYAD on Netflix. Based on Diana Nyad’s death-defying swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage, in her 60’s. A true story starring Jodie Foster & Annette Benning, I’M INSPIRED and will never say I CAN’T or IT’S TOO LATE ever. again.
Watching: Gilmore Girls with Paige (2nd time) and Suits with Gregor (1st ever, we’re in season 2. Megan Markle is good!)
Face Wash: Juno & Co. Cleansing Balm. I have very dry skin; this is so nourishing. Obsessed. Just thought you should know :)
Cover Image: Watercolor painting by Elizabeth Wade!
Lit is 100% reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber. Thank you!
November 21, 2023
The world is not just a little thrill
Expressing gratitude goes against many of our natural tendencies, but our “natural” tendencies toward the negative can be disrupted. I love that about humans. I love that the brain is so capable of forging new and improved neural pathways.
Let’s look, and look again at the healing power of gratitude - validated by science.1
Look, and look again.
This world is not just a little thrill for the eyes.
It’s more than bones.
It’s more than the delicate wrist with its personal pulse.
It’s more than the beating of the single heart.
It’s praising.
It’s giving until the giving feels like receiving.
You have a life—just imagine that!
You have this day, and maybe another, and maybe
still another.
-Mary Oliver2
My gratitude list and some ideas for your thanks-giving week:
Acceptance for what is. Remember that time there was a blizzard on Thanksgiving morning and no power and that one time the toilet overflowed in the middle of the meal, and that wacky moment when … nvrmind. Hey, it’s either a good time or a good story! I’m a little sad that only our youngest of four children is home for Thanksgiving this year, BUT I’m still looking forward to a wonderful meal with who is here. AND, three of our four will be home for Christmas. Yes, we can accept what is, find joy in the present, and also be excited about the future.
Pie. I laughed when Jenny from wrote “the last thing Thanksgiving should ever be is “interesting.” The first thing it should be? Traditional, which is to say consistent and comforting.” I tend to agree, which is why we always have apple, pumpkin, banana cream, and chocolate cream pie. Whipped cream and ice-cream on the side (but ice-cream can’t touch my pie). The one “unusual” side we’re having this year? Macaroni and Cheese.
My husband is the cook. When we were first married and settling into “marital roles,” there was a hot second when I wondered if it was okay? Me being a woman and all. Ha. This thought lasted only a hot second. He always makes the turkey and stuffing and roasted vegetables. We’ll keep on keeping this division of labor. He also knows how to do dishes. Too far?
Mashed potatoes. The perfect mashed potatoes must be cooked until very soft. If you drain the water too soon and the potatoes are even a little firm, you’ll get glue. This is so sad. I mean, SO SAD.
The Corn Kernel game (dang, I spelled “kernels” wrong in my picture):
The Ten Things game:
Use whatever categories you like; expressed gratitude is happiness!
The hard things, turned into…something meaningful :
another great conversation starterTHESE PENS. My daughter wants them for Christmas so I put them in my Amazon cart and noticed they are 45% off - this also makes me HAPPY.
These Butter Fan Rolls, a recipe I make from an old Cook’s Country magazine, which is now flour and food-stained and you’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands (yes, it’s also online :). EVERYONE loves these and starts talking about them days in advance.
An “I HAVE” mindset. Before his death, the neurologist Oliver Sacks published a collection of essays that were collected in a book called GRATITUDE:
I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and travelled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure.
Writing from a place of “I HAVE” is acknowledging what we have instead of what we don’t. And that, is a place of gratitude = happier living.
My friend Heide once shared the “silver linings” of life with Eric her husband, after he was diagnosed with ALS. This wove itself into my second book, TEN THOUSAND TRIES, when Golden’s dad has a pretty definitive “3-5” years left of life.
How would life change for the better if we lived “like we were dying”?
Here’s my “I HAVE” list that I wrote on the fly (using my senses):
AbundanceThis would be a fun activity to do with others or to write in a journal.
Gratitude is a fast acting and long lasting spiritual prescription.
-Faith leader Russel M. Nelson
Like you, I also have and carry sadness for things and people lost. But I also have hope that time heals if we keep trying. I have a belief that someday, everything is going to be made right. It will be okay. Do you feel this, too?
What is on your “I HAVE “ list?
I always love to hear from you <3
Amy
And:A Gratitude Zine: has a chock-full post on the great benefits of gratitude (where I read about Oliver Sacks) with some super fun family activities, including a printable zine. If you don’t know what a zine is, CLICK!!! It’s so fun.
How to Feel Better Fast: Love this from and her Blue Book of Happiness.
Thanks for reading. Lit is 100% reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber.
1https://www.health.harvard.edu/health....
2The poem that Jill J.G. read at Robin’s memorial service yesterday. Our dear friend.
November 14, 2023
dear writer: your stuff starts out just for you
Hello.
Happy November.
How’s your writing? Are you hitting the daily NaNoWriMo 1667 word count?!
