Welcome back to my personal book club. (don’t worry I’ll tell you about your free book in a moment)
Because the chapters are so short, for this next book club gathering, I’ve covered the first three chapters of Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott.
Continue reading “My personal book club (Meeting 2) and a FREE book just for you!”I miss having a book club. Since moving to the valley, I’ve been a reading club of one.
I did try to get a book club going in the early days, but meetings were rescheduled or hijacked by too much wine and one by one everyone dropped out. It died after a very short run in which I think we might have read four books (none that I remember well except the one about Elon Musk which I had to read while holding my nose).
Continue reading “My Book Club of One: Bird by Bird”
Not long ago I read The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday. The premise is based on stoic philosophy, and the author asserts that the obstacle in your way is the way.
I’ve found myself muttering this phrase while out hiking when I encounter a fallen tree on the trail or while driving when I come upon a tractor plugging up the center of the road.
Continue reading “Stoic Philosophy and Writing”The end of the year is just off to the left, there, in the shadows. Are you ready for it? Have you accomplished what you set out to do in 2023?
It’s not too late to throw in a few last-minute hail-Mary goals to aspire to. By my count, you’ve got more than seven weeks—that’s a lot of time. Plenty of time to establish a new habit, break an old one, wrap up a project, or at least make real progress.
This close to the finish line of 2023, I’m feeling pretty good. I’ve moved forward on all my writing projects, even if none of them have seen the publishing light of day. I’ve reestablished the discipline of writing every day, and put practices into place to protect that time. And I’m connecting with myself and the earth, every morning before anyone else (well, except the dogs) gets any of me.
There’s one goal I’m falling way behind on, but to be honest, it was a reach goal to begin with. That said, I haven’t thrown in the towel yet. I’ve got seven weeks to reach it. Seven!
Some of you might be in the same predicament. In fact, I snooped around online and discovered that while many of my friends are on target to reach their goals, plenty of others are as far behind as me or worse!
What common goal are we all striving for?
Our Goodreads goal! (Here’s where the lot of you who roll their eyes at the idea of Goodreads can take their leave—or not.)
In 2022, for the first time, I read 100 books. Actually, I’m sure I read that many books or more as a child/teen but back then there was no Goodreads or Internet or Computers…but we did have libraries, by God, with card catalogs (which were a love of mine—I’m still in search of my own card catalog. Where did they all go? What did all the libraries do with them?).
Feeling overly puffed up about reaching 100 books last January, I decided to up the ante and made my goal for 2023 112 books. That’s only one more a month. Surely, I could do that! And I had an Audible subscription, that had to count for something.
But here we are in the second week of November, and I am 14 books behind my pace, or 31 books to go to reach my goal.
That’s crazy numbers. Unless…I find a few workarounds.
How about children’s books?
Short stories?
Goodreads doesn’t define what ‘book’ means, so last night I listened to Sorry for Your Loss on Audible, which is technically a comedy show, but performed by a writer (and stand-up). It was wonderful (highly recommend it). I typed it into the search bar on Goodreads and there it was – so I marked it read. 30 to go now.
Will I make it to my goal? I’m not laying any odds on this, but it sure won’t be for lack of trying.
Because that’s what it really comes down to for me…forward progress. I am moving myself, my mind, my writing, my life forward. And that’s what matters the most.
How about you? Are you moving forward? What can you do to make that happen in seven weeks? I bet a lot.
If you’re a writer who wants help with that, consider working with me one on one. You can find more information about my 4-week coaching program here.
Hey, thanks for reading. I know you’ve got lots of options, so thanks for sharing a few of your minutes with me.
Honored,
Cara
My latest novel, Blind Turn is a mother-daughter story of forgiveness in the aftermath of a fatal texting and driving accident. Learn more about it and find out how to get your copy here.
If you’re curious about what else I’m up to, check out my website, CaraWrites.com.
If you’d like to subscribe to my occasional e-newsletter, click here.
And If you’re a dog lover, check out my other blog, Another Good Dog. And if you want to know what is really happening in the animal shelters in this country, visit, Who Will Let the Dogs Out.
I’d love to connect with you on Facebook, twitter, or Instagram, and I’m thrilled to get email from readers (and writers), you can reach me at carasueachterberg@gmail.com.
