Ahhhh, the eternal question.
Here’s one take:
I really don’t mind the question, though I might be alone in feeling that way. To me it’s miles better than the dreaded “working on anything good?” when you aren’t and are already painfully aware of it and now have to admit it to this poor person who really just wanted to ask a benign question to a reporter they just met. (Maybe the best benefit of writing a book is always having an answer to that question.)
Then again, I’m kind of just starting, so I reserve the right to completely change my mind in a few months.
A few other Occasionally Asked Questions:
When’s the book gonna come out?
Not for a long time! Prooooobably in 2023 sometime. Somehow both way too long from now and also seemingly not nearly enough time to get it all done
Have a title yet?
No, and I welcome your suggestions, even the ones that are bad puns (likely not useful but still amusing)
How much have you done already?
I’ve done a lot of the reporting but I know a lot more remains; for now my best plan is to start writing with what I have and then return to fill holes once I have a better idea of where they exist
How often are you going to send out a newsletter?
Every two weeks, unless I decide some other cadence is better
Won’t writing this newsletter be a distraction or a time-suck away from writing the book?
next question please!!
OK but…….how’s the book going actually?
Highlights of the past week included a few blunt-force productivity changes:
deleted twitter app and felt smug about it
used iOS Downtime to shut off almost all apps from 9 to 6
despite these whizbang innovations, turns out the best move is still hiding my phone behind my laptop stand or putting it on the other side of the room
Was distracted by:
baking bread
Currently working on:
going back through interviews I did in the past year and sorting the good parts into an increasingly sprawling outline-ish thing on Scrivener, a complicated but beloved writing software. I’m not 100% sold on it yet. If you have Scrivener tips or opinions, lmk
✅ Review it with Huet
I’m only a week or so into book leave, but already I have found myself coping with the anxiety of the unknown by trying to control my immediate physical environment.
Introducing Review it with Huet: short reviews of the creature comforts behind the scenes of book-writing. (In high school I wrote a music and movie review column with this name, and every day I am grateful its archives are not online.)
This issue’s honors go to: the fly zapper
My kitchen has fruit flies. Maybe yours does too, or some other kind of zooming nuisance. Luckily my housemates and I also have an electric bug-death racket (not this exact model but you get the idea).
You turn it on and swat at the bugs while they are in the air. Should your aim be true, the death racket rewards you with a crackling BANG. The fly does not receive a reward, but at least the death is swift.
At first I waved it around slowly during my mid-afternoon snack breaks, but I think the fruit flies are wisening up and teaching their (many) children. Luckily I have also gotten faster with my swipes. The hunt is oddly meditative.
With this in hand, I am Thor. I have the power to smite and I am smitten with it.
In conclusion: Not for everyone, especially the faint or bleeding of heart. Grisly, yet satisfying.
🚨🚨🚨 Help!
Do you know/love/recommend a good accountant who knows about taxes for sole proprietorships? I have a very specific question for them.
🔄 🔄 🔄 Tell me
This newsletter is an experiment. What do you actually want to read about? Burning questions? Tell me! I will receive it as a gift!
Thanks for reading, see you next time, & here is a golden cow for the road
