After the "Big Thing" Is Done
A crosspost!
For this edition of the newsletter, I’m going to direct you to yesterday’s Inbox Variations if you haven’t already read it. It’s a lot more about writing and the writing life than it usually is, and relevant to what we talk about here. As we’ve focused on pivots and reinventions, I know I’m on the brink of my own.
I’ve been thinking a lot about when I sold my first book back in 2005, and the success it had in 2007. More happened than I could have ever wished for a debut, and I remember how I felt after that. Like, great, but…now I have to do it again? And keep doing it?
After achieving a goal that I worked on for ten years, I felt more than a bit lost and overwhelmed then, too. It’s common when you meet a goal or achieve a dream, that feeling that comes with endings, even though something new was beginning.
And as I wrote in the other newsletter, something is ending and beginning now, too.
What does it all mean for This Creative Life?
I’m not totally sure. The podcast may change or wind down after a few more episodes. The newsletter will keep going, I think.
(What would you love to have more of here, I wonder? I think people like it when I make the newsletter posts into audio for the minisodes; I can definitely do that.)
Some of what happens will depend on practicalities. If I need to take on more freelance work and coaching or a day job as I redirect my writing, I may have to let go of the free work I do.
I’m more and more aware of my limited time and attention, and right now I need to do an audit of where it’s going and assess what changes need to be made. In the immediate, you can still expect regular editions of this newsletter in your inbox, and audio versions of the ones that warrant it!
Coming up soon: what tools I’m using to figure out where I might direct my writing energy next. Stay tuned!
This Creative Life is a book, a newsletter, and a podcast from me, Sara Zarr, about reading between the lines of a writing life. The newsletter and podcast are free; buying the book (and leaving a great review!) helps support them and me. Sharing the newsletter is a big help, too!
