The Only Way Out is Through (A Love Letter)

True in writing, and in life

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I had an idea (my husband’s most dreaded words). Why not offer a holiday flash sale? I’m offering 20% off membership levels. That means a monthly subscription will run you $6.40, and an annual $64. I’m holding the offer open another week, until next Sunday, December 10. One of the things that I love best about Substack is that its founders believe that writers should be paid for their work. It’s a definite mindshift, especially after so many of us have blogged for free for so long. But I’m here for it, not just for me, but for other writers as well.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for supporting my writing!

Dear lovelies,

This week I felt weary of the post-surgery healing process. The need to elevate and ice, the restless sleep, the sitting around resting. The stiff knee, the pain, the tiredness, other indignities. But then I realized something. Or maybe re-realized would be a better way to put it. It’s this:

The only way out is through.

I can’t go back. I have a new knee! (I’ve named her Knettie, pronounced Kah-nettie.) There’s no way in hell I’m going through this surgery again any time soon or ever. I’ve got to keep keeping on.

This is obviously true of all kinds of life things. Pregnancy, for instance. That baby has to come out, one way or another! No give-backs. My brain is too foggy to come up with more examples but we’ll move along because the important point here is that the only way out is through is also true in writing.

One day last week I was on a Zoom with one of my wonderful clients. She’s working on a novel that is as wonderful as she is, and she has it well plotted out. But she was worrying if a certain upcoming plot point would work, and if so, how? We brainstormed about it some (my favorite), and came up with some ideas. But I also told her this: to keep writing. Keep writing despite her uncertainties. Keep writing. Because so often, maybe even always, the problems get figured out in the writing. As you are pushing through, in other words.

The only way out is through.

It can be hard to push on, to move forward when you’re not sure if things are working. Hard to see the forest for the trees, and all that. One way I cheered myself out of my surgery funk was to look back at how far I’d come. How much less pain I’m in. How much the swelling around the knee has gone down. How I’m getting around so much better, not always relying on the walker. That helped, a lot.

And you can do that with your writing, too. Our brains are hard-wired to dwell on the negative, a survival mechanism from the days when we had to be every-mindful of peril at every turn. (Interesting link that explains further here.)

You might be imagining that you don’t have very much of a word count under your belt, only to be shocked how many you have when you add it all up. Maybe you think you have a crappy beginning that needs tons of work only to be pleasantly surprised when you re-read it. Perhaps you think you’ve not done much career-wise this year, but when you sit down to add it all up, there’s a lot more than you realized.

Going back and revisiting where you’ve come from can give you the oomph you need to carry on and make it through. Because once you do push through, there is glory at the end: the healed knee, the completed first draft, the beautiful baby! And I, for one, know you can do it.

Love, light, and good writing,

Charlotte

P.S. Do you have any tricks for pushing through when times get tough? Please do share in the comments.

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Books

I don’t have any new ones to share, guys. The first week plus after surgery all I did was read. But as I started to feel better and get more active, I’ve been reading less, sadly. I’ll have more titles next week.

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Articles and Resources

Fancy a 31-day challenge to add a bit of zest to this month? (hahaha.) Austin Kleon has you covered.

How to keep a running library log of books.

Theme: often misunderstood and even overlooked. Nice article on its importance here.

The future of publishing. This may ruffle some feathers and I’m not sure I agree with all of it, but it is worth reading. Thanks to Paul Thorson for sharing it with me.

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Events

Creative writing workshops in France and Italy next year. (England is now full.) See all here.

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I had an idea (my husband’s most dreaded words). Why not offer a holiday flash sale? I’m offering 20% off membership levels. That means a monthly subscription will run you $6.40, and an annual $64. I’m holding the offer open another week, until next Sunday, December 10. One of the things that I love best about Substack is that its founders believe that writers should be paid for their work. It’s a definite mindshift, especially after so many of us have blogged for free for so long. But I’m here for it, not just for me, but for other writers as well.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, for supporting my writing!