Ch...ch..ch...changes

And a writing prompt and exercise for putting up with the admin stuff

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Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Apologies in advance for a dry administrative announcement post but there are going to be some changes around here and I need to let you know about them. Your patience will be rewarded with a writing prompt and exercise at the end.

Here we go.

Starting next week, my Substack writing schedule will change. (Currently, I write on Mondays and Thursdays.)

From here on out, free subscribers will receive posts/newsletters (I’m never sure exactly what we call them here) on Wednesdays and Sundays. For many years, I’ve written a little Sunday newsletter called the Abundant Writer. It’s a love letter that has been described as a non-religious Sunday homily and it’s a personal essay that touches lightly on my life but always comes back around to writing. I also include links to books and resources that I think will be of interest. That is now going to be part of the regular schedule here, as I combine mailing lists and welcome Abundant Writer readers to the fold. (Some of you are already here—thank you!)

In addition, I’m creating classes for paid subscribers. These will happen monthly, and be in written form, sent out as a post like the others. They’ll be free for one week, then set to paid only. Paid subscribers will have evergreen access to the classes. And…wait for it…I’m going to attempt to record them so you can have audio, too. For this month, I’m focusing on Preptober, since Nanowrimo is sitting squarely in the glare of our headlights. You can read the first post here. It’s free until Thursday.

Occasionally, I may do a long form article or feature interviews with other writers and these, too, will fall under the paid umbrella.

And let us not forget my dear founding members. They get all of the benefits of being a paid subscriber, plus a one-on-one session with me. And all the glory! This is a very inexpensive way to get some one-on-one attention from me.

Here are class topics for the rest of 2023:

October — Preptober, get thee ready for Nanowrimo. Three sessions, October 5th, 12th, 19th

November — Plotter or Pantser? Two sessions, maybe three if I go long

December — Write on, through holidays and other distractions

Why written (and audio) classes? I’ve thought long and hard about this. First, I don’t know about you, but I have enough zooming in my life. Some days I’m on zoom for hours and I do weary of it, grateful as I am for it at the same time. I sometimes take written-form classes and I love them. I’m a writer, and I process things best when I read them. With a written class you can absorb the information and return to it without having to fast forward through a video. (Also, I’m working on creating PDFs for them. One thing at a time, lots of moving parts here.)

And, Substack has a great comment function and also a great social media aspect (Notes) that facilitates discussion. Also threads on the app but I haven’t figured that out yet. One of the things I’ve loved best about writing my Abundant Writer newsletter is the replies I get through it. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting so many writers that way and I look forward to continuing that and growing that capability.

Thank you for reading this far. I’m excited about these changes because I think they will serve all of us well.

Writing Prompt and Exercise

At last, here we are at the good stuff—fodder for your writing. Let’s get to it.

Prompt

Set your timer and write for fifteen to twenty minutes on any or all of the following prompts.

I love change because….

I hate change because….

My main character loves change because….

My main character hates change because…

The last time ________ change happened I ________.

The last time ________change happened my MC ________.

Exercise

Ponder the role of change in your character’s life. And for this, ignore the big one, ie, the inciting incident, that likely occurred near the start of the novel, because hopefully you’ve got that dialed in already.

Think more along the lines of how full of change her life has been. Did she move around a lot as a kid, changing addresses? Has she had a lot of partners? Is she a serial pet owner, does she keep having children? Does he change careers often? Buy a new car every two years like we used to in the old days? Change hobbies, political parties, ways of viewing the world?

Because there’s a lot of difference in characters who invite change into their lives and those who don’t. Thinking about your character and change can give you insight into their psyche.

That’s it! Happy Monday. Have a great week everyone.