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Share your week’s goal on the thread below! I know we’re all bursting with ideas and plans, but let’s stick with one main objective each for accountability.
Here’s a potentially useful format, but feel free to improvise too! Just keep your posts below 200 words max to focus your thoughts.
Week of [DATE]:
Why I’m stoked:
Concerns or challenges:
Did the magic happen? [END-OF-WEEK ACCOUNTABILITY CHECK]Feel free to ask questions about your project on the CHAT forum or post passages and drafts in the SHARE forum. Keep submissions here short and sweet to build accountability and momentum, and to receive support from your fellow writers!
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AMANDA’S GOALS
Week of 7/7: Catio/shatio pitch
Why I’m stoked: I found a jazzy new angle for a story idea I’ve been dragging my butt on for five years. And 12 months of extreme chaos are *finally* mellowing, so I’m excited to chase the assignments I want, instead of coasting on projects editors hand out.
Concerns or challenges: Feeling rusty and overcoming the Wall of Awful, which has delayed this pitch
(Note: I have mild, well-managed and -medicated ADHD, which introduced me to this concept. But it can plague every type of brain, so I highly recommend checking the link out if you’re unfamiliar with this emotional barrier and dopamine deficit, as it’s often entangled in writer’s block!)
Did the magic happen? [END-OF-WEEK ACCOUNTABILITY CHECK] -
That sounds great, Amanda! I remember your shatio idea from the pitch class. It’s helpful to see how old ideas we’re particularly inspired by don’t have to die as long as we keep looking for fresh news hooks/angles. That’s my main focus here in the den.
Week of 7/7:
• Have a close-to-final draft of my olive oil tourism piece for the Olive Oil Professor. I’ve made some amateur mistakes on this one and am spending a lot of time condensing and cutting. I feel mired in it.
• Start a draft of a Murcia travel pitch inspired by a women-led conference I went to in May.
Why I’m stoked: I’m grateful for this accountability. My life has been extremely chaotic over the last year, too, and it still is in many ways. I’m trying to figure out ways to make room for my writing goals despite this chaos. I realize it will never be the perfect time.
Concerns or challenges: Making productive use of limited time. I’m definitely struggling with feelings of fear/inadequacy, too.
Did the magic happen? [END-OF-WEEK ACCOUNTABILITY CHECK] -
Heya Amanda and Ansley! Happy to see you both again! Yay!
Week of 7/14: Would love to hone at least one pitch that’s been on my mind for a while, and pitch it to multiple pubs to see where it’ll land.
Why I’m stoked: Like Ansley, I need accountability — check-ins and handholding — to get things done. I have extreme diagnosed ADHD, and I haven’t taken meds or done therapy management for it since college, which is why I can’t seem to move forward. This small-group format will be key in helping me to achieve my goals so that I can be the kind of successful I want to be.
Challenges: I can sometimes get all the help in the world (like in WLHB Pitch class I took in ’23) and still falter because I’m paralyzed by fear or perfectionism. I need to figure out a way to get over this and just move forward. That’d go a long way in inspiring confidence in my pitching abilities.
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J’Nai, Amazing! What a wonderful surprise to see that you’re the other student in this inaugural Badger Den! Everything you write resonates with me. I have not been diagnosed with ADHD, but I certainly have a highly circular way of going about life in general and get sidetracked very easily. I’m excited to hear what you’re working on and to support you in any way I can, Ansley
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Hi everyone! How are you all doing? I look forward to hearing about what you’ve worked on and your plans for the week!
Week of 07/21/2025: Send my olive oil piece! After that, draft a pitch about an amazing rice restaurant and make a list of potential publications for a recipe pitch I sent to Cake Zine and received a positive rejection for.
Why I’m stoked: I want to get this olive oil piece out of my hands – it’s really weighing on me.
Concerns or challenges: I’m really noticing my fear this week with the olive oil piece. I’m finding it so hard to decide it’s ready. As for the pitches, it’s so hard to just choose one or two ideas to focus on. I always feel the pull of all those other ideas in my bookmarks and brain, taking my focus away. I think I should maybe slow down and set aside an hour or two to look through my ideas and pick 5 or so that make me feel especially excited or that seem particularly timely right now.