My book, 100 Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues is available anywhere books are sold, but if you’d like some help finding it (or want to read some lovely reviews), click here.
My mother-in-law, who is 85 and still walking many miles a day, living on her own, volunteering at the library, traveling, and actively participating in her community’s life, likes to say “Move it or lose it.” And it rings so true, especially as I find myself shockingly almost old enough for the senior discount.
Of late I’ve realized that move it or lose it also is true of writing. If you want to be a writer, you have to keep writing. You can’t take a week or a month or a year off.
Why?
Continue reading “Move it or Lose It (Write it or Lose It)”I listen to podcasts or audiobooks pretty much every day – while walking, doing puzzles, or driving (three activities I seem to spend a lot of time doing).
I’ve gotten addicted to a podcast called Primal Potential. I found it because I was trying to figure out how to lose the menopause/COVID/drinking-too-much-wine-weight that is not going away even though two out of those three causes have.
Continue reading “Impact Hour”Are you wasting all your time with all these words? #areyoustillwriting #amwriting #writerswrite
I have gotten out of the habit of writing.
And serious writing depends on just that—habit. Not waiting for inspiration or time or a good night’s sleep or a better outline or the dog to shut up or until you take some class/webinar/retreat.
Writing requires that you sit down and do it. No matter what. As often as possible, every day if you can. You start where you are and spill your jumbled thoughts, wandering storylines, and vast emotions on the page. Your fingers tap along as your heart and mind try to make sense of it. (or maybe that’s just how it works for me.)
If you keep going, pressing past the doubt and frustration and discouragement and that little nagging bird fluttering all around you chirping that you’re wasting so much time, if you wave her away and type on, I promise something will come of it.
Continue reading “Writing or Wasting Time?”My youngest son is a good writer.
In fact, all my kids are good writers. (so sayeth their proud mama.) But my youngest son invites me to edit his writing on occasion so I have more opportunity to read what he writes.
Like many high school students schooled in the art of the five-paragraph essay, he’s been trained to – tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them.
And he’s very good at essay – particularly argumentative essay (don’t know where he gets all that passion from….)
I was comfortable with that format when I was a teenager. It made writing a little less subjective. Clear objectives make me happy. I like to know what I’m aiming at.
The formulas that work in essay-writing don’t apply as well to fiction writing (or memoir).
It should be more like – Continue reading “You Really Don’t Need to Tell Them”
Every writer loves promoting their books.
Not.
I’m deep in the midst of promoting my latest book and, to tell you the truth, this time around is WAY fun. That’s because I’m sharing almost every event with a dog or two.
Dogs make everything better.
Truth.
My last three books were novels – stories I made up sitting at my laptop on long afternoons and pre-dawn writing jags. I crafted characters and lived their lives- but only in my head.
The main character in my latest book, Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs, is much more real…. Me.
So instead of dreaming up my drama, I lived it.
It’s easy to take risks when writing fiction, everyone knows you’re making it up, even if they suspect you’re actually writing about them (but changed the names and distinguishing features).
It’s another thing entirely to take risks while writing memoir. Memoir is nothing if not Continue reading “Lay Your Truth on the Page”
I have a speaking engagement coming up tomorrow in front of a tough audience.
Elementary school students.
It’s Career Day and I was invited to an Elementary School in Maryland, along with lots of people who likely have much more exciting careers than mine. I’ll have just 10 minutes per group to talk about what I do and answer questions.
I’m in a quandary about what I should tell them.
Writing is pretty boring. At least the act of it.
Unless you’re inside my brain, I appear awfully sedentary. Most days I bore my office mates to sleep.
So, what should I tell the kids?
Obviously, they’ll find my dog writing much more interesting than my women’s fiction writing or my occasional freelance pieces about parenting or organics or writing. They probably know more than me about marketing yourself via social media. And I’m pretty sure that talking about the largest part of my writing day – editing – would bore the life out of them, as it does me.
My tentative plan is to dazzle them with the dogs. I’ve even printed out a few 8x10s of some of my more exciting foster dogs to flash them.
My biggest dog- Whoopi. Continue reading “Changing the World”
My Life in Paragraphs 