One year in …

… and the second act continues …

One year ago today, I announced to the world (via this blog) that I was repurposing it to focus on the creative writing journey I was about to launch. It all felt new and fresh and, in some ways, intimidating.

In my inaugural post, I posed the question, “Maybe Fitzgerald was wrong?” and wrote:

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‘Shoveling sand into a box’

Jordan Peele and Shannon Hale on writing the first draft

Update: the quote attributed to Jordan Peele has often been attributed to another writer, Shannon Hale. I’ve amended the original post to reflect this other source.

A good friend (and friend of this blog) recently forwarded a newsletter from the Gotham Writers Workshop that included a quote from the brilliant comedian, actor, filmmaker, and writer Jordan Peele. (Note: since posting this and sharing on social media, I’ve learned the quote is also often attributed to author Shannon Hale. My apologies to Ms. Hale if I’ve attributed it to the wrong person.) This quote captures beautifully the messy process of creating a first draft. It’s so good, I need to share it with you all. And as I plow forward on my writing projects in 2025, I’m going to make this statement my mantra.

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