Fresh notebooks

And a fresh podcast with playwright Will Arbery / Issue 1,096

Oh, hi friends!

I was trolling the aisles at Target, allegedly looking for recycling bags and toothpicks, but actually piling random home goods in my hand basket. Because that’s what happens at Target. Every time.

I stopped in the school supplies section. College-ruled notebooks for $1.29!

Maybe it was that primal back-to-school instinct, maybe it was the infinite promise contained in a fresh notebook, or maybe it was a leftover “welp, if I got into Hunter I could be starting an MFA next month” feeling, but I needed one of these notebooks—desperately.

So into my basket it went. And you know what? 

Seeing it on my desk does gear me up for next season. I feel its infinite promise. I see possibilities. 

To steady you on these dazed summer days, maybe go buy a notebook, or look for a totem that gives you the feelings you want, now and in the future.

“My goal for today is to turn off my internal censors and silence my inner perfectionist and just crank out bad versions of these changes that I want to do. I just want to hit them all. I just want to sort of write really fast and sloppily, if need be, but just like get in there and kind of like gut this draft that I grew very attached to and love.”

Playwright Will Arbery writes thoughtful, meditative works of art. Which is why I really loved what he said during our podcast interview about cranking out a bad version and writing sloppily. Sometimes that’s exactly what a draft needs.

She Can’t Stop Making Podcasts

Yes, here’s another episode! I just…like doing them? Lol. Who knew it was so gratifying to make things you enjoy.

So here’s my quick 17-minute conversation with Will Arbery — we talk about finding harmony in creative practice and writing with someone watching over your shoulder.

He also talks about learning to get comfortable in the Succession writers’ room (his episode airs next season, no spoilers!). I found that story invaluable because I still feel so awkward talking in a workshop/writers’ room setting.

His big lesson: Worry less, listen more. Good advice for many contexts.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, my website, or your favorite podcast platform.