life as subtraction & the finite nature of time

I feel like fall always brings along with it such a melancholic mood.

Outside of reclaiming why I want to write, I've found myself thinking a lot about how I want to be spending my time as its finite nature is becoming more and more apparent. I remember as a kid, I'd think of the long hours at school feeling like each day was forever, as well as the four months of summer that often stretched. And I found myself waiting for time to pass, until the next grade in elementary, until graduation for middle school, until I turned sixteen in high school, until I could head off for university, clawing towards the end of my bachelor's degree. Then—

Suddenly, I went from twenty two to twenty seven, and I'm not quite sure where the time had gone. Suddenly, it felt like I had no time at all. Suddenly, it seemed as though every second was worth more than gold, and I no longer thought of my time in terms of milestones and events but rather in minutes and the value of each passing second, finally realizing in an existential crisis just how finite and indefinite each of our hourglasses are.

My spouse told me someone once said to him that life becomes unending subtraction as we whittle ourselves down to what truly matters most—that we simply do not have time for everything and that's okay, and what we do have the time and energy for, we'll need to choose wisely, and that would be enough. Subtraction, as much as we might resist it, might make us far happier, far less stressed, far more fulfilled.

So what's this got to do with writing?

I'm still trying to figure what I need to subtract, and I suppose this sudden meditation came about as I'm working on edits for A PALACE NEAR THE WIND—during which I added about 3-4K words, bringing the word count over the novella limit (44K) and needing to bring it back down below 40K. Going through it cutting out the unnecessary and tightening what already existed on the page reminded me of what I needed to do with my life moving forward. Anyhow, enough with my rambling. Go forth and write, or not write, and I hope everyone holds on tight to each of those grains in your hourglasses.

I'm still trying to figure out how to be a better person, and I'm still trying to figure out how to better balance my life, and of course, I'm always trying to get more organized only to fall into greater chaos.

In my next newsletter/post, I thought I'd do something a little different, and I'll be breaking down the openings of stories I've written that either sold quickly or done well with broad audiences, as well as some of my favourite books to see if there might be a pattern to what hooks and keeps readers as well as slush readers and editors.

Events coming up:

September 28 — Unconventional Descriptions and Subjectivity-Infused Storytelling Workshop​

September 29 — WOTS Literary Scavenger Hunt​

October 6 — Lit Live Reading​

October 12 — Little Ghosts Reading Event

October 17-20 — World Fantasy Con

November 1-3 — Can*Con

If y'all drop by one of these events, do come and say hi!