Julie Artz works with both award-winning and newer authors across the publishing spectrum from Big Five to small and university presses to indie and hybrid. She is an Author Accelerator-certified Founding Book Coach, a sought-after speaker and writing instructor, and a regular contributor to Jane Friedman and Writers Helping Writers, and a regular instructor for AuthorsPublish, IWWG, ProWritingAid and more. Her work as a Pitch Wars and Teen Pit mentor, a former SCBWI Regional Advisor (WWA), and her memberships in The EFA, the WFWA, AWP, and the Authors Guild keep her industry knowledge sharp. A consummate social and environmental justice minded story geek, Julie lives in an enchanted forest outside of Redmond, Washington, with her husband, two strong-willed teenagers (when they’re not off at university!), and two naughty furry familiars. She’s built a thriving book coaching business based on her values, her editing chops, and her knowledge of story. Check out her weekly newsletter, Wyrd Words Weekly, and subscribe today.
[Wyrd Words Weekly] Insomniac Dreams
Hello Reader,
I wrote earlier this fall about how excited I was to dig into a historical fantasy I'd been noodling for over twenty years (!!). And just weeks later, I got agent notes that made me put that new project aside and dig back into the novel in verse I've been working on since fall of 2018. I'm thrilled to say that I've finished that revision, so everyone--including me!--might assume I'd be returning to that historical fantasy.
But my brain had other ideas. I'm convinced I jinxed myself, because I just confidently told the students in the course I'm teaching over at AuthorsPublish about a great technique for keeping shiny new ideas from distracting us when we're on deadline. That technique involves acknowledging the distracting, shiny idea, setting a timer, and capturing every thought you have about that idea so that you convince yourself you won't lose anything by going back to the project you're "supposed" to be working on.
But what if you're not necessarily supposed to be working on anything in particular? Like it or not, I have no books under contract right at the moment, so I could work on anything. Sure, I had intended to go back to that historical fantasy. But is it really what I'm "supposed" to be working on? Not necessarily.
But I needed a reminder of that. So the night before I sat down to finish the last major piece of my revision, I woke up with a start in the middle of the night with a totally different character's voice telling me her story. This is a story I plotted out during the first summer of the pandemic, but never wrote. It honestly seemed like a story that was too fun to fit my very dark mood that summer of 2020. And I couldn't find my main character's voice anyway. So I put it aside.
Fast forward almost three years and that very same elusive voice started talking to me last week at an inappropriate hour. I tried to ignore her. But ultimately, I got up, wrote the first scene of her story, jotted down a ton of other notes, and went back to sleep. I was still convinced I was just "getting her out of my system" and that I'd return to the historical fantasy this coming week.
But as I was noodling what I'd write about today, I realized the promise I'd made to myself about taking a second look any time my mind tells me I "should" be doing something. Why, exactly, should I be working on the historical fantasy, an epic five POV, multi-timeline story that's probably going to take me five years to write like this danged novel in verse?
The answer? I shouldn't. Not now. Instead, I should follow my creative energy and go with the flow. Which is obviously moving toward that story that felt "too fun" a few summers ago, but sounds exactly like what I need right now to replenish after the emotional upheaval of this novel in verse.
Are the "shoulds" in your creative life keeping you from working on the story of your heart? Sometimes our minds try to force our gut/heart/intuition in the direction it thinks we "should" be moving. But the gut will find ways to remind us, to nudge us in the direction of our creative heart, to remind us that "should" has no place in the dreaming of dreams and the writing of words.
I'm going with the flow, and talking a bit with this tricky character that showed up in my dreams a few nights ago. It's way to early to know where it will lead, but I'm going to trust the process. I hope you will too!
Warmly,
Julie
PS - My pal and colleague Suzy Vadori is teaching an awesome workshop on world-building this coming Friday, March 24, for $27!!! If you missed my session this fall or need a refresher, she really knows her stuff. Register today.
Julie Artz | author, editor, book coach, dragon
Julie Artz works with both award-winning and newer authors across the publishing spectrum from Big Five to small and university presses to indie and hybrid. She is an Author Accelerator-certified Founding Book Coach, a sought-after speaker and writing instructor, and a regular contributor to Jane Friedman and Writers Helping Writers, and a regular instructor for AuthorsPublish, IWWG, ProWritingAid and more. Her work as a Pitch Wars and Teen Pit mentor, a former SCBWI Regional Advisor (WWA), and her memberships in The EFA, the WFWA, AWP, and the Authors Guild keep her industry knowledge sharp. A consummate social and environmental justice minded story geek, Julie lives in an enchanted forest outside of Redmond, Washington, with her husband, two strong-willed teenagers (when they’re not off at university!), and two naughty furry familiars. She’s built a thriving book coaching business based on her values, her editing chops, and her knowledge of story. Check out her weekly newsletter, Wyrd Words Weekly, and subscribe today.
Hello Reader, Recently, I listened to a podcast with “Deep Work” advocate Cal Newport that talked about the impact of social media, email, and, more broadly, distraction has on our creative work. But he also mentioned a philosophical war of sorts between Deep Work denizens and those who adhere to Mihaly Csikszentmihali’s theory of "Flow" or what he calls "optimal experience." In a world obsessed with these sort of ideological cage matches, I often start thinking in the dialectic—what if it’s...
Hello Reader, It's been a busy spring around here! I offered my first-ever free three-hour workshop to the public. I migrated my course materials to a brand-new platform with robust features to support writers. And I even spruced up my look with a months-long rebranding process. Then last week, we onboarded the next cohort of writers to the Wyrd Writers Collective. I'm absolutely energized by all of this, but I've also been woefully neglecting my novel. It can be so hard to prioritize our...
Hello Reader, One of questions that emerged from Story Scaffolding Live! last week was around a question that appears in my course materials and those of other writing coaches as well, as well as on several editor and agent submission forms: Why are you the right person to tell this story? I love asking this question because it gets to the heart of your bigger "Why" for writing the story--what it means to you on a personal and emotional level, moving beyond the events that happen in the story...