Writing inspiration: From the heart

Sharing from my heart in the hopes of helping you follow yours

Dear readers,

Hi! WELCOME, new subscribers, and WELCOME BACK to all subscribers! I am so touched to see signs of this newsletter being helpful to you—the new subscriptions! both free and paid—and I honestly feel excited and honoured every time I see a notification telling me someone subscribed, liked or commented. THANK YOU so truly much for your support of Doing the Write Thing, which I really hope provides you with the inspiration and support you’re looking for.

I’d like to share with you the word I chose that represents the theme of my goals for 2024. This idea of choosing a “thematic” word or phrase for a new year came to me a few years ago, during a difficult time.

On New Year’s Eve in 2017, I decided to choose a theme for 2018: "pave the path you dream of.” About a month before, my husband and I had experienced our second miscarriage (I write about pregnancy loss in Parent Ink in the hopes of helping others who experience it). About a month later, a few weeks after New Year’s, the job that I was very happy with became one of hundreds that was terminated. About a month after that, Emmie, our cat, one of my best friends, passed away.

I remember telling my mom I don’t know how to be without Emmie. When I used Instagram, it was mostly to share pictures of Emmie, so I decided to take a break from Instagram. I realized that while I limited my social media use (I liked using it to share pictures and positive messages, but didn’t like to spend much time on it), I was still spending some time on social media, and I decided to instead take those minutes and apply them towards writing. Writing also helped support me when I missed Emmie, and after two miscarriages, and while waiting for our family to grow.

So I started working on In Your Dreams even during short snippets, such as five- or 10-minute writing sessions. As a child and as a teenager, I’d had a very regular writing routine—which involved writing for hours uninterrupted—that I had to adapt as an adult with a busier schedule.

Later, also in 2018, after years of editing and editing In Your Dreams, I participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and started writing a new story called Lavender Fields dedicated to Emmie. Through NaNoWriMo, I was introduced to “writing sprints”, an amazing concept that involves joining other writers online to start writing at the same time for a set amount of time, from the comfort of wherever you are, knowing other writers are writing “with you”. That approach also helped me to write more.

Suddenly I’d figured out a way to ensure I write regularly and make progress with my novel, which is one of the principal reasons why I started this newsletter, Doing the Write Thing (credit for the name goes to my husband, who came up with the idea years before I thought of creating a newsletter). That complete shift in how I approach my writing time means that I write regularly again, and I want to help fellow writers by sharing what I’ve learned and what I’m learning so that we can support each other in following our hearts.

“Follow your heart” has been my philosophy, perhaps subconsciously at first and then consciously, since I was a kid. I believe that when what we do—our actions and our choices—aligns with what we believe and value, we feel fulfilled and experience inner peace. It can be very difficult for someone to emit peace on the outside if they don’t feel peace on the inside.

I realize I am now writing into the land of philosophy, which is a theme that permeates and even fuels many of my stories (some of which I mention in this newsletter). The point is that I wanted to share from my heart, hoping to help you follow what’s in yours.

Thank you again so much, dear readers, for your support. I hope you find Doing the Write Thing continues to support you on your writing journey (or your journey with another creative project) too.

~ Marisa

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Thematic word for 2024: Share

In 2016, after In Your Dreams received a few rejections from multiple publishers, I decided to reach out for a second opinion from someone in the publishing industry. I thought of Alisha Sevigny, an author whose books I love, whose environmental values I share, and whose experience as a literary agent felt like the right expertise. Alisha was so helpful and provided me with a list of edits and suggestions, which I reviewed before revisiting and beginning to revise In Your Dreams.

At the same time, I’d grown as a writer, in large part thanks to reading (and from watching stories unfold on TV, actually, surprisingly). I wrote In Your Dreams when I was in university, but it was after university when one of my best friends introduced me to The Hunger Games and so began my love of reading YA dystopian literature (feel free to reach out for reading recommendations!). So, in 2016, I started to apply edits to In Your Dreams, starting with page one…

And I’m still working my way through the book! I know, I know, it’s 2024, and I thought I’d finish editing In Your Dreams and send it out to publishers in 2023. I’m being patient and I know that the book is taking steps forward, and is now, of course, closer than ever to being ready for publishing.

I love the story and the characters in In Your Dreams, and I am SO EXCITED to share it with you soon, and I also want to write more stories—like Lavender Fields (a new-adult story dedicated to Emmie, about loss, family, friendship, love, and the environment), and Olivia (an NA story about love, family, loss and family secrets/history).

Since I was a teenager, I’ve naturally been driven to set, and hopefully achieve, goals. I’m always working on a writing project, and generally healthy eating and exercise goals as well. My goals aren’t tied to the timing of a new year, but I like looking at my goals and recognizing a theme that ties them together.

Share: Writing goals

In 2024, some of my writing goals include:

• Finish editing In Your Dreams and submit it for publication

• Learn more about self-publishing and traditional publishing (I’ve chosen two webinars I’m looking forward to learning more from, and you can also learn about these topics in some of the Doing the Write Thing Q&As (scroll to the bottom of the page))

• Finish writing The Other Side of the Ocean—a novella about family, friendship, courage and coping with anxiety in high school—which I’ve been so thrilled to write and publish online through a partnership with Learning with Leong (there’s one more section left, so you can still catch up on reading and vote to influence the next part of the story!)

• Share more of the writing I’ve already completed, including potentially:

  • Self-publishing (online) The Ridge, my YA novel—about high school, friendship, romance and bullying—that comes so much from my heart

  • Continuing to lightly edit and publish More Than This, a YA novel inspired by a fun story with an important message that came to me while listening to The LOTR and Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks

  • Self-publishing Every Day is an Opportunity, a collection of reflections about life and love that I’ve published online and on social media

  • Sharing new and existing uplifting reflections about life and love on my newsletter From the Heart

  • Lightly editing my Start Fresh and Reconnect with Writing Workbook (available to paid subscribers) and offer a print-friendly version (available via the founding paid subscription tier)

How about you—what do you want to do with your writing right now? It’s okay not to know yet, either. It’s likely that even when we’re not sure what to write or how to write it, somehow our heart will know the way.

Wishing you writing that flows! (Originally, I wrote “flowing writing”, which, ironically, doesn’t really flow…The power of editing and perseverance!)

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Coming soon

• Q&A with author Jen Craven

• Writing tip #9 and writing life updates

• Q&A with author and poet Alene Sen