Ode to the Odometer
Revving up your writing practice
A new year, a new format! For 2025, I’ve decided to alternate between a craft-related message from me on odd-numbered months and a featured CNF writer on even months. All issues will continue to include a selection of CNF writing opportunities. I’m also hoping to make this newsletter more interactive this year, so watch for announcements in upcoming issues about new ways to participate in our Truly Important community!
As 2025 gets rolling, one of the words I’ve chosen to focus on this year is the verb “accelerate.” I made this selection partly because I’ve started tentatively driving again after a hiatus of three decades. And partly because I want to try to fit more things into the limited time I have available. This means being selective about the things I slow down for, and speeding up other activities that don’t need to take so much time.
Historically, my writing has been one activity that I always slow down for. And I mean w-a-a-a-y down. My first novel took me almost a decade to write. My memoir-in-essays found its form after about five years of work (and I’m still tinkering). I don’t regret taking my time with these projects; they feel central to my writing practice and contain a lot of my biggest ideas, ones that have rewarded my sustained attention and helped me to figure out what kind of human I am and what I believe.
But thinking of writing as something that is always slow has often kept me from even trying to write something quickly—as if quick writing isn’t really worth doing. But I don’t think that’s true. Some essays are, by nature, short and sweet; they circle around a single event or image. Other essays are so urgent they just come tumbling out. With these gymnastic stories, the effort of careful revision can sometimes feel like a speed bump that only improves the final draft by a small percentage. How much should I slow down to tinker under the hood of these nimble essays that feel like they’re raring to go?
Don’t get me wrong: if you’re trying to write something gorgeous, or searching, or difficult, then every one of those percentage points counts. Even fractional percentage points. Beauty and meaning are in the details, and each carefully selected image or word contributes to your writing’s glow and power.
But what if I get an idea for a seasonal piece, or I want to write an op-ed about something infuriating that’s happening in the world right now? Often, when this type of inspiration strikes, I put it in a file folder called “Ideas” that I keep on my desktop. And that file contains literally hundreds of thoughts, now dusty and sapped of their original inspiration; it’s essentially a graveyard. Maybe you have a similar file folder?
I once heard a piece of advice: if a task takes 5 minutes or less, you should just do it; don’t put it on a To Do list. I’m currently trying a similar productivity hack with my writing. If an essay feels like it might possibly fit into 500-1000 words, or like its central idea is more important to share clearly and quickly than gorgeously, then I’m just going to take a few hours and write the damn thing. If the result feels decent, I might even send it out. I’ve done this twice this year already, and I kind of like the speedy feeling of writerly wind in my hair. Of course, I’m still going to slow down for the writing projects that matter most to me. But I’m now on the lookout for ideas that might want to accelerate, thereby shortening the length of time it takes me to drive them from my house to yours.
Friends, I hope your writing time this month will be slow when it’s warranted, and quick when it can be. If you’re nervous about trying to go faster, then please picture me driving alongside you. Maybe together we can summon the nerve to speed up and merge onto the interstate, if that’s the best way to get where we’re going…
Some upcoming opportunities
Fourth Genre’s Steinberg Memorial Prize is now open for essays of up to 6000 words. They also host a Multimedia Essay Prize for a video, audio, photo, graphic, or interactive essay. The deadline for both is April 15. More details on both can be found here.
CBC Nonfiction Prize - this annual contest for Canadian citizens and permanent residents is now open. Details on how to submit an essay of up to 2,000 words for the March 1 deadline can be found here.
“Readers Write” is a column of short personal nonfiction curated by The Sun Magazine. More details on their upcoming submission themes can be found here.
Me, myself, and friends
Watch this space next month to meet a new writer-friend! For now, here’s a recap of the Truly Important writers who were featured in 2024. I am so grateful for the insights and essays they shared!
Trina Chapman | interview | "Sunday Best"
Sambriddhi Nepal | interview | “A God or Two Could Help”
Britt Gillman | interview and essay “All Women Are Psychic”
Allison Kirkland | interview | “Meet Me in the Middle: Reflections on 33,000 Words”
Andrea Lynn Koohi | interview | “What Fills the Spaces”
Carole Besharah | interview | “Marriage as a Downed Aircraft”
Know someone who might enjoy this content? Feel free to share it!
Subscribe to Truly Important to receive a new post in your inbox monthly.
Hey Becky...as always I love what you are doing. As a "professional" transport driver, driver trainer, airbrake instructor, licensed to drive anything with wheels...all around swell dancer and bon vivant it is challenging for me to identify personally with the "struggle to drive" or get back behind the wheel for whatever personal reasons one has. However I love your talent for making a metaphor clear and relatable to all we mortal writers. I have "re-trained" quite a few post accident people (not assuming that is your story here) in getting their mojo back. Your piece however inspired me to relook at the several dead ends attempts I have made at getting a project or two off the jacks and back onto four wheels and on the road, as it were. Thank you for that. I just hit another milestone, of sorts, by sending something in from one of your classes to the CBC non-fiction thingy...As always, I am a fan, and grateful for your incredibly valuable contribution to this accidental scribbler.
For someone with way too many job lists I love the 5 minute rule. Time to accelerate! And … I really did think that was you in the pic.