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1000 Words
A Writer's Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round
2 of 2 copies available
Inspired by Jami Attenberg's wildly popular literary movement #1000WordsofSummer, this "encouraging handbook" (Publishers Weekly) features essays on creativity, productivity, and writing from acclaimed authors including Roxane Gay, Lauren Groff, Celeste Ng, Meg Wolitzer, and Carmen Maria Machado.
In 2018, novelist Jami Attenberg, faced with a looming deadline, needed writing inspiration. Using a bootcamp model, she and a friend set out to write one thousand words daily for two weeks straight. They opened this practice to Attenberg's online community and soon hundreds then thousands of people started using the #1000WordsofSummer hashtag to track their work and support one another. What began as a simple challenge between two friends has become a literary movement—write 1,000 words per day without judgement, or bias, or concerns about writer's block, and see what comes of it.
1000 Words is the book-length extension of this movement. It is about becoming—and staying—motivated, discovering yourself and your creative desires, and approaching your craft from a new direction. It features advice from more than fifty well-known writers, including New York Times bestsellers, Pulitzer Prize winners, and stars of the literary world. Framing these letters are words of wisdom and encouragement, plus specific strategies, from Attenberg on how to carve out a creative path for yourself all year round.
Paired with vibrant word art illustrations, 1000 Words is an accessible and motivational craft book that allows you to open any page and get a quick and fulfilling hit of inspiration.
Featuring Roxane Gay, Bryan Washington, Susan Orlean, Maris Kreizman, Sara Novic, Rumaan Alam, Lauren Oyler, Emma Straub, Christopher Gonzales, Benjamin Percy, Mira Jacob, Laura van den Berg, Carmen Maria Machado, Courtney Sullivan, Rebecca Carroll, Ada Limon, R.O. Kwon, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, Elissa Watusha, Alexander Chee, Maggie Shipstead, Deesha Philyaw, Jasmine Guillory, Kristen Arnett, Attica Locke, Megan Abbott, Min Jin Lee, Lauren Groff, Andrew Sean Greer, Camille Dungy, Megan Giddings, Isaac Fitsgerald, Hannah Tinti, Michael H. Weber, Celeste Ng, Elizabeth McCracken, Will Leitch, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Morgan Parker, Kiese Laymon, Melissa Febos, Alissa Nutting, Liz Moore, Laila Lalami, Megan Mayhew Berman, Rebecca Makkai, Meg Wolitzer, Mychal Denzel Smith, Josh Gondelman, and Dantiel W. Moniz.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
January 9, 2024 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781668023624
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781668023624
- File size: 4614 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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September 1, 2023
Challenging herself and a friend to conquer writer's block by writing 1000 Words a day, Attenberg expanded her purvey to launch the #1000WordsofSummer movement chronicled here; also included, writing advice from more than 50 top-notch authors. Prepub Alert.
Copyright 2023 Library Journal
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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October 16, 2023
This encouraging handbook by novelist Attenberg (I Came All This Way to Meet You) offers brief essays aimed at motivating readers to get writing. Reflecting on her own process, Attenberg discusses her routine of writing 1,000 words per day and shares that she goes on walks or visits art museums when she’s feeling uninspired. Though Attenberg’s practices are held up as possible models for the writing life, the overall emphasis is on affirmations rather than concrete advice, as when she advises, “If you want something, do what it takes to get it,” and entreats readers to “value your creative self” and “believe your writing deserves to be treated with respect and care.” The highlights of the volume are letters originally written for Attenberg’s Craft Talk newsletter from such writers as Roxane Gay, Min Jin Lee, Emma Straub, and Bryan Washington, who expound on their craft; Carmen Maria Machado, for instance, describes her process of recording voice notes of narrative ideas and later expanding them into stories. Aspiring writers will appreciate Attenberg’s cheerleading, even if her program lacks in specifics. -
Starred review from November 1, 2023
Attenberg, award-winning author of memoir (I Came All This Way to Meet You, 2022) and fiction (All This Could Be Yours, 2019), has compiled a fantastic set of essays to help writers stay motivated throughout the year. Attenberg created a challenge, #1000wordsofsummer, to help herself and her teacher friends focus on writing 1,000 words a day, but it isn't just in summer that writers need support. Attenberg discusses her own experiences as a working author and leans into the satisfaction of producing words. To supplement Attenberg's essays, many celebrated writers have contributed their own thoughts as letters to the hashtag's community. Roxane Gay, Kiese Laymon, and Alexander Chee are just a few of the authors who share inspiration. Many related stories of working through the pandemic. Writing is both solitary and communal, and the lockdown forced even more solitude on a profession that already contends with isolation. Readers of this collection will feel surrounded and bolstered by like-minded people who have been in the trenches. Readers will want to refer to this book more than once, so it's an ideal purchase for public libraries.COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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