The trees in my neighborhood are being very dramatic this morning.
I was really moved by your responses to this week’s discussion thread. Candid, hard-won, searching. Y’all are really doing the work and I appreciate your willingness to share what you’re parsing. With that in mind, I want to create a space for questions you might have for me about the creative process, the writing life, or just life itself. I’ll start responding to them next week.
I guess you could call it “advice” but I’d like to think of it as showing my work. Have a great weekend and remember to drink water now and then. Oh, and though I rarely do it, I’ve been informed that stretching in the morning is a good thing to do. Okay, bye.
Do you have any thoughts on what to do when you feel like you’re not dreaming big enough? Not billionaire space tourist stuff - just a kind of noticing when your brain isn’t expanding or dreaming the way it might have before 20 months of a pandemic everyone pretends is over 🥴
Hi Saeed! I just want to first say that getting your writing on substack is a highlight of my life currently. I mean that in so much seriousness-- thank you. My question I want to ask is how do you write the things that scare you? I've got a bit of writer's block, which i recognise as fear, and know what story i have to write before i can get to anything else. But I'm scared to write it.
I really love your work, Saeed. I’ve worked as a retail manager for 20 years and I am going to write full time soon. I don’t have a question. Just - thanks for putting your great work out there.
Hi Saeed! I would love your thoughts on what you do when you’re having a week where you don’t feel good enough, productive enough, etc. Looking for ways to manage ❤️
Also, I just moved to Columbus and would love for recs.
Hi Saeed! I love your writing. I've been off Twitter for a couple of weeks. I'm thankful that you've started this project because otherwise I would really miss your voice.
I quit my full-time job in data analytics a few months ago. Among other things, I've been taking a screenwriting class. It's the first time I've devoted serious energy to doing something creative in 10 years. It's gratifying as hell. While I'm planning to start an evening film production class in January, I will also be going back to full-time work. I haven't yet developed a strong creative habit, and I'm afraid that I won't be able to sustain my creative energy once I start my job. I would love some advice, or just help setting expectations. Thank you!
Hi! I’ve been working on some poems and want to submit them but…how do you know when they are “finished” and the right “type” for a publication, since almost all places feature free verse anyway? A lot of my poems feel confessional/direct, so I’m worried they won’t be seen as “literary” enough and I feel like I need to work more on them to do something cool with sound or image, but I don’t want it to feel overwrought either.
Do you feel better after writing sad things? I’ve been avoiding writing recently because all I want to write about is sad things and it takes so much out of me.
I would like to encourage my kid with writing. What kind of conditions allow a little kid who has a gift or way with words to develop? I want to gently inspire and mostly not get in the way. I don't think they see it in themselves as they are too busy being a kid. Thank you Saeed <3
Hi, Saeed! I'm curious about how you divide up your creative time. If you're working on multiple projects, do you work on them at once or do you stick to one until you've completed a draft? How do you balance drafting, research, revision for publication, etc.? How did you find a system that worked for you?
Thanks for the generous offer to answer questions. If you could, I'd really love to know how much you think about style when you're writing prose. Do you think it about during the first draft, or during revisions, or both? And are you deliberate in choosing the defining qualities of your style, or did they emerge over time?
Hey Saeed! I am inspired to start an improv writing class in Delhi, India, but am unsure of how to set up its module. To cover all blind spots, I'd like to know if it's a good idea to create a space where people meet weekly and are urged to write freely based on prompts, conversations and other activities held during the class. For instance, taking the group for a 2km walk one class and asking them to write a piece based on their sensory experience. My goal is to help people find their voices and discover the world of writing without being tied down by theory. What do you think?
Hi Saeed! As others have said, thanks for this newsletter and your posts so far. I love your perspective on everything. My question is about research. Do you think of an idea for a poem/essay and then research it more or do you find inspiration while generally researching? Maybe a little of both? How much do you research something before you feel okay adding elements to a piece? I'm thinking about the Venus Flytrap from "Date Night."
