My Journey to Become a Writer 03/20/2024 Post #80

This post may contain affiliate links.

Every time I see the number eighty, I think of a friend of mine from high school who, long after graduation, would still sign his name and then add #80 afterwards, because that had been the number on his football jersey.

It always made me laugh about those being his “glory days”, because from the time I was a freshman until the last day of my senior year, I certainly didn’t have the same story.

I couldn’t wait to push into one of the bars of those double metal doors, shove through with my shoulder, and let it swing shut for the last time (and I definitely was not on the football team).

A friend of mine advised her little brother to save his coolness, saying, “All the kids that are cool in middle school end up burnouts by high school.”

I’ve still got my coolness stashed away for the senior center.

I think that’s part of why I’m so hesitant about all of this social media stuff.

Recently, when a writing agent told me that I’d likely sell books equal to 10% of the people following my platform my heart kind of sunk. I’m so out of my element in that realm.

I think that’s why Elyse Myers work has resonated so much with the way I think.

My eyebrows went up today when I noticed Elyse Myers account has gone dormant for a while:

Elyse has built her platform on stories of social awkwardness and grown a following to nearly four million people. I can’t imagine the kind of stress that could create and applaud her for pressing pause.

I’d like to hear more of what went into her decision; but also want to encourage her for maintaining some privacy. We’re in such a strange time – it’s a tightrope between transparency and self-protection. I’m not sure which side of the wire I want to be on.

Meanwhile, I’ve been watching as my favorite tree hugging satirist works her way through a book launch:

Jason’s “book launch” is still my all time favorite:

What Did I Accomplish Today to Be a Writer?

In the meantime, I did Day 80 of the 100 Words a Day Writing Challenge 2024 through LA Writer’s Lab.

I also participated in Mary-Beth Manning’s class online. We worked through several writing prompts and shared our words. I also read a revised Chapter Five for the class from my manuscript and was given some good feedback and questions to explore, so that I can delve deeper into my descriptions and character development.

Oh, and I took the legs off of a couch that couldn’t fit through my front door, put wheels on it that came with the tool chests in my tiny house and set it just inside my garage door to watch the sunset and listen to an audiobook. Not a bad way to end the day.

Thanks for reading what I’m writing,

Jody Susan