The countdown is on!

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

“If I wait for someone else to validate my existence, it will mean that I’m shortchanging myself.” – Zanele Muholi

It’s always darkest before the dawn.

Remember that over the next seven weeks.

And make sure to keep an eye on our socials and upcoming announcements. 😏

CYC Elsewhere…

Other places we’ve popped up around the interwebs.

• My top post on LinkedIn last week was a tricky way to look at trolls and comments online that is guaranteed to make you think twice about taking that hate to heart.

In Other Reading This Week …

Need more insights and inspiration for your writing and mindset?

• ​Looking to pitch an agent or publisher this year? Author (and literary agent himself!) Eric Smith shares real query letters, non-fiction book proposals, and general advice that has landed his clients the book deals of their dreams.
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• Ever wish a little sprite could leap into your laptop and admonish you until you actually start writing? This walkthrough from Kawusara Salley on how to get Google Chrome to open your current WIP or other Google Doc every time you open your browser comes close!
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• I was honestly surprised by how interesting this video about why we keep buying books we don’t read, from Answers in Progress, was. Hint: It’s about bookstores, the publishing industry, and weirdly Booktok (even if you aren’t on it.)
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• One, anyone who has been following me for a while knows I love a good index card or post-it note. Two, getting a magazine to pay for your travel holiday exploring British castles for the wedding scene for your next novel, like Amanda Eyre Ward did, is kinda genius.
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• This is an old one, but it’s timeless. Paul Graham explains the difference between creating Maker Time and Manager Time for yourself (Spoiler Alert: As a writerpreneur, you need to have BOTH so it’s important to know what they are.)

Weekly Writing Tip …

A quick chance to learn from the masters.

“I love writing in coffee shops whenever possible. Being outside of my home environment and near strangers helps me to think outside of myself. So many new ideas come, and I get to people-watch as well, one of my favorite things. Also walking and riding the train, I used to come up with so many lines.” — Malcolm H. Tariq

Untranslatable …

Exquisite words from other languages.

Trouvaille [TRUE-vai-y] (n.) – From the French language, trouvaille is one of those magical moments you experience once-in-a-lifetime. Not always something big and spectacular, often more of a small discovery. It literally translates as a lucky find. Sorta synonyms: serendipity, chance encounter, happy accident, stroke of luck

This Week’s Writing Resource …

Why not use the tools at your disposal?

​Wynter Participant Program — Wynter, a market research agency, is looking for new participants. It’s low-obligation (maybe 2-3 invites a month) and you get a small (think "I can get a pint or two this Friday!") payment. For me, it’s more about the creative exercise of reviewing online writing and sharing what you think/how it motivates you/how it can be improved/etc.

For the Upcoming Week …

Because we all need a good chuckle to start things off right!

It’s good to have a process. 🤷‍♀️

‘Til next time! ~ Elisa

Full Disclosure: I get a very small payment for sharing the Wynter Participant Program. I would share even if I weren’t getting a payment, I’ve just never thought to before they asked!