Are You Racing Toward an Invisible Finish Line? (Yannise Intro) (12/05/2020)

A recap of the week's writing at Atticus Review. Introduction by Yannise Jean.

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As we move closer to the end of the year, I’ve been reflecting on the work I’ve produced or didn’t finish. At the beginning of this year, I had a set of writing goals that I had hoped to accomplish before the end of the year. With just a few weeks until 2021, I didn’t check off every box, and instead of preparing myself to slow down for holidays, I find myself racing towards an invisible finish line, with intentions to end the year on a high note. But for all my good intentions, I have to be realistic. This year I didn’t write as much I should have—or wanted to. Even before the pandemic hit, I’ve never had a regular writing schedule. I’m not the writer who wakes up at 5 am and churns out thousands of words before noon. I like to write in the late afternoon, continuing on well into the night. But with the pandemic and mounting election stress, I wasn’t as productive as I would have liked. As a writer, I know we tend to put a lot of pressure on ourselves to keep releasing work, to keep typing or writing through the mess just to have something to say. But I’ve learned, through this tumultuous year to be much kinder to myself. I can’t produce good work if I don’t allow myself and the work, to breathe.There were many writing goals I had written down that I had either not completed or abandoned quickly, feeling some shame for not pushing myself harder. But in our capitalist world, where we saw millions of Americans being forced to work in a pandemic to pay bills, I didn’t feel like it made sense for me to force myself to write when all my mind wanted to do was rest. So I went weeks without writing anything. I didn’t submit stories to journals until just a few weeks ago. But I’ve been reading a lot of books, which is still part of the writing process. If you’re struggling to see the finish line for an ongoing project, there is still room to celebrate the end of this year. We’ve endured a pandemic, after all, and even if we may not have written a single word this year, I’m sure we’re all brimming with ideas. All we need is that first push to put it to paper. As long as you’re doing the work, you don’t need external validation of what you already know: It’s been a tough year and the beauty of writing is that you always are writing, even when you’re not really writing. It’s in the back of your mind when you’re binging television, it’s there when you’re in the kitchen cooking and it’s definitely there when you’re sleeping. And so even if you're feeling shame over your unchecked writing list, you have to remind yourself that there is no deadline for completing work. All the creative energy that has been harboring inside you hasn’t left. After all, the writing will always be there. There is no need to rush. Thanks for reading. We’re glad you’re here. Yannise JeanAssistant CNF Editor

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

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THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

FICTIONEVERYTHING SLIPPERY AND GONEby Melissa Bowers"I promise that from now on I will do his grocery shopping before my weekly visits, no problem, and he gives me a handwritten list, his penmanship still fluid and smooth."READ ON

POETRYINSIDE THE SMOKEby Jed Myers"Not a sky but a milk of ash,  more like a low clay dome  over these few houses and cars, this snippet of road, the neartrees...we’re down to earshot."READ ON

POETRYWHAT WAS THE QUEEN ANNE'S LACEby Jed Myers"I’m half-wishing October were somebodyelse. I’m part back before the smoke,before September’s drop ceiling of ash..."READ ON

CREATIVE NONFICTIONTHOSE PLACES, THOSE TIMESby Mary Grimm @mcagrimm"But mostly, we were intact and we could not imagine being otherwise. We did not want to surrender our wonderful bodies, our new long legs and hair, our breasts, our cocks, our lips, the pink palms of our hands. We didn’t want to cry or fall or grow weak. We didn’t know what death was, but we did not want it."READ ON

MIXED MEDIASTEPHEN NELSON'S ASEMIC WRITING"I'm keen to explore every avenue of asemic writing, both digitally and organically. It feels like channeling. The mind opens and expands and an energy fills the body, the hand, the finger. There's an awareness of the source sometimes, within me, or beyond me, but generally it's a purely energetic sensation and something quite mysterious."READ ON

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