A new novel is brewing here. The setting is a boarding school (which means young YA category!) It’s a drama, a mystery, a love story, and there might be a ghost….but WAIT. This is the first draft. It’s untidy. There are major plot holes.
Whether or not you’re starting a 50,000 word novel right before the holidays (who thought that was a good idea? IT’S A BRILLIANT IDEA), here’s a writing lesson from master writer Stephen King.
Write with the door closed.
Rewrite with the door open.
Your stuff starts out being just for you.
Our belief and motivation while writing a new story or creating anything, can so easily be squashed if shown too early to those who do not have the vision.
Or, if it’s just really terrible. And you know the drill: it’s going to start off being pretty terrible. Keep that door shut, writer!
We are babies. So vulnerable.
I’m not done yet but do you like it? Is this good? Am I good? Please say yes.
Write with the door shut. It’s not ready.
I still feel badly about giving animated, eager feedback to a new writer who showed me his very early draft. The more helpful I tried to be, the more deflated he began to look...and I swear, he just never recovered from my helpfulness.
Lesson learned on the other side of things.
At some point we have to share. At some point we have to stop tinkering.
It is a bold act to open the door.
Don’t wait too long. If we want to get better, we’re going to have to open the door. “Ship your work,” as Seth Godin says. “It’s doesn’t count unless you share it.”
And I like that. But equally important is knowing how long to keep the door closed.
Get the story as good and as right as you can.
Then: open the door and ship.
Look forward to the inevitable rewrite!
A little painting I did during the pandemic…hey, the critique door is CLOSED :)
“Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. Your stuff starts out being just for you, in other words, but then it goes out. Once you know what the story is and get it right — as right as you can, anyway — it belongs to anyone who wants to read it. Or criticize it.” ―Stephen King
I’ve read over this Substack post many many times. I’ve tinkered with the words, with the title, with the words again.
And now I’ve opened the door. It’s shipped.
Do with it what you will.
Happy writing.
You can do it.
Amy
picture of the week:
After two months at sea for “Ocean Classroom” my youngest is HOME!and:Reading: Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith (mystery & suspense!)
Books to send you: If you’d like to purchase GUINEVERE, TTT, or MCNIFFS directly from me, get in touch. I will sign, personalize and ship (and they are cheaper than anywhere :) are we thinking Christmas presents yet?
Thanks for reading. Lit is completely reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber.
November 7, 2023
oh, my darling, that’s all behind us now
Hello, Tater Tots.
This is how the writer Ann Handley started her latest newsletter and I thought it was very funny - mostly because it was unexpected. I had put her in a more “serious salutation” box. I was delighted, bc remember, the brain loves to be surprised!
This week is a mish-mash of literary world highs and lows. At the end of the day, do you play this game? Highs and lows, roses and thorns, tater-tots and … squash?
First, doodles:
NaNoWriMo HAS BEGUN
1667 words a day, baby! If I copy/paste this post into my document, can we count it?
High: FINISHING and checking in with NaNo buddies on the daily
Low: waiting until the end of the day to write. ugh.
A BIG FAT REJECTION…
from my editor/publisher on a manuscript I’ve spent the last year writing.
Low: am I even a writer?!?!?!
A NEW MANUSCRIPT
High: a synopsis and the first 10% of a new book was sent.
Low: waiting. self doubt. blah blah.
AI
Low: am I going to be replaced?!?!
TEN THOUSAND TRIES…
is a Golden Sower Award nominee in Nebraska
High: I grew up in Nebraska! Thank you, Nebraska readers <3
PICTURE BOOK IDEA:
With veterans day coming, I’ve been thinking about my grandfather, Frank, who was one of seven brothers who served in WWII. Remarkably, ALL seven brothers came home. The news made the paper in their hometown.
High: so many ideas …
Low: now what?
BOOKS TO SEND YOU!
High: I have leftover books from Literacy Night at the elementary school. If you’d like to purchase GUINEVERE, TTT, or MCNIFFS directly from me, get in touch. I will personalize and send to you (and they are cheaper than anywhere :) are we thinking Christmas presents yet?
FINISHED THIS BOOK
THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN by
High: amazing. really.
BOOK PASSAGES:
High: Typing my favorite book quotes in a Google doc. Here’s a favorite:
I wish I could tell her, Oh, my darling, that’s all behind us now. Those are very old stories about things that don’t happen anymore, but instead I take her in my arms, I want to tell her she will never be hurt, that everything will be fair, and that I will always, always be there to protect her. No one sees us but the swallows looping overhead. She puts her arms around my waist and we stand there, just like that, casting a single shadow across the grass.
-p.68, Ann Patchett, TOM LAKE
A SOFT BED:
Low: Sick this week, and quite despairing about so many world events including Lewiston, Maine, just up the road, I climbed into bed.