Did the magic happen? [END-OF-WEEK ACCOUNTABILITY CHECK]
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Unburden yourself of that fantastic olive oil piece! And take heart: most people struggle with this, hence the saying, “stories are never finished, just abandoned.” It sounds like you need this mental space and emotional energy for other projects now. So I encourage you grit your teeth and submit, lady!
Pruning pitch ideas is another classic challenge — and one I struggle with too. My brain finds everything exciting everywhere all at once! That’s why it can be useful to slip into “editor/analytical mode” like you’re planning to. I.e., take off your creator hat and put on a strategic one. Isolate the actions, so their sometimes-conflicting needs don’t trigger writer’s block!
One thing that helps me: keeping a honking big list of potential ideas. That stops my brain from FOMO. I know they’re recorded and can be returned to. Phew!
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I’m a bit late to the party (apologies), but here are my intentions!
Week of 07/21/2025: Send out the shatio pitch
Why I’m stoked: This idea needs to find a home before someone scoops me or it should go away. I’m ready to move out of this weird limbo, whatever that looks like!
Concerns or challenges: Now that my family’s income has stabilized after three years of drah-ma, I am having ALL THE FEELS. Like I moved out of survival mode and all the sidelined stuff came roaring back. It’s intense… and definitively pulling focus. So is digging into my perfection-paralysis and experimenting with“not letting perfect be the enemy of good.” (The idea that nothing can ever be flawless, so skip the diminishing returns, which can block other opportunities… and feel pretty blerg too!) I’m intentionally keeping my goals light, since I have a bunch of Afar projects on the boil, as well as teaching the pitch class and evolving WLHB. My brain is extremely rebellious right now, probably because my work has been steamrollered over and over again by medical caregiving and reams of petty bureaucratic paperwork over the last year. It’s certain that I deserve a looooong break, which isn’t possible at the moment. So I’m trying to enjoy summer, keep demands light and build momentum instead of melting down into a big ball of resentment about adulting, haha!
Accountability check: um… yeah. Totally crapped the bed on plans for 500 words of the spite garden story last week. I’m going to try on Friday, but won’t beat myself up if this punts to next week. Onward and upward!
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Oops I’ve been missing all this, thanks for the reminder in your email, Amanda!
Week of 07/28/2025: Send out fisherman pitch to more places. I’d also love to send out my new pitch on photographer Karolina Valeikaite.
Why I’m stoked: Been sitting on this for so long, might as well get moving!
Concerns or challenges: None, I just keep forgetting. -
I wrote and started a BAZILLION pitches last week! In fact, I did it every day of the week and just couldn’t stop! All of them aren’t completed — some are just ideas — but I totally went to town on them! I was going to add them all to the “Share” section but decided that seeing them might overwhelm y’all, so I’ll wait until Aug. 1 haha. I’m so proud of myself, and it’s the most productive I’ve been in a long time, which is great.
Week of 7/28: Pitch-a-palooza continues this week. and after tweaking Amanda’s edits for my current pitches, I will pitch those out to see if I can get some new pubs added to my byline! (Fingers crossed!
Why I’m stoked: The formulation of the pitches — and just doing the writing, no matter how raw the pitches are — is a giant first step. And if I can do that, I’ll have a higher probability of getting these pieces accepted.
Concerns or challenges: Tweaking the pitches to a place that gets them accepted, and pitching them to the right places
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Amazing J’nai! I hope to be able to say that I can’t stop writing pitches someday! I’m excited to see where these go. As a cisgender male once said ;), the more lines in the water, the more bites.
I had one huge success this week. I FINALLY sent in my olive oil piece, and the editor wrote back the same day, “Great story!” It doesn’t appear there will be any edits…Thank you all for your support, and thanks to Amanda for giving me the extra push I needed to get it out the door.
Week of 7/28: I’m regretting agreeing to do a cookbook translation that’s due early September — one month away, eeks. I’m behind so need to catch up on that. Also, I saw that a writer I really like will be teaching an online essay workshop through Orion, a dream publication. You have to apply for their workshops, so I’m working on that this week, too — it’s due August 5. I’m going out of town Thursday-Saturday, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to do too much else this week.
Why I’m stoked: It feels like a huge win to have my story in. It’s a story I feel proud of, so I’m excited to be able to use it as a clip when it goes live.
Concerns or challenges: I’m trying to keep up with pitching “no matter what” but am also struggling with the time constraints of summer vacation.
