I’m another year older and to celebrate I went on a 5 mile walk, hitting up five neighborhood Little Free Libraries. I went to one of my local independent bookstores (twice), took the kids to see a movie, and went out for a family dinner. Not a bad way to see in a new year.
Currently obsessed with
📚 Yellowface* by R. F. Kuang. I’m only about a third of the way through but I’m enjoying it so far. It examines the publishing industry, cultural appropriation, social media, professional jealousy, and more.
📲 Threads. My screen time is worse than ever thanks to this app but I’m enjoying it. Are you on it? My username is christinenevans.
Writing Tip of the Week
I’m taking a tip from Vicky Fang this week and expanding it. She said:
“Be true to yourself. The stories that will be great will be uniquely you. Find that story and it will resonate and stand out from the rest.”
One way of finding stories that are true to you is to free write about your past. Think about your childhood, the things you loved to do and read and watch, what makes you squirm to look back on, the places you grew up, family vacations, and so on. Just write, and remember no one will see any of this, it’s just for you. Look for recurring themes and emotions that might help you find a connection with your current work in progress or spark a brand new story. This is also a good way to find specificity in your story. Instead of writing “she pulled on her new hat.” You can use your own memories to be more specific: “I took the misshapen woolen hat from Grandma and tugged it over my wonky bangs. At least it hid my disastrous attempt at a haircut.”
Writing Prompt
Write about a birthday. It can be memoir, nonfiction, or totally made up.
News
I’m giving away a copy of Dear Mr. G this week to celebrate my birthday. To enter, like this post, share it on social media (tag me [at]christinenevans), or leave a comment. Each action is one entry (so if you do all three, that’s three entries.) I’ll announce the winner in next week’s note.
Until next week, happy writing and reading. Let me know what you’re enjoying this week.
Christine
P.S. links marked with a * are affiliate and may earn me a small percentage of the sale at no cost to you.
It seems everyone is reading Yellowface. I think I need to get my hands on a copy.
Happy birthday Christine! What a great way to celebrate - a walk and little free libraries.