High: Profound gratitude. I was climbing into a soft bed with such soft pillows. What child, mother, father, journalist in Gaza, Maine, Israel, Ukraine, New Hampshire…wouldn’t give anything for a soft soft bed with soft pillows, the double bonus is knowing your children are safe, the home is warm, the fridge is full…
It’s not that I’m unaware of the suffering and the soon-to-be-more suffering in the world, it’s that I know the suffering exists beside wet grass and a bright blue sky recently scrubbed by rain. The beauty and the suffering are equally true.
-Ann Patchett, TOM LAKE
Today my friendly tater tots, is a new day. This is our lives: suffering and also beauty.
Amy
Thanks for reading. Lit is completely reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber.
Picture of the Week
I dragged myself out of my sick bed and was instantly delighted to see Artie Baby (our very spoiled miniature schnauzer) in conversation with baby goats across the street. Oooh…picture book idea!?Quote of the Week
Isthmus: noun; a narrow strip of land with sea on either side, forming a link between two larger pieces of land.
October 30, 2023
#5 What to Read + happy halloween 🎃
Happy Halloween!
My husband doesn’t like the holiday; poor lad. I adore it. Our feelings, I suspect, were highly influenced by our mothers. For me it is childhood at its best: running around the neighborhood in Omaha Nebraska, meeting up with a posse, dressed up in costume, holding a pillowcase, and collecting candy in the dark windy night with very little-to-no supervision.
There were crunchy leaves under our feet and a big, fat moon sat yellow in the sky.
Also, we liked to be scared, but not too much.
Did you know? The brain delights in being tricked, which is why we love reading a book that takes us by surprise. Our favorite sights and stories make sense, but when we don’t see that thing coming - delightful!
After a night of trick-or-treating, we arrived home at a deliciously late hour (8:15?) where me and my four siblings would sit on the orange living room shag carpet and dump out our haul.
Candy was audited, counted, divided, and put into categories. We guarded our piles with ferociousness until serious negotiations would begin, an activity that surely rivaled any loud and heart-pumping wall street trading session.
Least traded: candy corn, toothbrushes
High property value: milk duds, anything full size and chocolate
This was the great fun of Halloween: independence, running on crunchy leaves in the dark night, a possible siting of Freddy Krueger or Boo Radley, the sound of a chainsaw (upon reflection, whut?!), and of course: CANDY
This year I’ll start the day by turning into a witch and reading to pre-schoolers. I’ve carefully chosen my two picture books. Something fun, a little spooky…but not too much.
Even with sorrowful world news, even if we’re lucky to get a single trick-or-treater (life in the sticks), I can’t help feeling the happy childhood anticipation rising.
And joy, my friends, is an act of resistance, isn’t it?
Last week it was GLORIOUS weather. Yesterday it was all-day pouring rain and cold. The rain resulted in our glorious, gorgeous fall leaves being rained off the trees. Rude.
Yes, the live free or die state likes to keep it spicy; tomorrow it’s supposed to snow.
Catch the joy while you can. And there is so much of it.
Happiest of howling Halloweens…
Read on for more joy, in the form of BOOKS I read in September and October!
a glorious last week…Book and Audio Recommendations:
Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man's World by Lauren Fleshman. One of the most decorated collegiate female runners of all time, this book is both a love letter to running and a rallying cry for women as Fleshman calls for change within the sports world. I loved this book and you’ll be hearing more from me about it…!
These Precious Days by Ann Patchett. A collection of essays by “a literary alchemist.” Patchett writes about friendship, love, the death of a dear friend, books and writing (my jam, all of it). If you liked This is a Story of a Happy Marriage (perhaps my favorite collection by Patchett), you’ll like this.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. We often say our children have secret lives, but do we know the secrets of our parents? The secrets of their past? Do our parents give us a sanitized version? This is the story of Lara and Joe and their three daughters, who, during the time of Covid, come home to help on the cherry farm. Here they learn more about Peter Duke, the boy Lara first loved - and who became a famous movie star.
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep (audiobook narrated by Hillary Huber) A Goodreads Choice Nominee for best nonfiction book in 2019, Furious Hours, Ann Patchett says, “shouldn’t work, but it does.” It’s the story of an Alabama serial killer and the true-crime book that Harper Lee worked on obsessively in the years after To Kill a Mockingbird. If you’ve long loved Mockingbird and Lee, you’ll enjoy - but be prepared to wait hundreds of pages for them to appear. Also, I seriously question if Lee actually consented to the publication of her only other “finished” manuscript, Go Set a Watchman.
One more “book” recommendation…
This morning I read and discussed The Epistle of Paul to Philemon with 23 high school students for a “seminary” class. The very short “book” or letter is Paul (under house arrest) writing to Philemon (a wealthy Greek convert), asking him to welcome Onesimus (Philemon’s slave/servant) back to his home as a brother (after Onesimus ran away). Paul is willing to settle the debt, to reconcile the wrong between them, acting as a “Christ-like figure.” It’s a good story, with the message being: the gospel of Christ changes a servant to a brother, that we are all equal in the eyes of Christ. That’s the lesson. This was what Jesus’s ministry was all about.
