Take the Long Way Home (A Love Letter)
The road is long, with many a winding road, but you'll get there in the end
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Hi lovies,
Spoiler alert, this is a Stars, They’re Just Like Us moment.1 One of my readers2 said she really liked it when I admit my foils and wrong terms. And so here you go:
A common metaphor used to convince writers to create an outline or write a synopsis is this: you have to know where you’re going in order to get there. Would you attempt to drive from Los Angeles to New York without a road map?
Well, in my case, yes I would. Not a good map reader here. Many years ago, when my husband I were first married and we were on a drive to Seattle, he asked me to get a map out of the car’s glove compartment. I was incredulous. I couldn’t imagine why we needed a map. There were plenty of road signs, for Gods’s sake. And the I5 freeway (which runs from the Canadian to the Mexican borders) is notoriously straight as a god-fearing evangelical. (Although after my September road trip from Perpignan, France to Perugia, Italy, I can now affirm the value of using Apple maps, which gave us a charming Aussie dude to guide us.)
It will come as no surprise to you that I also spurn instructions. (As a teacher in a class I just took noted, there is regret about this about 50% of the time.) I’m much more apt to plunge in, pushing buttons or turning screws, as the case may be. (This is also why I am not allowed anywhere near the assembly of Ikea furniture.)
I wrote recently that sometimes it takes awhile. Well I’d add to that today, sometimes you have to take the long way around to get to where you want to go. Sometimes on your trip from L.A., you have to go by Florida before you get to New York.
I fervently wish this was not true.
But it is for me. And it might help you to know that you’re not the only one who takes circuitous paths to get to where you want to go in your writing. This is top of mind today because I have once again circled back around to a new chapter one for my WIP. When I saved the file I titled it Lucy Chapter One Version 1000. Haha. My own little joke. I have to feel like the beginning is right and then honestly, the stars align and things happen. As soon as I got a new beginning on the page boom I was writing again.
I do worry, though, that writing about these bad habits will encourage you to follow them with bad writing habits of your own.
Except I also realize that we all have a process. And one thing I have learned in my years of writing is that resistance to your process is futile. Instead, recognizing it and learning ways to make it more efficient is the way to go. And, an ever more important takeaway: whatever your process is, however you put together a novel or a memoir or an essay or a short story, just keep doing it. Keep going back to it. Process is everything and however you do it is how you do it. Keep doing it. You’ll get there in the end.
Love, light, and good writing,
Charlotte
P.S. Here’s a song for you. It’s real name is “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” but the apropos lines are the first ones.
Some Offerings
A lot of my clients are requesting sessions unrelated to their WIPs that we usually talk about. We’re discussing goals, planning, the writing they want to do in 2025 and how to get it done, the books they want to query and/or publish. The thought occurs that maybe you might want a session like that, too? Here we are, already a few days into December, so the time is nigh. Hit reply to this newsletter for more info or you can hit the button below to DM me through Substack.
I’m also open for new long-term book coaching clients—a most excellent Christmas gift for yourself. But I’ve had a spate of recent inquiries so if you’re interested, let me know ASAP so I can put you on the 2025 schedule.
And here’s a thing—you can give a gift subscription to this newsletter. How cool is that?
Books
12 Dates of Christmas by Jenny Bayliss. I’ve had this book on my radar for quite awhile, seeing as how it is the first novel written by Bayliss, one of my favorite authors for all the cozy Christmas feels. This one does not disappoint! And, since I’ve read most of her other books, I can also see where she got a little clunky setting things up at the start. I still love it, though.
I’ve not had as much time to read as usual this week, because besides reading manuscripts for clients, I have been busy doing all the Christmas events! Which leads to our next category…
Watching
It’s time for Christmas movies! Actually past time, we’re late to the party this year.
Our Little Secret. This one stars Lindsay Lohan and Ian Harding as Avery and Logan, a couple who loved and broke up and now run into each other again. Holiday mayhem ensues, especially when Avery accidentally eats waaay too many CBD edibles and…well, I’ll just let you watch it. Kristen Chenoweth is hilariously wonderful as a controlling Mom.
Hot Frosty. I know, I know, but check out the wonderfulness of this over-the-top plot: a young widow brings a snowman to live and he helps her rediscover the joy of Christmas before he melts away. Or does he? I don’t know yet, because it’s on deck for tonight’s viewing. I shall report next week.
And for you Grinches out there, here’s a non-holiday themed series that we are enjoying:
A Man on the Inside. (NYT gift link.) Ted Danson is so great in this series. A “cozy, low-stakes comedy,” as the NYT says, it’s about a man who is rootless after the death of his wife from Alzheimer’s a year ago. When his daughter urges him to get out in the world and do something, he finds his way to an undercover job investigating a stolen necklace in a nursing home. Hilarity ensues. And Sally Struthers is fantastic as one of the residents.
Resources
This historical fiction writer’s group has an online convention coming up in February. I have it on good authority from one of my clients that it’s an excellent group and an excellent conference.
Lots of recent links about publishing and the book world from Densie Webb on Writer Unboxed.
5 Edits to Strengthen Your Writing Right Now. From Janice Hardy, always a trusted craft source. I just used the first one to pep up one of my sentences.
I made these scones and they were so good my hub wouldn’t let me share them with the rest of the people in the household. I’m making them again for Christmas morning. The recipe is from Sally’s Baking Addiction and is a little fussy for my taste (you have to freeze and then grate the butter) but the results are worth it. My daughter and niece assure me that Sally has all the best recipes for baking.
Workshops in England and France
Information, including dates and cost, for our 2025 England workshops is now listed on our website. And heads up! Due to distractions beyond our control, we’ve moved the deadline for the early-bird discount to December 1. (Commit today with a promise to send the deposit and you’ve got it.) We’ve had several writers indicate strong interest in joining and a couple of sign-ups already, so we recommend registering soon.
I’ve just updated our France page as well!
And if you want a taste of the adventure that awaits, you can read my posts about this year here, and here, here, here, and here.
Other places to connect with me:
My website (badly in need of an upgrade)
Our workshop website
My original blog (now for archive purposes only, no longer updated, but damn there are a lot of articles on it)
That’s it for now. I love you all for reading and commenting and sending me emails and for going back to the creative well over and over again.
I don’t consider myself a star but I do consider myself an expert on at list some aspects of writing.
That reader happens to be my cousin. Hi, Mary!
Oh yes, the going around in circles to start where I began is a strong game here in this writer! 😅 Glad to know we’re in the car together. At least we can stop at the yarn shop when we’re temporarily lost!
Charlotte, Your advice that resisting our process is futile is so wise. I'm glad you are moving along again in your novel. As I read through your map example, I could help but think that it sounds like ADHD, which is so underdiagnoses in women.