Measuring time has always been on the top of the list of important items to a human.

• For survival: time must be kept to plant and harvest or hunt and fish at the right times.

• For societal function: religions and rituals simply could not exist without keeping time.

In the modern world, measuring time is still at the top, but for some nuanced reasons.

• For survival: one cannot maintain comfortable living without paying bills in a timely manner.

• For societal function: appointments are impossible without a mutual agreement on a certain measure of time.

Prompt: The marks of time passing

As humans, we wear the passage of time in such a nuanced manner that it’s become a sort of ranking system amongst some folks. Think about some of the things that come to mind when you encounter the terms, “aging” and “old.” Is there a very specific image or phrase that pops up?

I’m guessing it’s something one of your parents or grandparents used to say about the topic when you were young (and maybe still says it now!), and if that’s the case…

Markers and journal/prose

…here’s something to mull over in your journal or prose:

• Is it nature or nurture that taught you to measure time passing?

• Do the seasons or birthdays/anniversaries most vividly remind you of time passing?

Push yourself to play with wording that can evoke seasonality without becoming repetitive.

Markers and fiction

These marker considerations can also be helpful for mulling over your current work of fiction by using them in world building:

• Does your world abide by the same measurements of time that ours does?

• How does your fictional culture handle things like birthdays or anniversaries?

Consider how you can use these rules of the world can better guide your reader through the story.

Upon certain milestones in everyone’s life, we celebrate. Whether it’s birthdays or milestones, I can almost guarantee there’s a sub genre of party supplies for it hiding somewhere within Amazon or Etsy. In fact, if you hop onto Google or Pinterest you can very easily find a “how to” for a party or event with a highly-specific theme.

It’s fascinating—who knew there were so many pun-based party themes to choose from?

Goal check point: your brain on rituals

When you come across the word, “ritual,” I doubt it feels unrelated to writing, because most writing advice out there tends to fall along the lines of routines or rituals. And there’s a reason for that—priming, a cool term that basically means “a warmup for your brain.”

Here’s an extremely basic guide to building your warmup:

• Gather some data. There are certainly times and places in which your fingers just fly across the keys, the words and ideas just flowing. Take note when that’s happening in those moments:

  • Where are you (i.e. a coffee shop or your couch)?

  • What time of day is it?

  • What are you listening to?

  • What are you eating/drinking?

• Identify your triggers. After a few weeks of writing and logging the vibes, review your findings:

  • Are there patterns in your productivity and your location?

  • Do you tend to write better in the morning or evening?

  • Should you make a writing playlist?

And then use all of those findings to build your “writing warmup” list. Keep that bad boy on you whenever you plan to write and you may just find yourself hitting your writing goals more easily! (Psssst…if you’d like to read more about hitting word count, check out this absolutely delightful resource recommendation from one of our Scribblers.)

https://rachelaaron.net/2k-to-10k

Wrapping things up

That’s it for the first edition of the Scribbler’s Newsletter. But before we go, here’s what happened this month in publishing history and a few resources and events that may help you get even closer to hitting/exceeding your writing goals this month.

This month in book history

• August 17, 1946 - the novella Animal Farm by George Orwell published in Great Britain.

• August 18, 1958 – the controversial novel Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov released in America, two years after initial publication in Paris.

• August 27, 1912 – the first novel in the Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes, published.

Helpful resources and writing events for the month

• https://authorspublish.com/ is a fantastic resource for folks wanting to get picked up by a publication because they share a new list of niche-specific publications on a regular basis—sign up is free and they send the list to your inbox

• https://www.themarginalian.org/ (formerly Brain Pickings) has been a long-time refuge of thought and motivation for me, it’s worth a visit if you enjoy book recommendations

• https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl/ houses the online catalog that is Grammar Girl, a podcast that helps clarify some of the trickier parts of grammar

I hope you have a lovely month,

Kaitlynn