If you want to know what the bible says, read it. Discuss. Dig in. Don’t rely on so-called “biblical view” politicians for info. I keep wondering: are we reading the same book?
What are you reading and recommending? I always like to hear.
Amy
AND:
ICYMI: National Novel Writing Month begins tomorrow…
School Visits: Interested in a visit? Let’s be in touch. This week I’ll be talking to Texas readers!
Frankenstein: Just in time for Halloween, read Mary Shelley's Notes for Frankenstein by
Book to Film: I didn’t watch Lessons in Chemistry bc…what if they ruin the book? Have you seen? Please advise.
Excited for: All the Light We Cannot See on Netflix and Freud’s Last Session (with C.S. Lewis) via Sony Pictures. Two brilliant men debating, “is there a God?”
Books For All: Scholastic reversed course on segregating ‘diverse’ book fair titles after major backlash. “Among the 64 titles in the optional collection were ones related to prominent Americans and U.S. history, including “Justice Ketanji,” a biography of Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson; “Because of You, John Lewis,” a story book about an activist’s friendship with Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.); “I Am Ruby Bridges” by the activist herself; and “Change Sings,” a picture book by poet and activist Amanda Gorman.” -Washington Post
Thanks for reading. Lit is completely reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work: buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber.
October 24, 2023
November is National Novel Writing Month
Thought you might appreciate a picture of my writing desk from some years ago. I no longer have this desk, but I definitely have many of the same snacks.I have a great fondness for National Novel Writing Month. I credit it for helping me write each of my published novels - and more that are not published.
Gretchen Rubin’s research on the Four Tendencies (take the quiz here) has confirmed what I know about myself: I border on being an Upholder and an Obliger. Meaning, I get a lot done with inner accountability, but I REALLY get stuff done when accountable to someone other than myself.
Enter the magic of NaNoWriMo.
What is it?
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, empowering approach to creative writing. The challenge: draft an entire novel in just one month. Why do it? For 30 wild, exciting, surprising days, you get to silence your inner critic, let your imagination take over, and just create!
That’s right. Isn’t it fun to silence the inner critic. Isn’t it empowering to know we can?
This is how it’s done: In November, write 1667 words every day.
Guess what happens? By the end of the month, you will have a 50,000 word novel.
The first time I did NaNoWriMo was November 2008 (?) That month I flew to Omaha Nebraska to celebrate one last Thanksgiving meal in my childhood home (that was the meal I gave my sister the heimlich maneuver, but that’s another story…)
A lot was going on. But the NaNoWriMo challenge was afoot, and I had committed.
I knew that if I didn’t write early in the morning, it wouldn’t happen. Plus, who wants all those words hanging over your head all day?!
So I woke up an hour early every day, and wrote FURIOUSLY. 1,667 words.
Some mornings the words just came and my fingers couldn’t keep up with the flow. That was rare.
Other days it was a terrifying slog.
Some days I was literally writing without any idea of what the next sentence would be, and yet - the brain showed up.
The brain can think fast and WORK when under pressure. Our brains can come up with the most wild of ideas and plot points. And believe me, I wrote them down simply to get the word count in.
At the end of the month, I had a 50,000 words novel.
It was terrible and it was awesome!
My friends, this is how Guinevere St. Clair was born.
Can you feel the confidence this gives a writer? Can you feel the confidence it would give YOU?
To keep a promise to one self. To do the thing you set out to do. It’s incredibly exhilarating.
Was it a terrible draft?
Sure!
You’ll learn how to revise.
If you want to join, it’s absolutely free.
It’s super fun to join a club for a month, to know we’re in this TOGETHER.
There are a million tips and resources on the web, but don’t overcomplicate it. Too much advice and “tips” can be paralyzing.
I do have a few suggestions for this week (bc November is nearly here!), take them or leave them:
Commit. Don’t go in wishy-washy. Consider a blood oath with witnesses.
Have an Accountability Partner. Check in often. It’s fun, like a secret club! Tell your friends and family what you’re doing. You will need help, support, and cheerleading.
Pick an Idea you’re most excited about.
Outline a Quick, Rough Draft. Have some major plot points. Think about your beginning, middle, and end.
Characters. Who is your hero and who is your villain? Who are the minor characters? There are plenty of real life characters in your own life to draw from!
Setting. Where does this story take place? Dive into the lush details of your story’s environment. Channel your inner Tolkien and write a couple thousand of words on trees and fields.
Set a Writing Schedule. For 30 days, block off uninterrupted time in your calendar. Keep that appointment with yourself! Some writers only need a thirty-minute block. Some writers need two, one hour blocks. Make it a priority.
Laura Vanderkam, mother of four, and queen of time management, tracks her time - minute by minute - every day. I have a much “looser” way of doing this, but tracking time hour by the hour has been hugely eye-opening.
Perhaps giving up social media in November would give you the writing time you need to write 1667 words…just sayin’. Maybe.
I can tell you this: You Won’t Regret It.
Are you in? Let me know.
And so it begins.