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Bravissima, Ansley!!! Congrats on the clip and freeing up energy for fresh projects!
The Orion opportunity sounds special. Hope it works out! If you need a recommendation or reference, please feel free to use my name — you don’t even need to ask (but do alert me, so I can keep an eye out).
That offers stands for everyone here, of course!
Re: summer pitching — August can be very hit or miss. A LOT of people are out of the office or just distracted by socializing and soaking up outdoor time. So it’s a good month, maybe even the best possible month, to not be querying.
Still, I encourage you to keep jotting down ideas and maybe adding two sentences a week to a pitch. I.e., keep your subconscious noodling on all this. (Bonus: you’ll have copy to work with, when you are ready to pitch!)
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Thank you, Amanda! I greatly appreciate the offer for a rec, and will certainly take you up on that someday. I don’t actually need one for the Orion workshop. They want a 1,500-word writing sample (I thought I’d send a condensed version of the olive oil piece — it’s not an essay, but shows the issues/themes I’m interested in. I’m afraid I don’t have a good recent essay).
And they also want a cover letter — it’s not clear how long — they just say “As much as you want to share! We love hearing about your background, career, hobbies, relationship to literature and the environment, experience (if any) with writing workshops, why you’re drawn to an Orion workshop, and anything else.”
That could be really long — does 400 words sound too long?
I agree about August! I wouldn’t want to get anything commissioned now, either, because it would be impossible to track down any sources in Spain in any case.
AND, I think your catio pitch is ready to send! But I also see the value of getting past the craziness to look at it once more in a zen moment. I’m going to send you a PDF of an article that came out in El País about cats a few days ago (paywalled) — “This is the century of the cat” they say — maybe some good stats, about how the trend is not just in the US, but also global? Not that you need more info at this point…
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Ansley, sorry I missed this and your deadline date has past. Belatedly: 400–500 words seems great for this sort of cover letter. Editors are just pushing for shorter pitches because they field so many of ’em!
Thanks so much for the encouragement and also the PDF. Century of the cat! Love it!
Hope you felt good about your submission!
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J’nai, what is the magic superpower you have?! Pitches every day? How do you come up with ideas? I feel like one will pop into my head once every few months. Can’t wait to hear about them all!
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Josephine, angles can be tricky at first. But it gets easier, I promise!
I’m sharing some lectures from Timely Angles from Freelancers, a class WLHB used to offer and may revive down the road. They really dig into how to generate ideas.
Lecture 1: Developing “Timely Listening”
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18hGqyFDwJRCIieqgRLZeFJvEtu2ThLXwszrQLuFxKZQ/edit?usp=sharing
Lecture 3: Crafting a Timely Story
Lecture 4: Getting Ahead of the CurveMuch as I love my own lectures, these might be a more useful starting point if you’re struggling to dream up ideas. 😉
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J’nai, you are a force of nature! I love your focus on just getting words on the page. You’re not alone in this: writing coach Anne Lamott’s “shitty first drafts” are a time-honored tradition for a reason! They separate out the creative act, which can be messy and wild, from analysis (self-editing to support editor’s wants and readers’ needs).
Good luck with the current crop of pitches! My fingers are crossed that you’ll break into some new titles and/or score great assignments!
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Week of 7/30
Why I’m stoked: I’m loving working with you all — community energy is contagious in the best way! And I’m happy Afar has been raining sponcon assignments down on me… except how edits rolled in on top of five (!) new deadlines and Pitch Like a Honey Badger critiques.
Concerns or challenges: I can’t see pitching until this logjam clears next Tuesday. Which is, to be blunt, quite cowardly, because the shatio pitch is ready to go. But I want to go over it one more time when my brain isn’t getting yanked in 12 different directions and I can use my ADHD hyperfocus superpower!
Did the magic happen? Um, no. But I’m reassuring myself that it will. Some weeks are just like this with full-time freelancing. I try to think of it like yoga — I came to the mat. Maybe it didn’t look exactly like I’d hoped, but showing up is still a win! -
Hi everyone,
I hope you’re doing well! Here are my goals for this week:
Week of 08/05: Amy Sherman, the editor at the Olive Oil Professor, wrote to ask if I wanted to write any more olive oil pieces. She said to send her pitches or ask her if I didn’t have any ideas. So, I’m going to work on a list of 3 or so potential ideas for her, trying to be smart about narrowing the scope so I don’t spend as much time on them as I did on the olive oil tourism story.
