you cannot make a keepsake of this season
reflecting on this season + setting intentions for November
Welcome to Write More! This is the monthly intentions email, which goes out the last Sunday before a new month starts. It’s a chance to fight the Sunday Scaries by thinking through your goals and intentions for your writing practice in the coming month and to reflect on your progress in the previous month.
If that sounds helpful and fun, subscribe here.
Hi there. The last two months of intentions emails have been pretty practical—in September, we talked about the power of making just one small change in your writing life, and in October, we talked about asking for what you need (and channeled absolute icon Lauren Groff in that work).
Maybe it’s because I just turned 40 (and did it on an amazing trip, complete with kayaking and dolphins and a sunset cruise on a catamaran), but this month, I’m feeling a little more reflective.
I’ve been thinking about this New York Times piece, Fall Is the Season for Building Mindfulness and Resilience (that’s a gift link, so you can read it without a subscription) that suggests we deliberately use this change of seasons as a reflective pause. I love this section in particular:
“For me, it’s also about harvesting what has occurred in the year,” said Larry Ward, a meditation teacher and the founder of the Lotus Institute in Pataskala, Ohio. “What has this summer brought to you and your life? What has this spring brought to you?”
“Harvesting” means taking stock of the year (or years) behind you. And to do this, you must collect the memories without judgment or self-loathing. For instance, Dr. Wilson, of the University of Mississippi, said he acted poorly the last time he saw his brother before his untimely death. But rather than push that memory away, he holds it as a part of that relationship.
“I keep the thorn to keep the rose,” he said.
Autumn will probably always hold some whisper of decay and mortality for humans. But embracing that sadness is important.
The poet in me loves this kind of goth interpretation of autumn—I’m such a fan of embracing “the whisper of decay and mortality” that I had to do a CRTL + F for “rot” as I was finishing revisions on Pocket Universe and cut it down to two or three uses.
Clicking the little heart at the top or bottom of this newsletter will help other sadness-obsessed writers find us!
There is a kind of slowness to this part of the year. It’s a good moment to reflect and pause and feel gratitude for everything the year has brought us. But also: let’s not quit yet.
So what has this season brought you? And what are you looking forward to this month?
*The title of this newsletter comes from Dora Malech’s poem Each Year, which is really more of a spring poem, but the sentiment is sticking with me in this season.
Getaway to write this January
If you’re looking for a writing conference this winter, I’d love to recommend the Murphy Writing Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway, which will be January 13-16 at the Seaview Hotel near Atlantic City. I’ve been to a ton of writing conferences and retreats, and I think the Getaway is really special. The Getaway focuses on generating new work—you’ll write a new poem or more each day—and it brings together people from all walks of life. You’ll find new writers alongside people who’ve published multiple books, retirees alongside college students and MFA candidates.
I’m teaching a workshop, The Forest & The Trees: Writing Poems in a Series, and you can check out the whole list of poetry and prose workshops online. (If I weren’t teaching, I’d be signing up for Davon Loeb’s Braided Narrative workshop or Mike Ingram’s Creative Nonfiction workshop—so many good choices!)
Early registration discounts and scholarships are available; the Toni Brown Memorial Scholarship is for writers ages 31+ and the Robert Hayden Scholarship is for writers ages 18-30, with at least two Robert Hayden scholarships designated for young writers of color. The scholarship application deadline is November 15. You can read more about the Getaway and the workshops being offered here.
Write More, Be Less Careful is a newsletter about why writing is hard & how to do it anyway. I’d love to hear from you. Reply to this email, comment below, or find me on twitter (@nancy_reddy) and instagram (@nancy.o.reddy).
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Still giggling about CRTL + F for “rot.” I have the same problem with "tender." BUT EVERYTHING IS JUST SO TENDER!
So good, thank you Nancy Reddy!