Hi! It’s 2024!
If you’re looking for a new version of yourself, or me, this is not the place.
If you’re looking for some easy to implement writing-related goal setting for the new year, this is not the place.
If you’re looking for “that one weird trick” to get you writing again, this is not the place.
If you’re looking for a step-by-step no fail formula to write your memoir or personal essay, this is not the place.
(I once coached a writer who had been working on his manuscript for years and emailed me asking if I had a “magic wand” to make the process go faster. “No magic wand in writing and publishing!” I emailed back. “Just hard work and patience!” And luck. I should have said luck.)
I think I scrolled through a thousand year-in-review posts over the holidays. All about 2023 - if it had been bad, good, hard, complicated, if your dreams came true or didn’t, what you’d learned, how you grew.
And there’s nothing wrong with that. Actually, I’m jealous that so many people were leaving 2023 in the past. But, like every year that came before it, I am still processing parts of 2023 and might be processing for awhile. It’s not available as an easily digestible paragraph yet. I am still learning from it. I am still listening to it, trying to figure out what it wants to tell me.
If you’re looking for a place to rest with that, this is the place.
This is the place we come to sit with all of it. The days you don’t want to write. The days that you wonder if what you’re writing is worth the time you’re spending on it. The days your writing is blocked. The days you’re exhausted from excavating your story from those who have narrated it for you. The days you are exhausted from writing something down that you haven’t told anyone before. The days you want to quit and do something else. The days you wake up and a few paragraphs of writing come out of nowhere. The days you surprise yourself.
If you’re looking for permission to sit with all of that, this is the place. Let this be the place.
I don’t know yet all of what this year will hold. I know some things: I will continue to work with the generous and dynamic writers in my ongoing writing groups, The Monday Night Writers and The Thursday Writers. We will be building on the work we did together in 2023. We will be workshopping, learning how to gently but helpfully give and receive constructive feedback, learning how to be literary citizens and how to show up in community with other writers. (Those two groups are full at the moment, but send me an email if you’re interested in knowing more.)
I will be teaching another section of Writing the Body, time and location TBD.
In 2022 I fundraised for scholarships for writers who identify as disabled to take Writing the Body for free. We raised so much money that I was able to accommodate two disabled writers, and then continue to grant scholarships in 2023 for other workshops.
The fundraising page is now closed but in 2024 one of my goals is to establish a tax-deductible, easy way to donate so that we can make sure disabled voices are taking up space. My dream is actually to lead a class entirely made up of disabled writers. How amazing would that be?
I will continue to draft my memoir-in-progress. I always thought of myself as an essayist, but then a few years ago, unexpectedly, I had an inkling that I’d like to write a memoir. So, I began. It has taken many forms. It is still taking shape. I am carving out time for it, and I hope to have more insights from that process for you soon.
I will continue to refine my vision for what this space can be and what I can provide as a writer and a teacher.
I will be learning, from myself and from all of you. Thank you.
What I’m reading: I read a lot of great books in 2023. Here are the ones that made an impression on me, in no particular order:
Heartberries, by Terese Marie Mailhot (memoir)
Punch Me Up to the Gods, by Brian Broome (memoir)
With Or Without You, by Domenica Ruta (memoir)
Good Women, by Halle Hill (short story collection)
I Live a Life Like Yours, by Jean Grue (memoir)
Easy Beauty, by Chloé Cooper Jones (memoir)
True Biz, by Sara Nović (fiction)
Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
The longer I read — and now that I’ve been working on my own book — the more I recognize that creating an entire book is a monumental effort. It’s literally years of someone’s precious life. (Can you believe books only cost $30 in hardback, and that we can get them for free (!!) at the library? Unreal.) I hope you find a book on this list to check out from the library or purchase from your local bookstore.
What I’m writing: To do lists. Emails. Grocery lists. This newsletter. Chipping away, slowly, at my memoir.
What I’m watching: Julia is a charming, layered TV series on HBO about the chef Julia Child. I love that it centers around a woman in her fifties and beyond, a late bloomer who lived life unconventionally. There are two seasons so far, and it’s not yet determined if a season 3 is underway, but I hope it is!
I want to end on a note of gratitude. I launched the intangibles in June of last year and I have been so touched at the support it has garnered from readers and writers near and far. I gained a few new subscribers over the holidays. Thank you for being here!
Here’s to more writing, reading and connection in 2024.
Until next time,
Allison
I joined Substack because I am excited for the opportunity to bring together a community of other writers and readers who enjoy learning and thinking about writing creative nonfiction and memoir. If you’re excited about creating community too, or you learned something or enjoyed this post, consider giving it a like, letting me know your thoughts in the comments, or gifting a subscription to a friend. Your support is so appreciated.
You are reading the intangibles, by writer and creative writing instructor Allison Kirkland. This publication is geared toward writers of memoir and creative nonfiction and the people who love them.
Want more? You can find me on Instagram or visit my website. Thanks for reading. I’m so glad you’re here.
Thanks for the Julia recommendation! I’ve been immersed in watching The Crown. I watched the first season years ago and fell off. I heard this 6th and last season had an episode on Will and Kate in college and watched. That was enough to pull me back in and I’ve now watched all the rest of the series very out of order :)
What a realistic reflection of the past. I certainly relate that we don't usually get to close the door at the sound of a new year's birth. It really is just another day in a very long journey. Thank you for sharing your insights, Allison.