Why I’m stoked: It makes me feel good to know the editor likes my work. This is a good opportunity to get some more clips. The pay isn’t great, but I do have a lot of freedom to write what I want to write.
Concerns or challenges: Staying focused in the limited worktime I have during the summer.
Did the magic happen? I sent my Orion workshop application (my heart was pounding so hard when I hit send) and made some good progress on my cookbook translation, but I still have a ways to go. Translating recipes can get really tedious, and I caught myself going down way too many internet rabbit holes (some more edifying than others) rather than staying focused. I’m trying to think of other strategies when I feel my brain checking out. I should make a list of short tasks or activities that give me a boost rather than scatter my attention like rabbit holes tend to do! Any suggestions?I look forward to hearing what you all are up to!
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Ansley, this is all so exciting! Love that the editor liked your work so much she asked for more — such a good sign.
Also, major props for sending in your Orion application! That’s a huge win in itself. And oof, I feel you on the internet rabbit holes. I do the exact same thing. At work, I’ve been setting a 25-minute timer where I don’t let myself switch tabs or check anything else — just focus on the one task. When the timer goes off, I can take a break or do something mindless. It’s been helping me a lot!
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Ha! I’m missing the little “like” hearts here. Thank you, Josephine! The timer method is a great idea. I need to get better at that. Coincidentally, I was just reading Alicia Kennedy’s research and organization tips, and was reassured by her take on rabbit holes: There will be rabbit holes! Consider it gleaning.
Those rabbit holes can be useful later, but I also end up going down completely useless ones, too…
Congrats on sending the fisherman aesthetic pitch! I believe Anne Banas is an editor at BBC — Amanda will know for sure. You can link to your CN Traveler piece in the email ;).
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I love that Alicia Kennedy reframed rabbit holes as gleaning. That actually makes me feel way better about my tabs-on-tabs situation. Totally agree though… sometimes it’s useful research, and sometimes plain useless!
So turns out Anne Banas left BBC and is at Smart Luxury, maybe I was advised to pitch there? Will ask on Friday’s call (:
Oh true! I will link that!-
We touched on this during the last call, but to recap — I’m a fan of rabbit holes! In moderation, of course.
My logic: my brain is neurodivergent, so it’s wired for detours. AND I’m a writer, so basically I’m an idea magpie who has the privilege of learning and satisfying my curiosity well into adulthood. The effort to fight all that is exhausting and drains my enthusiasm. So instead of resisting my natural state — trying to force myself into some misguided late-stage capitalism idea of productivity — I try to flow with it.
Sometimes life and deadline demands mean I have to focus, of course. But that’s a different energy, fueled by panic. Then I hunker down and set intentions like “finish X then you can noodle around the internet for Y minutes.”
Day-to-day, I try to manage my time to account for rabbit holing. Humans can only concentrate well for 90–120 minutes at a stretch because of our ultradian rhythms, so sometimes I use a timer or just plan around that. I exercise or do physical chores before work and during breaks to get my blood flowing and rest my brain. And when in doubt, I reread “How to Write Faster,” which claims squirmy rabbitholers like me are as productive as highly disciplined writers! (It also touches on a topic we discussed in late July: the complexity of writing and how to separate drafting, editing and considering the readers’ needs.)
So, yeah… Rabbitholing FTW! I truly believe it’s a core part of staying sharp, sussing trends and supporting mental health! (Case in point: as I unpacked ideas in this post, I was like hmmmm, could there be a piece here? And maybe another on ultradian rhythms as the “news” search tab mostly contained research papers?!?)
Ansley, thanks for sharing the “gleaning” reframe. That’s such a positive way to think about all this.
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Week of 08/05:
I’ve been working on a pitch about how a photographer is reshaping hospitality photography. Ansley pointed out (very wisely!) that I should make sure I have access to the photographer before pitching, especially since she’s ignored a couple of my DMs in the past 😅Why I’m stoked:
I really admire her work and would love to create photos like hers one day. It would be such a dream to write this piece and get to actually have a conversation with her.Concerns or challenges:
She’s ignored my Instagram DMs, so I’m a little worried she’ll ignore my email too. But I guess better to find out now than after the pitch goes out!Did the magic happen?