My love and endless encouragement,
Amy
AND…Birthday Milestone: The McNifficents is four months old! Thinking Christmas gifts? 1
Reading: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett and The Letters of Paul from The New Testament
Audiobook: Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
Prayers: for the suffering in our world…
Thanks for reading. Lit is completely reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber.
1
October 17, 2023
10 Things So Lit
Words that often come to mind when I’m so devastated by humanity. Alfred, Lord Tennyson“Never again?” writing to make sense of the horrific events in Israel last week. The images, the children, the weeping mothers leave me gutted.
“What will you do with that history degree?!” THIS. One of my favorite writers being interviewed in NEW HAMPSHIRE. “Never again” has a chance when we know what occurred. That’s what we can do with with a history degree.
The transcendent act of running by “It’s hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners…The competition is ultimately against your very self, its discouraging inner voice, the longing to quit.”
The secret to “getting along better”? Take a position, not a side. I’m still thinking about this.
Yeah, it will be hard. Thirteen Ways of Looking at That Thing You Want to Write by literary agent Kate McKean of
How Being STRUCTURED makes you creative. I love this. Thank you,
Listen as Kate DiCamillo Transforms Children’s Fiction on The Book Case podcast with Kate and Charlie Gibson.
NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is next month. ARE YOU IN? If you write 1,667 words every day in the month of November, you will have a 50,000- word novel. It will be bad and it will be GLORIOUS. My secret: I’ve already started…(feeling ahead of the game is the best kind of positive psychology). Every story matters - let’s start writing yours.
“If you’re trying to chase the things that the world values, then becoming a writer is not what you want to do. If you want to be famous, don’t be a writer. If you want to be rich, I’d avoid being a writer. But if you want to write and you have things to say, then I’d say, Sit down and do your work. For whatever it may be worth, I’m rooting for you and your sublime vision.” Min Jin Lee still believes in truth.
And finally, a poem and a prayer, Exodus-inspired.
“Red Sea”
We cannot cross until we carry each other,
all of us refugees, all of us prophets.
No more taking turns on history’s wheel,
trying to collect old debts no-one can pay.
The sea will not open that way.
This time that country
is what we promise each other,
our rage pressed cheek to cheek
until tears flood the space between,
until there are no enemies left,
because this time no one will be left to drown
and all of us must be chosen.
This time it’s all of us or none.
-Puerto Rican Jewish poet and activist Aurora Levins Morales
Lit With Amy Makechnie is a reader-supported publication. Consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
I always like to hear from you.
Amy
The Rest:ICYMI: Some favorite Substackers told us about their writing habits.
Dropped: Four months old now, The McNifficents has a price drop. Want a signed bookplate? I’m always happy to send. And this book is a happiness boost :)
Reading: Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. Her name is not spelled with an “e” and she’s still divine.
Thanks for reading. Lit is 100% reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber.
October 10, 2023
Dear Writer: how do you get your writing done?
Early morning New Hampshire fall vibes are going strong. Wouldn’t this make a terrific story setting?Today is such a special treat!
I asked some favorite Substack writers for an actionable writing habit for getting their writing done. Here’s what they said…Featuring:
Poet and author
NYTimes contributor and author
Non-fiction writer and speaker, Jessica Lahey
Writer and illustrator Beth Spencer
Children’s book author and illustrator
Writer, athlete, breakfast lover
Writer, speaker, (and fellow Swiftie), Laura McKowen
Actionable habits and work system…
I try very hard to remember that for me, idle time is often my most important creative time. When I’m gardening, mowing the lawn, chopping wood or just walking in the forest with the dogs, and I allow my brain to sink into “default mode,” an inward, awake but non-attentive state, that’s when ideas coalesce for me. Yes, sitting at the keyboard and getting the words on the page is an essential act, too, but without the default mode time, I’d never write a word. -Jessica Lahey, writer and speaker
I write first—before any other computer/email/online work—nearly every day. I set the amount of time I want to give my current book project and I get that done before I move on. There are exceptions (for example, if I have an essay due, or I've committed to a podcast) but the work always comes first. Because if I don't write the books, I don't need to do any of the rest of it.
I also set "thinking time" goals. On a walk or drive, I might decide to resolve a certain plot problem before I turn on a podcast, or to just think for a certain amount of time first. I do something similar on flights--I'll decide how many hours of the flight I'll spend working, and do that before I read. For me, the pre-commitment (to myself) is everything. -KJ author new book is out now!
I find editing a piece much, much easier than writing the initial draft. So I try to give myself grace when I struggle with the early stages of putting ideas into writing — I really lean into the notion that “this is just a draft!” and I don’t worry if there aren’t complete sentences or paragraphs or fully fleshed out ideas. I just hammer out what I can, knowing that I will surely be able to pull it together when I move to the editing stage. Often, when I come back to a draft after letting it sit there in its initial, jumbled mess for a few days/weeks/months (LOL) things fall into place quite easily. -Audrey Waters
My best tip for getting work done: reduce noise, distraction, and temptation by hiding tech devices! I try to use paper as much as possible, so distractions don't find their way to me through a new browser tab or notification.
