Will & Way: April 2023

April showers bring new newsletter looks.

It’s spring, and many things are springing! To start, Will & Way is now hosted on Substack. You’re probably familiar with the format if you subscribe to any number of newsletters but now you can easily like, comment, share posts, etc.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the transition, but it should be relatively seamless on your end!

I’ve also launched a new website (s/o to the small businesses that made this possible, namely designer Becca Wood and Houston-based photographer Ahmad Sweeney). Even though my old site was “converting” folks just fine, I’m excited to have a home on the web that feels colorful and vibrant and more like me.

I’m currently working on my (millionth) novel rewrite, a project I’m admittedly struggling with. It’s been three years since I finished my first draft, which I thought was great at the time. Then I read it again and shared it with a developmental editor and discovered that… well, maybe it wasn’t as great as I thought.

Since then, I’ve written the entire thing over like eight times and done a ton of things to try to propel it forward. My dream was always to get it published; yet, as anyone who’s written a book knows, it’s not as simple as “write the book” and “see it on the shelf of your local library.”

There’s so much in the middle: querying the right agent at the right time, that agent finding a home for it, people pre-ordering copies, etc etc.

Three years later, and it’s hard not to feel like I’m in the same position as I was when I finished it the first time—still unpublished and still trying to figure it out, only now just slightly more annoyed with my protagonist because I’ve spent too much time with her and she’s making bad choices. 😅

However, I’m still not ready to give up. I’ve decided in 2023, I will make an earnest effort toward shining this manuscript into the best version it can be. Then, if nothing happens with it, I will either let it go for a while or I will look into self-publishing.

When I finished the book, self-publishing was never a goal for me. I didn’t want to do any of the self-promotion or TikToks or whatever is necessary to sell books on Amazon. But at this point, I—along with several other writers I’ve been talking to—also don’t want to hold on to the book forever, and if self-publishing is the only way this thing gets into the world, then so be it.

So that’s where I’m at with this novel: determined to try my best. And yet, I realized earlier this year that even though I work from home (and for myself), I could never quite find the time to sit down and work on the book anymore. It’s always on my list, but I never get there.

I decided to ask a friend to be an accountability partner. She said yes, and we now schedule weekly one-hour blocks to work on our projects. We check in for five minutes at the start of the call, mute ourselves for another 50 while we work, and then check in at the end to report our results.

When we started, I thought an hour a week sounded like no time at all. What could I really get done setting aside just 60 minutes a week?

The answer: a lot! I’ve been shocked at how just sitting down and focusing on my book for that small period of time has lit a fire in me. I’ve rewritten the first 5000 words, query letter, and synopsis, and had it reviewed. I joined a writer’s group that meets twice a month and currently use my weekly accountability blocks to get things ready for them to read.

It all feels like I’m building momentum again toward this project, and it feels good. I’m re-engaged and re-inspired and curious to see what happens next.

I share this with you to suggest: If you’re struggling to get something done, can you make an appointment with yourself to do it? Block out time on your calendar? Ask someone to Zoom with you while you both cross things off your list?

I know it sounds so obvious and basic, but blocking out time for my personal writing—and having someone to share milestones with—has been one of the best things I’ve done for my practice in a long time.

In other news, check out my latest published work:

• An interview with Mark Schaefer, one of the world’s top digital marketing influencers

• A profile on Ben Mauro, whose game-design resume includes Halo, Call of Duty, and more

And here's what else is on my radar this month…

Watching:

• I finished and recommend: Hacks, The Circle (solid mindless-but-not-toxic reality TV), Creed, Maid, and Daisy Jones and the Six (I also recommend the book if you haven’t read it yet)

• I started but could not get into: The Last of Us (zombie stuff is just not it for me)

• Currently watching on the edge of my seat, after viewing the first seasons all the way through for the third time: Succession

• Oh, and I’m also enjoying Shrinking!

• I could not help but be fascinated by the Gwyneth Paltrow trial. It seemed at once high- and low-stakes, real and fake, improv and rehearsed. And her outfits!

Reading:

• I finished Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. This book is just as good as everyone says it is. Highly recommend!

• I also liked: God Spare the Girls by Kelsey McKinney and The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. The former had lots of religious trauma references and the latter offered great hosting and event-planning tips.

• I was influenced to buy the book Real Self-Care by Pooja Lakshmin after reading this post: It is not an accident that we have Black Queer women thinkers to thank for crystallizing self-care as a political movement. It’s the most oppressed who so often do the heavy lifting when you live in an unjust and inequitable society. Looking forward to reading this one!

• This article about a digital nomad community that failed to deliver on its promises both to digital workers and the local community was interesting. I’m unsettled by the explosion in “expats” (aka immigrants) setting up shop in other countries and how it negatively impacts the local economies (aka gentrification).

• Who’s surprised companies aren’t using their pledged diversity funds as they said they would?

Contests, Resources, Opportunities:

• The Upside, a consulting community of which I am part, is hiring for an Assistant Community Manager. See the JD here and let me know if you have questions! (Also happy to answer q’s about the community in general, if you’re self-empoyed and looking to grow your network.)

• Reminder to women: Apply for the job of your dreams! When women go after the $100K jobs, they get them more often, but they don’t apply as frequently as men.

Have a great month,

Nikki

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…always keeping on flowers on hand, whenever I can

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Thanks for reading!