I sent my fisherman aesthetic pitch to BBC Travel like you all suggested — yay! Also, I have “Anne Banas – smart luxury” written in my notes, but I can’t remember why… was she someone I could pitch to?-
Josephine, the advice Ansley gave you feels spot-on to me. Any time a piece must contain a certain source, I try to lock them down before pitching.
Also, as we discussed on the last call, a lot of media folks and personalities won’t respond to DMs on social because they want to relax and socialize there. Some just don’t want to get trolled or manage conversations across a handful of platforms. Others have interns or employees handling their accounts, increasing the chance of an interview request falling through the cracks. So email is still best practice and I wouldn’t assume unanswered DMs = not interested!
Anne Banas has moved from BBC Travel to “Smart Luxury,” a title I’m unfamiliar with. I took a quick look and the Fisherman Aesthetic pitch is worth sending there, yes! I could see it in the “Beach and Island Escapes” section maybe.
But here’s the great part: you don’t have to know a story’s a perfect fit. That’s the editor’s job and it has a gajillion factors in play that freelancers can’t predict. So just throw stuff against the wall* and see what sticks!
* Within reason, of course. If writer’s guidelines indicate no-go zones, respect those!
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Hi everyone!
Week of 08/13/2025: I have a “shitty first draft” of my Islamic heritage companion piece so am working on revising that. I’m going to book a review session next week for extra accountability. I also saw a fellowship opportunity — the Magma Environmental Reporting Fellowship. The application doesn’t seem too complicated, so I’m working on that to submit for the review session, too. It’s a bit of a stretch, maybe, as they call for previous experience in journalism — but it is an early career mentorship program. The focus is on pressing environmental issues in the Mediterranean. I wish my olive oil piece would go live!
Why I’m stoked:: I’m excited to have a news hook I feel passionate about reacting to. It feels good to be making time for pitches and sticking my neck out. It’s also good to have several ideas in the works so I don’t feel too attached to a single one.
Concerns or challenges: I’ve had strong feelings of self-doubt this week, but am trying to remember that it’s important to have many voices out there — not just journalists in Dallas jumping on news from places they know little about (I’m referring to that Fodor’s story about the ban in Murcia). Also, my husband is on a work trip to China this week which means I have less help at home.
Did the magic happen?: I sent an email to Amy Sherman but didn’t hear back from her — she may be on vacation? I made good progress on my cookbook translation.
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A shitty first draft is still a draft and it seems huge to me considering we only talked about it a few days ago! The fellowship sounds perfect for you, could you attach your olive oil piece and explain it hasn’t gone live yet, but you felt it relevant?
You’re waaaay more qualified/knowledgable than the Dallas journalist about the Muslim celebration bans, and if he can publish that piece, there’s no reason for you to doubt yourself!
Yay for your progress on your cookbook translation!
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Week of 08/13/2025: I’m going to send my pitch out on the hotel photographer! I also plan to read up on all the editors and their magazines that are going to be at Travel Classics and read through the pitch lectures Amanda sent.
Why I’m stoked: Like I said I love the photographer’s work! I hope this gets a yes somewhere, so I can interview her!
Concerns or challenges: I feel like I have so much reading to do before the conference and am stressed about coming up with ideas. I spoke to Maren, the founder of Travel Classics and she said I need to have many ideas to run by each editor and they need to all be well researched and thought out, I kind of wish I had 6 months to prep!
Did the magic happen?: YES! I emailed the photographer I want to write an article on and she responded immediately and said she was flattered and to go ahead. Yay!! Thanks, Ansley for the suggestion!!
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Week of 08/13/2025: Send the shatio pitch. Survive the next three days of chaos.
Why I’m stoked: Lots of unsolicited work is rolling in. But I shouldn’t let that dictate all my coverage, since unsolicited work isn’t nearly as fun or rewarding as telling stories I care about. Time to stop coasting!
Also, I stopped all my headaches and migraines, so I’m just down to troubleshooting some neck crunchiness. It’s not really a work victory, but it’s a good sign that I’m tending to my own health. (I often neglect it, as caregivers are prone to do.) Self-care often paves the way for career ambition and expansion for me!
Concerns or challenges: I’m digging out of massive hole of neglected tasks… and it has a lot of gravity. Crossing chores off my list gives me those sweet, sweet dopamine hits. I need to refocus some of that energy into reshaping my workload and finding more meaningful assignments.
Did the magic happen? Nope again. D’oh!