-Beth Spencer, writer and illustrator
One habit that helps me get my writing done is waking up before 5am most days. The spaciousness of the morning gives me room to daydream and time to write. There is a lack of obligation in these wee hours that I find so conducive to writing.
-Adam Ming, writer and illustrator
I think I've picked up all sorts of new writing habits because of Substack. Far more discipline! I have a very active audience that I'm responsible to. It feels sorta like daily journalism now. The most surprising new habit is that I often start writing before I even get out of bed in the morning. It's not about dreams. I just usually explore the first thought of the day when I have a clean slate, when my mind is more like a blank sheet of paper.
In terms of being prolific, I used to be a binge writer and would sometimes write 10-20 poems on all-nighters. But I've since learned that was the result of untreated bipolar manias and the resultant rapid-thoughts insomnia. So I now have more writing rules. I usually don't write anything after 9 pm. And I'd always thought that being medicated would mute my emotions and make it harder to write. It turns out that I'm more in touch with my emotions because I'm mentally healthier. Turns out the medications and dialectic behavior therapy lock the door to the manic attic and the doors to the depression basement. It turns out that my mood episodes, aside from those brief manic nights, hampered my writing. So I think, in a more clear state of mind, that I'm naturally prolific.
-Sherman Alexie, poet and writer
Mine is pretty simple, I’m not sure why it’s so helpful, but it is.
I put my phone on airplane mode and set the timer for 50 minutes, and promise myself I’ll do nothing else but write until the timer goes off. If I want to be done after that, fine, but I commit to the 50 minutes. Inevitably, every time, the minutes fly by and the alarm goes off before I know it. Then, I give myself ten minutes (setting the timer) to go to the bathroom, make coffee, or lay down on my office floor and stare at the ceiling (another tip; it works so well). I do NOT take my phone off airplane mode during these ten minutes, unless I’m done writing.. When those ten minutes are up, I set the timer for another 50 and repeat.
There’s something about setting the timer for less than an hour that makes it seem so much more doable, and knowing I will get a ten minute break when it goes off helps. I’ve gone four or five rounds like this before at a clip, easily, which amounts to SO much writing.
I learned this somewhere, I think, though I have no clue where. If anyone knows, please tell me! It works. -Laura McKowen, writer and speaker
Thank you, writers. These writers have been so influential and inspiring to me over the years. They are consistent publishers. I so appreciate them taking the time to share how small, daily habits and systems (thanks, James Clear of Atomic Habits!) are how great stuff gets written, published, and becomes creative gifts to the rest of us.
And now, dear reader. What resonates with you?
Do you have a different actionable habit that helps get your work done?
This week I’m working on “batching” instead of being such a scatter-brained hop-around. I’ll also be incorporating the timer and down time to think…
Please share!
Happy writing.
Amy
last but not least:SO excited: Lessons in Chemistry starring Brie Larson on Appletv this Friday! I wrote about and loved the book.
Writers have to eat: I’m not even a huge pumpkin fan and yet I must make this one-pot cheesy pumpkin pasta - pronto
Bragging rights: my running buddy Maryn ran and CRUSHED the Chicago marathon this past weekend. Des Linden also broke the master’s record. GO GIRLS.
A Prayer: for so many things. Including the innocent in the Israel conflict <3
Reading: Tom Lake by Anne Patchett. What are you reading?
Thanks for reading. Lit is completely reader-supported. If you’d like to support my work, buy my books, host an author visit, or become a paid subscriber.
October 3, 2023
hello fall
I enjoyed ’s take on the bittersweet arrival of fall. I, too, have many feelings: bittersweet nostalgia but also gleeful excitement for the season.
I LOVE fall. It brings up memories of running cross-country in Nebraska, apple picking, applesauce, SOCCER, baking, picking pumpkins with the kids. It’s what I love most about living in New Hampshire. Even if it’s the shortest season of all.
Remembering that time we walked up the hill to haul pumpkins home from the neighbor’s pumpkin patch
Oh, hello, New HampshireThe “bitter” is the critter movement. I can empathize with the animated Disney mice and bunnies and Bambi families fleeing from cold and danger to safer habitats. I could happily house Cinderella’s animated Gus.
But I have a terrible, irrational fear of real, un-animated living mice which I blame on several unfortunate childhood experiences. Give me a spider any day.
Yesterday our field was hayed, likely forcing small rodents from the field…straight AT ME. Our mini-schnauzer, Artie, brought in a mouse and dropped it on our living room rug because…does he hate me??? (Mice are the #1 reason I fear living alone. Who would take care of it?)
Hearing my…strangulated death sounds, my 85-year-old father-in-law leaped into action by quickly rolling his walker to the mouse and picking it up with a paper towel. “It’s warm,” he said. “A fresh kill.”
I died.
