Why No Time to Write Club?

and the upcoming schedule of events!

Individual creative work, done in community

***Schedule of upcoming writing sprints and gatherings is at the bottom of this newsletter***

We’ve had an influx of new subscribers. Welcome! We hope you’ll join us for writing together and our other offerings. We invite you to read our About page and our FAQs.

Sara here. After the results of the U.S. election last week, I am grappling with how significantly my daily habits are going to change. This is because all my life I have been a bit of a news hound. My parents instilled the habit in me, and I carried it into my adult life. I listen to the radio in the morning, watch some TV news at night, read the paper.

But I simply can’t bear it anymore.

Not only do I need to look away from the venality and clownishness, I need to look toward something. At a time when things feel so out of control, I am seeking places in my life where I feel in control, which means clarifying reachable goals and bringing some structure to my unstructured time. But let me tell you—structure is not my strong suit.

In our new podcast which is now available to everyone (link below), we talk about carrying on with creative work when things around you are turbulent and hard. Tes brings up the concept of task initiation, how that can be point of real difficulty for some folks, and how helpful it is to gather with people who are in the same struggle. There is something powerful about having a time (on our synchronous Zoom writing sprints) where we say, ‘Now is the time to start. All together now. Go.’ And we get to enjoy the collective energy of individual work done in community.

It’s not hard right now to be dragged down by the noise and clamor. It’s times like this that we are most in need of community and accountability. And the No Time to Write Club community has shown up. We have honored our work. We have tried to create. The few hours we’ve spent together on Zoom this week have kep my head above water in a vitally important way. One must get those gulps of air or else drown.

So thank you all. May we write together in better times.

—Sara

NEW November Podcast! Writing through turbulent times.

Tes and Sara discuss—from a place of upheaval and regrouping—what it looks like to continue doing your creative work when things around you are turbulent and hard.

*Schedule: November 17–November 25, 2024*

To join our sprints you must be a paid subscriber :)

Zoom links are below for paid subscribers.

• Sunday, November 17: asynchronous sprint on the Substack chat

• NEW! Monday, November 18, noon ET: Zoom writing sprint (75 minutes)

• NEW! Thursday, November 21, 8pm ET: social hour on the Substack chat

• NEW! Thursday, November 21, 9pm ET: Zoom writing sprint (75 minutes)

• Sunday, November 24, 4:30pm ET: Zoom writing sprint (75 minutes)

• NEW! SPECIAL! Monday, November 25, noon ET: special pre-holiday Zoom writing sprint (75 minutes)

• U.S. Thanksgiving: sending best wishes for strong digestion in both literal and metaphorical senses! We will resume with an asynchronous sprint on Sunday, December 1.

What We’re Up To

Tes is at the American Musicological Society Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

Sara is enjoying the beginning of sauna season at Rivanna River Company in Charlottesville, home of a traditional Finnish wood-fired sauna. She’s waiting as her agent reads her last book. And she’s in the sculpting-smoke phase of the newest project.