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That is such great news about the photographer, Josephine! Yay! I have a good feeling about that story. I’m sure you know this, but be sure to mention in your pitch that you’ve been in touch with her and that she’s happy to speak with you for an article. And another huge congratulations on getting the Travel Classics scholarship! I can’t wait to hear more.
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Amanda, I get tight traps all the time and I’ve tried over 15 new pillows, got a new expensive mattress and nothing helped. I went to see someone who told me that because of all my ankle/knee problems it actually might be affecting my traps and back, the rest of my body is trying to compensate and readjust for how weak my base is. No clue what your neck pain means, but maybe it’s some other body issue you’re not think of that’s affecting it? Sorry, vague and unhelpful, but that’s what i found out recently.
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Ninety percent of the discomfort went away with new bras, a new pillow and being more mindful about my posture, as we discussed on the call. But I’ve definitively had referred pain during this process. The outsides of my hips — the tensor fasciae latae, I think? — were ANGRY for a bit. All that cleared up when I went from a cervical pillow back to buckwheat!
And then I read that too-short pillows skew your body, pressing a bunch of weight onto… you guessed it…the outside of the hips! So at least my lived experience made sense.
I hope the PT pays off and you find some relief soon too, Josephine!
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Week of 08/19/2025: I’m going to follow up on the Photographer pitch I sent, in my follow-up, should I mention there’s already a Vogue article about her? I didn’t think to include that in my ptich. I’ve read in so many places I shouldn’t be pitching multiple magazines at once, but Amanda, you said I can right? I just pitched CNT, but I was thinking I could also pitch T+L, Yolo Journal, Surface Mag, Afar…
Stories I’m thinking about:
1. Where to Travel This Fall Based on Your Favorite Movie (or TV) Rewatch
Gilmore Girls → Washington Depot, Connecticut
Practical Magic → Whidbey Island, Washington
Little Women → Concord, Massachusetts
You’ve Got Mail/ When Harry Met Sally → New York City
Mystic Pizza → Mystic, Connecticut
Twilight → Forks & La Push Beach, Washington
Dead Poets Society → Woodstock, Vermont
Good Will Hunting → Boston & Cambridge, Massachusetts
Hocus Pocus → Salem, MassachusettsAmanda – you mentioned magazines don’t like being pitched round ups, so should I not pitch this?
2. Similar note, it’s the 25th anniversary of Gilmore Girls this year, I would love to visit the Mayflower Inn & Spa (inspired the show after the creator stayed there), but there’s already a ton of articles about this hotel from 2024 and before, BUT it is the 25th anniversary on Oct 5th. Has it been written about too much to pitch again?
3. I’m going to Bhutan next spring with a few friends, we haven’t planned anything yet, but I’m thinking it could lead to a cool story. It’s the world’s only carbon-negative country and the birthplace of Gross National Happiness, which ties in nicely with current interest in ecotourism and measuring well-being beyond GDP (though I’m also aware of the complexities, like the ethnic cleansing of the ’90s).
I’m wondering if I could reach out to the Bhutan Tourism Board for help brainstorming itinerary and story angles. I also found an AFAR article that was part of a Nepal & Bhutan tour through an AFAR x USTOA partnership — how do writers usually get involved with those kinds of trips?
Why I’m stoked: I’m glad I’m starting to have some more ideas for the conference.
Concerns or challenges: I just need to come up with strong angles.
Did the magic happen?: I did send out the pitch to CNT, haven’t heard back. And I did read two of the pitch lectures.
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8/19/2025: I did not meet last week’s goal because I’m crazed, depressed and feeling pretty dejected right now. My goal for this week is to try to FINALLY finish implementing edits from July’s pitches and send them out. If I have the wherewithal, I’ll polish/write new pitches to post for AC’s review.
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J’nai, I hate that the pressure is still bearing down on you so hard! I hope things improve soon.
In the meantime, congrats for getting any pitchwork done under those challenging circumstances. (I often freeze/disassociate or overfocus on troubleshooting the biggest issues when stressed. That makes sense from a triage POV, of course, but I’d like to get better at keeping an oar in like you’re doing.)
If you need extra time for August critiques, no problem. Being flexible feels like the only way I can help from here, but if you think of anything else, please give me a shout!
