It’s week twenty-nine of 2026. How’s the writing treating you in these sometimes sluggish mid-year days? On Tuesday, I returned from a week off in Boston (where we managed to avoid both heat waves and huge soccer crowds), and earlier today I did a long Q2 review and Q3 planning session. The combination of rest followed by planning felt absolutely perfect, especially since I have another spell of rest ahead of me. If you are stuck, can you manage a one-two punch of rest + planning to get yourself unstuck? Rest doesn’t have to look like a full week off; it can also look like giving yourself permission to step away from your manuscript for a few days or a few weeks so you can return to it with fresh eyes and a new plan.
Now that I’ve finished the main writing and revision work for Novel Study Book 2, I’m eager to do some different kinds of writing. I’m planning to return to weekly newsletters in 2027 and before then I’d like to experiment with some new formats in the remaining months of 2026. I’d love to know what you’d like to hear more of.
Upcoming appearances
I love speaking to writers and editors—check out my Speaking page or reply to this email if you are interested in having me speak to your group.
Sonoma County Writers Conference, October 17, Santa Rosa, CA: What’s In a Scene? A Sentence-by-Sentence Look at How Bestselling Authors Build Scenes
Author Nation, November 10–13, Las Vegas, NV: Stop Dumping, Start Layering: Adding Backstory and Setting Without Killing Momentum
I have a trio of Things of Joy for you this week from our Boston trip: First, we did a food tour (the North End & Little Italy Food Tour with Secret Food Tours) of the North End, and I was delighted to discover that the Union Oyster House – which looks like it could be a tourist trap, albeit a very old one – serves genuinely delicious clam chowder as well as its own variety of Sam Adams beer on tap. Second, we were there at the perfect time to catch the world premiere of the musical adaptation of the movie Black Swan, which absolutely blew us away (Insta reel from A.R.T. | deep-dive YouTube review). Finally, we spent some time wandering around in the MIT Museum; it’s full of thought-provoking pieces occupying the borders between art and technology, which is a longer and more porous border than I’d thought (long YouTube walkthrough video).
Stay well, y’all, and keep fighting the good fights.
Kristen