How it will end:
future headstone(art from who always makes me laugh :)
Poor Artie. I can hardly look at him let alone touch his doggie beard…we are healing together.
Turning to more nostalgic seasons of life-
My sister-in-law Marco Polo’d me the other day.
“Sorry I haven’t done my hair,” she said. The three kids were home from school, eating cereal, spilling milk, showing me the puppy.
“You wouldn’t recognize this house,” sister said, panning the camera at the spread of a half-finished puzzle, homework strewn across the table, little pieces of toys everywhere. The video ended abruptly with “No, no, no!” as the puppy was peeing on the carpet.
I laughed out loud.
It was all so familiar, like it was yesterday. I blinked and the children grew up. After ALL OF THEM lived here this summer, ALL OF THEM are gone having their own superb, season-of-life adventures (Cambridge, England; College; Ocean Classroom for fall term!)
What a life our children lead. What amazing seasons.
Gregor and I are dealing. Thank goodness I quite adore him.
Artie the schnauzer is dealing.
Arthur my wonderful father-in-law is picking up the mice.
So all is well. Even if it’s terribly quiet.
Here’s something I’m really glad I did: started writing when I was really really busy and had young children.
Don’t wait to act on your “calling.” Because children grow up. And you will be left with yourself and an *Indian tv dinner that you microwave and eat alone at lunchtime.
*from Trader Joe’s (I do have my standards!)
Anyway. You will be glad you started right now. Seeds grow. Money multiplies. Habits form. And we are left with what we started and kept working at.
You know what else? It’s never going to get easier to do. That’s just something we say.
Start now, in whatever season you’re in.
If you've never planted a rose, maybe it's time.
Baby steps make dreams come true.
Happy fall y’all. I believe in you, through every season.
Amy
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Middle Grade Books With “Autumn Vibes”From @thedailyjoybookshelf I spy GUINEVERE!
If you’re local, Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord New Hampshire has signed books for you. Both Guinevere and Ten Thousand Tries have classic fall settings!
Five Adult Classic Reads for Fall
Rebecca by Daphne DuMurier "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again..."
We Have Always Lived In The Castle by Shirley Jackson Shirley Jackson’s beloved gothic tale of a peculiar girl named Merricat and her family’s dark secret
The Secret History by Donna Tartt Eccentric misfits at a New England college
The October Country by Ray Bradbury A short story collection of chilling encounters
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley It is the summer of 1950–and at the once-grand mansion of Buckshaw, young Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, is intrigued by a series of inexplicable events
For readers and writers:Democracy: It’s Banned Books Week. And really important to think about the freedom to read…
Vote? Nominate your favorite children’s book of 2023 HERE
What I’m Reading: Good For a Girl by Lauren Fleshman (Dang, it’s SO GOOD)
What are you reading?
September 26, 2023
Writing Kidlit: Favorite First Lines
A favorite children’s novel - and I discovered it as an adultIf you want to write for kids, first sentences matter.
Kids are like you and I: making snap decisions based on covers and intriguing first lines.
Let’s start with a master storyteller:
“This story begins within the walls of a castle, with the birth of a mouse. A small mouse. The last mouse born to his parents and the only one of his litter to be born alive.”
I am immediately drawn in, worried about this small mouse (and I really dislike mice) - and the mention of a castle.
These lines come from THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX by Kate DiCamillo, who goes on to write,
“Where are my babies?” said the exhausted mother when the ordeal was through. “Show me to my babies.”
The father mouse holds up the baby mouse and the mother sighs, “such a disappointment.” They named the puny rodent Despereaux for all the sadness, for the many despairs in this place.
So lyrical, so tragic! As a child who loved reading the tragic, I’m all in.
The first chapter is short and ends with the prediction that Despereaux is too small and weak and strange looking (those big ears!) to live.
The chapter ends this way:
“But, reader, he did live. This is his story.”
What a start! I turned the page. Then another and another. And it all started with those “fire first lines.”