As someone who misses the freedom to use essay writing as a form of self-expression that I had in college, how/where can I start publishing? I'm from Columbus originally and am inspired having you making a living as a writer in my hometown!
Do you have any thoughts on what to do when you feel like you’re not dreaming big enough? Not billionaire space tourist stuff - just a kind of noticing when your brain isn’t expanding or dreaming the way it might have before 20 months of a pandemic everyone pretends is over 🥴
Hi Saeed! I just want to first say that getting your writing on substack is a highlight of my life currently. I mean that in so much seriousness-- thank you. My question I want to ask is how do you write the things that scare you? I've got a bit of writer's block, which i recognise as fear, and know what story i have to write before i can get to anything else. But I'm scared to write it.
I really love your work, Saeed. I’ve worked as a retail manager for 20 years and I am going to write full time soon. I don’t have a question. Just - thanks for putting your great work out there.
Hi Saeed! I would love your thoughts on what you do when you’re having a week where you don’t feel good enough, productive enough, etc. Looking for ways to manage ❤️
Also, I just moved to Columbus and would love for recs.
Thank you for your consistently thoughtful and timely pieces. You are so lovely and I’m already in love with this project. Bless you 💖
Hi Saeed! I love your writing. I've been off Twitter for a couple of weeks. I'm thankful that you've started this project because otherwise I would really miss your voice.
I quit my full-time job in data analytics a few months ago. Among other things, I've been taking a screenwriting class. It's the first time I've devoted serious energy to doing something creative in 10 years. It's gratifying as hell. While I'm planning to start an evening film production class in January, I will also be going back to full-time work. I haven't yet developed a strong creative habit, and I'm afraid that I won't be able to sustain my creative energy once I start my job. I would love some advice, or just help setting expectations. Thank you!
Hi! I’ve been working on some poems and want to submit them but…how do you know when they are “finished” and the right “type” for a publication, since almost all places feature free verse anyway? A lot of my poems feel confessional/direct, so I’m worried they won’t be seen as “literary” enough and I feel like I need to work more on them to do something cool with sound or image, but I don’t want it to feel overwrought either.
When life is distilled down, to its most important parts, what is there to focus on with both a macro and a micro lens?
Do you feel better after writing sad things? I’ve been avoiding writing recently because all I want to write about is sad things and it takes so much out of me.
I would like to encourage my kid with writing. What kind of conditions allow a little kid who has a gift or way with words to develop? I want to gently inspire and mostly not get in the way. I don't think they see it in themselves as they are too busy being a kid. Thank you Saeed <3
Hi, Saeed! I'm curious about how you divide up your creative time. If you're working on multiple projects, do you work on them at once or do you stick to one until you've completed a draft? How do you balance drafting, research, revision for publication, etc.? How did you find a system that worked for you?
Hi Saeed,
Thanks for the generous offer to answer questions. If you could, I'd really love to know how much you think about style when you're writing prose. Do you think it about during the first draft, or during revisions, or both? And are you deliberate in choosing the defining qualities of your style, or did they emerge over time?
Hey Saeed! I am inspired to start an improv writing class in Delhi, India, but am unsure of how to set up its module. To cover all blind spots, I'd like to know if it's a good idea to create a space where people meet weekly and are urged to write freely based on prompts, conversations and other activities held during the class. For instance, taking the group for a 2km walk one class and asking them to write a piece based on their sensory experience. My goal is to help people find their voices and discover the world of writing without being tied down by theory. What do you think?
Hi Saeed! As others have said, thanks for this newsletter and your posts so far. I love your perspective on everything. My question is about research. Do you think of an idea for a poem/essay and then research it more or do you find inspiration while generally researching? Maybe a little of both? How much do you research something before you feel okay adding elements to a piece? I'm thinking about the Venus Flytrap from "Date Night."
As someone who misses the freedom to use essay writing as a form of self-expression that I had in college, how/where can I start publishing? I'm from Columbus originally and am inspired having you making a living as a writer in my hometown!