What's your backup plan?
The anxiety is in the details. Also: productive streaks, delicious bibimbap, a weekend getaway, and a great list of reading recs.
When I’m anxious, I go into planning mode. I make lists. I conduct research. I imagine an entirely new life for myself, and begin meticulously mapping out what I must do to make that life happen.
As the fate of my book hangs in limbo, I begin to wonder what it would take to move to Italy permanently. I double down on my Duolingo. I begin looking up real estate in Tuscany. (Abandoned castles are surprisingly cheap!) I even pull up the street view on Google Maps and figure out where I would walk my dog, get my groceries, and buy my morning cappuccino.
Or I entertain an idle daydream about starting a side business. The next thing I know, I’m writing up imaginary contracts and website copy, researching timelines and designing logos, and painstakingly choosing the best accounting system. The smaller and more mundane the task, the more satisfying it is to figure out. Control is found in the details.
Right now, I’m making backup plans for my writing life. As I wait for some good news, I need to do something with all my nervous energy, an activity that does not include anxiously refreshing my inbox. And so: lists, plans, details.
Making a backup plan for your creative endeavors isn’t as easy as scrolling through Zillow listings or putting an “Open to Passion Projects” banner on your LinkedIn profile. It requires a bit more, well, creativity. Which is why, when I read this great piece by
about different types of writing streaks, I immediately bookmarked it. So many lists! So many plans! So many details! The suggestion I really latched on to was the following:Come up with 10 ideas a day, for any format, for three months (goal: to increase the strength of brainstorming muscles)
Here’s the thing: I’ve spent the last ten years writing three novels, all (as of yet) unsold. A whole decade of work, and nothing to show for it. That’s a lot of time and energy poured into unpublished projects.1
I love writing novels, but maybe it would be nice to devote myself to something a bit more brief, with a clearer end point and a quicker path to publication. Short stories, for example. Now, stories are not easy—they still require time, energy, talent, patience, and passion. Even good ones get rejected! On the other hand, I’ve published a fair amount of short stories and zero novels. Maybe those numbers are trying to tell me something.2
I am of course holding out hope for my book, and doing my best to believe it’s destined for publication. But in the meantime, I don’t want to launch immediately into another years-long creative commitment. I want to attempt something new, something different. I want to try and increase the strength of my brainstorming, short-forming, non-novel writing muscles.
And so, for the month of July, I’m taking a page from Caitlin’s book and embarking on an idea streak. Five short story ideas, every day, no matter what. By the end of the month, I’ll have 155 ideas for stories. Not all of them will be great, but if even five percent are worthy of further exploration, I’ll consider myself rich in potential.
And when it comes to a good backup plan, potential is all you need. 🤞
Share So Relatable!
Share this newsletter and earn prizes! Hit the “share” button on this post or tap the “refer a friend” button below, and send this to anyone who could use a dose of creative inspiration, motivation, and conversation. Learn more.
Snack Break
Last weekend, we spent 24 hours in Cary, NC to celebrate our friends’ son’s 9th birthday. We went sailing on a lake, climbed at the Triangle Rock Club, and had lunch at H Mart. This was my first H Mart experience, and I needed the fuel from this amazing bibimbap so I could spend the next hour filling my cart with vegetarian ramen, soy-sauce soaked eggs, and seaweed salad. Also, if you don’t have any BFFs under the age of 12, you are seriously missing out. They know how to party. 🎈
Relatable Recommendations
Reading: I just finished Milk Fed by Melissa Broder, which was graphic and intense and a little bit like a car wreck—I couldn’t look away. I just started Best American Short Stories 2022, for inspiration.
Clicking: My inbox has been brimming with incredible newsletters lately! For example: this great piece by
about rescuing a garden (very relatable!). has your back in the creative encouragement department, as usual. And book publicist pulls back the curtain on Caroline Calloway’s recent media blitz.Watching: The new season of Black Mirror. Garden YouTube. Chicken TV.
Eating: I’ve been hitting all the best Wilmington haunts lately. Ice cream dates at Boombalatti’s; chickpea salad sandwiches from The Half; and almond milk lattes (always hot) at Sunday’s Surf Cafe after yoga on the pier.
Feeling: The other day I was telling my friend Kat how I’m going through a real extrovert phase, and she said, “It’s not extroversion. It’s just summer.” Which is to say: Summer Chrissy is here! Get your hangs in while you can.
Coffee Club Contributions
Want to treat me to a ☕️ and support So Relatable? 💛 💃 🙌
Venmo: @Christine-Hennessey or PayPal Me.
Can’t afford a contribution? You can also click the ♡ below, forward this to a friend, or share on your socials. Every little bit helps!
(At the end of 2023, I plan to donate 20% of anything I earn from this newsletter. Thanks for your support!)
I’m being ungenerous with myself, I know. I learned so much from writing all three of those books—about myself as a person and an artist, about patience and commitment, about plot and character. I love writing novels and I hope to write more, but anxiety doesn’t care about any of that right now! Please just let me wallow.
Still wallowing. Don’t mind me. It’s fine, everything’s fine.
Thank you so much for the shoutout! I'm so glad those streak ideas resonated with you :) Love your writing!
I would pay for the potion to your tenacity.