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Ugh, J’nai, I’m so sorry to hear you’re feeling that way! On our next talk I’d love to hear more about your Champagne book idea. Do you have a vision for that? I’m not sure if it would be helpful to talk about that at all but that’s something I want to do too – take time to think about those big dreams and about stories I can pitch/ essays I can write related to that. You have such amazing experiences- we need your voice!
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Week of 08/18/2025: Almost every editor I work regularly for started assigning again. So I am *under water* but in the best possible way!
Intention: Start that spite garden story next week. For reals. Really. Like please scold me if I don’t!
Challenges: Time. I also feel very distanced from that spite garden story, since I fully reported in two years ago, including an interview with a superstar ecologist. (Luckily pissing off HOAs and defying petty local laws is a timeless “evergreen” topic, haha! Though I’ll sleuth around for updated examples and fresh developments, of course.)
I need to break the seal. Once I start, the story will feel “real” and more urgent, I’m sure.
So how about this: if I don’t have a draft started by EOD on 8/22, everyone gets a free pitch critique of 300 words or less? 😉
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Hi everyone,
I hope you all had a good weekend. Amanda, did you get your spite garden draft started ;)?
Week of 08/25/2025: Integrate the changes from Amanda’s critique into my fellowship application and update my resume to highlight journalism skills in my past experiences. Send the application! I want to do a good job on the application but am trying not to obsess over it, since I have lots of translation work and little time.
Why I’m stoked: It feels good to be reaching out for new opportunities.
Concerns or challenges: But I also feel an inward pull. Once I get through this one cookbook translation, I NEED to take time to reflect, organize and set some priorities for the coming school year.
Did the magic happen? Ha, I just realized that I never posted my goals last week. I was out of town for three days, so I forgot. I got my Islamophobia pitch and fellowship application to Amanda for critique and also enjoyed some family time away from my computer.
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Ansley, I have a panic scheduled to break the seal on the spite garden piece today, haha!
I’m excited about your fellowship application. Even if this isn’t a lock, you’ve prepped material that will help with other applications. And more importantly, you’re over the “getting started” hurdle. You’re doing the thing! And one of these days it will pay off. (I mean, hopefully with this project. But if not, keep at it!)
As a group, we keep coming back to the same challenge — needing to make space for creativity. That’s hard in a world that prioritizes hustle, but we have to persevere, because we need that immersion —— and maybe even some healthy boredom.
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Thank you, Amanda! Yes, I feel like working on applications is helping me define what I really want to pursue. I still kind of feel like I’m circling around that. It can feel like a “waste” of time when we are not selected, but I’m learning that rejections and criticisms ultimately spur me on to do better work.
I often tell my son that it’s good to be bored, but realize that I, too, have gotten hooked on the dopamine hits of clicking on links and scrolling and need to make more space for boredom myself. I want to design a DIY retreat!
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A DIY retreat sounds terrific! I used to do them once or twice a year — sometimes with friends, sometimes solo.
As you plan, consider what conditions will give you the best chance of success. For example, I realized I kept falling into a Den Mother role when friends wouldn’t pull their weight. Cue distraction, frustration and resentment! I wouldn’t get much done and I’d return home feeling like I’d intensified the caregiving instead of getting a break from it. So now I’m more likely to rent a hotel room, then grab some health store snacks and go bananas on takeaway and delivery. I also don’t fully stop work, because a little structure keeps me functional and not just floating around.
Sometimes my messy friends share an apartment in the same destination, but I won’t even see them every day. My introvert soul needs quiet to recharge and my brain needs to move at its own pace, unencumbered by plans and expectations. And also their very barky dogs who need to be walked at dawn… 😉
I haven’t been applying to formal residencies for the same reasons. Command performances of together time just don’t hold as much appeal now as they did in other stages of my life.
So, yeah. Maybe have a think about what you’re craving lately —— like calm and solitude in my case — and try to structure around that. I definitively over-indexed on the traditional retreat models when I started DIYing! 0/10. Do not recommend.
A retreat can be anything you need it to be. For example, I know some sandwich-generation folks who just check into a local hotel for one night, set “do not disturb” everywhere, and order room service so they can stay in the flow! They say the tight timeframe helps them stay super-focused and productive. But, of course, your mileage may vary. There are many keys to unlock creativity. The trick is finding the right one for you!
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With the season shifting, we’re off to a new thread here. But this one will remain up indefinitely for reference.
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