Camp Care Package: Devoting Yourself to Writing

Every year, we gather together a team of published authors to be your Camp Counselors. Author Sarah Suk is this week’s Camp Counselor! Here’s some advice from her Camp Care Packages:

“Earlier this month, I completed the first draft of my upcoming novel. The process was an uphill climb, and when I say uphill, I mean so arduous I felt I was slowly transforming into a disheveled gremlin version of myself with every step.

When I desperately wanted to distract myself with something less difficult, I was reminded of this quote from poet Mary Oliver: ‘Attention is the beginning of devotion.’ Devoting yourself to writing a whole book isn’t easy, but it all begins with the act of paying attention. Attention to the sentence in front of you, then the next, and the next after that.

Embrace your inner gremlin, my friends, and take it one word at a time. It’s supposed to be hard, but you can climb this mountain. I believe it.”

Today’s Writing Challenge:

If you start to feel frustrated or burnt out, take a few minutes and pay attention to the gremlin version of yourself. What does gremlin-you like or not like about your story? What makes you feel angry or excited or scared when you’re writing? When you feel like you know your gremlin-self a little better, turn that same focused attention to the words on the page.

Sarah Suk (pronounced like soup with a K) is the author of the young adult novel Made in Korea. She lives in Vancouver, Canada, where she writes stories and admires mountains. When she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the water, taking film photos, or eating a bowl of bingsu. Her next book, The Space Between Here and Now, will be published in fall 2023. You can visit Sarah online at sarahsuk.com and on Twitter and Instagram @_sarahsuk.

Thank Sarah for her Camp Care Package!