I asked my middle grade lit pals for examples of favorite first lines. Read them, learn from them…
Izzy watched through a crack in the door as the young ladies in the parlor burst into flame. -The Gilded Girl by Alyssa Colman
I’m pretty sure I’m about to die in space. And I just turned twelve and a half. -One Giant Leap by Ben Gartner
There once was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubs and he almost deserved it. Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
Sometimes when the kerosene lamp casts shadows, I think I see Ma’s ghost. -The Ballad of Jessie Pearl by Shannon Hitchcock
Not in a million years did Connor Stark think he would be sparring his nemesis, Wyatt. -Connor and the Taekwondo Tournament (Book 3: The infinity Rainbow Club) by Jen Malia
Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood. -The Lightning Thief (Book 1: Percy Jackson and the Olympians) by From Rick Riordan
Dare Coates was an awful girl. Everyone on Barrow’s Bay said so. -Between Monsters and Marvels by Alysa Wishingrad
On the morning I was scheduled to die, a large barefoot man with a bushy red beard waddled past my house. -The Colossus Rises by Peter Lerangis
Overcooked eggs look like exploded eyeballs. -The No Brainer’s Guide to Decomposition by Adrianna Cuevas Henderson
Are you there God? It's me Margaret. -Judy Blume
Before I know it I have Alex Carter’s nose blood on me. -Just Like Jackie by Lindsey Stoddard
The life in my head seems
so different from the life outside,
where I am so big
that everyone stares,
but no one sees the real me. -All of Me by Chris Baron
In all his thirteen years, Justin Pennington had never been good with surprises. -Ready or Not by Laura Stegman
By the time I was fifteen years old, I had been in jail nine times. -Turning 15 on the Road to Selma by Lynda Blackmon Lowery (NF)
I thought my biggest problem on the first day of sixth grade would be fitting in. Turns out it was demons. -Vera Warden and the Two-Faced Demon by Jennifer Rose
There was a hint of wind coming over the top of the stone walls, and through the barb wire sky on the day Alexander Stove was to be Purged. -The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
When I was nine years old, I hid under a table and heard my sister kill a king. - Quest for a Maid by Frances Mary Hendry
By 1899 we'd learned to tame the dark but not the Texas heat. -The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly *Newbery Award Winner
I can’t say my name. -The Way I Say It by Nancy Tandon
I hate zombies. -Dead City by James Ponti
Though math isn’t my thing, I do know that 52 weeks a year for 12 years is more than 7 x 70, so maybe God won’t mind if I decide I’m done forgiving. -work in progress by Jessica Hernandez
At first, they only threw tomatoes. -A Sky Full of Song by Lynn Meyer
One summer, when he was ten years old, Erik became famous for buying dead flies. The Swallows' Flight by Hilary McKay
“Where's Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. -Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Loah Londonderry lived in a house with three chimneys and one alarmingly crooked turret. -The Most Perfect Thing in the Universe 9 by Tricia Springstubb
I'd rather you walk away now. Life is hard enough without adding death to the mix. -The Wolf's Curse by Jessica Vitalis
You'd think spitting up frogs would be a lot like the worst stomach flu you've ever had, but it's surprisingly different. -The Carrefour Curse by Dianne Marenco Salerni
Here is my contribution to children’s literature!…
I was ten when Gaysie Cutter tried to kill me. It was just like her too - always leaving a bad first impression.” -The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair by Amy Makechnie
Every time Lionel Messi scores a goal, there’s a literally a small earthquake, an actual seismic shift. -Ten Thousand Tries by Amy Makechnie
In a large pink farmhouse at 238 Marigold Lane lives a most unusual nanny: Lord Tennyson, a short middle-aged gentleman with white whiskers and a royal pedigree. -The McNifficents by Amy Makechnie
First lines are fun! They’re important! They are the difference between reading more…and not.
Do you have a favorite?
Let us now come full circle and end with Kate DiCamillo.
I’ve just finished Ann Patchett’s THESE PRECIOUS DAYS: ESSAYS. I read the last pages at a hair appointment on Friday. Dear, reader, I fought hard to hold it together, though I could have blamed the watery eyes on the chemicals in my hair.
In one essay, Ann confesses that she never reads children’s literature (WHAT?!), but when Kate DiCamillo came to Nashville and told the story of her mother’s vacuum cleaner and how it had inspired a novel about a squirrel who types poetry - “I was, along with every ten-year-old in the room, transfixed.”
Which led Ann Patchett to read THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE - and then everything else Kate D. had written. Well, Ann P. is a profoundly talented writer, and an adult in her 50’s and these books for children were life-changing: she writes that she felt greater love than she had ever felt for herself before.
This love is the power that children’s books hold. They are so special. These days I mostly read adult novels, but it is the books of my childhood and youth that continue to be the closest to my heart because they were the most transformative.
That’s what I got from those books, the ability to walk through the door where everything I thought had been lost was in fact waiting for me. All of it. The trick was being brave enough to look. The books had given me that bravery, which is another way of saying the ability to believe. -Ann Patchett on Kate DiCamillo
If you write for kids, you hold great power and something very precious in your hands.
Nothing is “just a story.”
Now…go write some fire first lines!
Amy
Good News and Story Links:Open for queries! Literary agent Kate McKean of Agents and Books is open for queries on October 2. Read her latest post to see what she’s looking for.
What I’m Reading: TOM LAKE by Ann Patchett (see my Instagram for my too-tall bookstack). What are you reading?
Perfect Fall Read-Alouds? TEN THOUSAND TRIES is kindof a perfect fall read aloud :) Actually, so is GUINEVERE While we’re at it, let’s throw in some MCNIFFS. And yes, I’d love to do an author visit!
Messi Mania: Does anyone have a bookstore, teacher, or library contact in Florida? With Messi now playing for Miami, let’s get TEN THOUSAND TRIES into more soccer-team-family-loving readers…please be in touch with any leads!
Thanks for talking books with me, Warren-Walker Middle School!!! TEN THOUSAND TRIES was a San Diego Middle School’s “One Read” book. SO FUN.
