Confessions of a failure junkie
Oh, hi friends!
So much happens that we don’t see.
The editor who’s taking forever with your story is dealing with a health crisis.
The friend who never responded to your text is watching his relationship crumble.
The boss who’s distant and moody is considering quitting and moving to Vermont.
You don’t know. You can’t know.
You can ask. But even still, it’s impossible to truly know.
Just as they don’t know what you’re going through.
What’s the solution?
We can be decent. We can be generous. We can be kind.
We can understand, even when it’s hard.
“Here's the secret: Failures make you create work. Of course I'd like to hear ‘yes’ at every turn, but even when I don't, each application or pitch forces me to move forward on a project. A Pulitzer would be nice (!), but actually finishing the play so I had something to submit was the real end goal. Writing the poetry so I had something in shape to submit was the goal.
I say ‘more is more’ a lot. You need more attempts (and, yes, failure) to find where you wanna go.”
From this fun Q&A I did about creativity and working on multiple projects for Nisha Chittal’s excellent newsletter. (She curates all the best reads from the week! Subscribe here.)
Perfect timing, too, since yesterday I got a rejection for a playwriting lab I submitted to back in January! I was glad to get it, happy for the loop to be closed, sent off my thank you note to the people who rejected me, and moved on to my next project.
This VHS Cover Haunted My Dreams
The Ron Howard phase continues — last night we watched Parenthood from 1989. Do you only want to watch smart, feel-good movies right now, too? It reminded me how much a writer can share about a character or a relationship in a single line or exchange. Also, how many times in my life had I seen this VHS cover but never actually seen the film?
Also, watch out for a young Joaquin Phoenix, who went by “Leaf Phoenix” back in the day. Available for rent on Amazon. And uh, would you believe that not once did I think, “Hey, maybe the insanely popular TV show called Parenthood was based on this film?” Because no, I did not. And yes, of course it was.
PS — Do It For Yourself was sold out and backordered everywhere yesterday! Um, WHAT?! Amazon and indie bookstores are getting more in stock ASAP, so if you order now, your copy should arrive soon. Yesterday was a wonderful and exciting day. Thank you all for making it so.
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Thanks, as always, for reading.
Love, Kara