A poem can capture the emotional weight of long-awaited victory. In “They Won,” Greg Luti reflects on the moment a lifelong sports fan experiences their team finally winning a championship — and the unexpected peace that follows years of disappointment. I guess I got so used to them losing that I never thought I would see them win. No title for them. No talks of championships. None of that. My team would lose, and for no other reason than that is what they do. I got so accustomed to this way of thinking that I couldn’t even know what it meant for them to win. They would never win a title. They would never have a parade. They would never do any of that. But when it happens…. The clock struck zero, the score was set, and they won. There are no more games. There is no tomorrow. They are the champs. I won’t start talking about tomorrow about how they need to improve to help them win. The best part of the off-season won’t be the draft. I am not going to put hope in players I know are not even worthy of being in the league. I am not doing any of that. Because they won…. They really won. I called out a few times after the championship, and then I didn’t celebrate anymore. Not out of confusion, but of shock. We are not supposed to win. Not my team. Not now, not ever. How are we allowed to win this thing? Are they going to take back the title? Perhaps the league will make my team win another game, just to really prove they are champs. I sat there in shock, for I never thought this would happen. I felt a sense of peace, of happiness, I never thought I would feel. I never played in a single game. I didn’t coach this team. I couldn’t even afford tickets to a game this season. But this team, they are a part of who I am, and now I can say something I never thought I would say. My team won a championship…. Let the other fans jump up and down in triumph. Let the parties happen across town. Let the chaos ensue from the news that they won. As for me, I will be silently appreciating the run of the players. Finding peace in their title. And as I do find that peace, the peace I never knew before today, I may shed a tear or two for all of those who put so much time into this team. The players who suffered losses trying and failing to win a title. The fans who were there with the players as they lost. The owner and management, who can never do anything right. Those who made me fall in love with this team. I think of all of them…. And I am happy for them. They won. I won. We won. After all these years, we won.

In this book update, Greg Luti shares his current progress on the poetry collection *Clearance*, including his goal of compiling around 120 poems and the process of refining older work for the book. Aiming for 120 poems I am going through all the poems I wrote up a while back and seeing which ones are done and putting them into a collection. So far, I have about 10 poems that are done. There are plenty more for me to do. I have a feeling that one afternoon, I may just take all day and see how many I can actually edit so they are complete. My last poetry book had 100 poems, so I am aiming for about 120 or so in this one. I think I have 100 completed poems left, but I am not sure, if I am honest. Two poems from the collection The first poem here is about the lesson a trainer could have given an athlete. The other is random thoughts a co-worker has before starting work. Track Lesson As I walk around the high school track attempting to get my steps in for the day, I see the trainer finish their session with their clients. The man was no older than me, but obviously in better shape, and had thirty yards of sports equipment spread out along the football field. Boxes for squats dumbbells for lifts Barbells for lunges A variety of goodies only a professional would have. Most people at the track only go with themselves and a water bottle and leave after the fourth lap. As if critiquing an athlete’s form, I thought of the misstep in the trainer’s ending of his session. He missed out on a valuable lesson he could have taught his striving athletes. The kids should have helped him clean up the sports equipment. “Finish what you start” can be the lesson he tells them. They used the equipment; they have to put it back. That is their responsibility. Many hate cleaning up and with good reason; there is no glory or honor involved with it. And most times, nobody even notices that it gets done. Every workplace needs a janitor, but nobody wants to be the janitor. Yet personal maintenance is a key component that many overlook in their life. Whether it is working out at home, writing a novel, or just going about your daily activities, there will come a point when you need to complete that task. By then, you are tired, physically and most definitely mentally, so you will probably not be in the mood to clean up. “What is the big deal?” You’ll ask. “It is not like anyone will notice it, right?” So you leave something out in the way. You don’t put back what you could have put back. You don’t complete the task. And what happens? Something related to that task pops up, and you are not prepared for it. Why? Because you never really finished it anyway. If you had gotten that thing out of the way or put everything back, then you would have been officially completed with what you were doing. So if something happens (which you and I both know will happen), you can start that new task right away without any struggle. Take a few minutes to complete whatever the hell it is you are doing. It won’t seem like much, but you’ll be very happy you did it down the road. If I were a trainer, I’d have lessons like that for the kids as they work out. Cause sports are never about winning or losing. Or getting the strongest, or the fastest. The game will change. The rules will change. The arena will change. But the lessons that you can get through to someone through sports, those won’t change. Plus, I wouldn’t want to put all the equipment back by myself.

A writing update can offer an honest look behind the curtain of the creative process. In “Being Sick,” Greg Luti discusses how a recent illness forced him to pause his work, prioritize recovery, and reflect on the unrealistic expectation that writers should always be productive. Being Sick and Falling Behind I have been sick the past week or so and have not really gotten to my writing as much as I would like. I basically did some social media stuff and then took some medicine and went to bed instead of spending time on the blog posts or the books. I don’t know about you, but I am one of those people who really likes to get better as soon as possible when I am sick. Yeah, I don’t just go to work and say, “I am fine, I will get better.” I take a bottle’s worth of medicine a day (not recommended) and sleep as much as I can. I take the extra day off just to get better. My Approach to Getting Better I will never understand people who walk around and say, “Yeah, I am sick.” Like bro, go home and get better. No one wants to be around a sick person, mostly because people don’t like to be sick themselves. So yeah, not much on the inspiration train this past week, aside from a bunch of tissues and medicine. I even tried to write up an advice piece the other day, but I just wasn’t feeling it. The Power of Having a Routine The good news is that I am just about over my sickness, and I am starting to feel better. I learned that the reason you want a good routine and schedule in place is to have something to go back on when you are sick and miss a few days. I told you I was working on the writing routine, and now that I have that down, missing a few days because of sickness is not that bad, since I can pick up right where I left off. How We Romanticize Writers Writing is interesting when it comes to being sick. I honestly don’t know if I have ever heard about writers discussing sickness in regard to their career. I mean, when was the last time you heard about a writer, literally any writer, write up something when they were sick? I guess we have this idea of what a writer looks like when they are actually writing up something, and that image does not include them taking pills and feeling down. If you want to go a step further, you can even say that we do this with writers so much that those who take drugs are never even suspected of doing anything while they write. We never talk about a writer writing when drunk, or when on something, as though every writer is just away in a freaking corner, frantically typing that great novel. I think the image of Shakespeare sitting by his desk with his quill pen or Hemingway staring at a typewriter are what people think of when they think about writers, and those images don’t include any hint of drugs, or any other substance, aside from the writer’s own wit. That gets me to two things I want to say, and then I may just wrap up this update. Yeah, I am not completely over being sick. Ill or Sick? The first is a funny line I like to think about when I am sick. It is from a song. The guy said he is ill, not sick. Because ill can be used as a synonym for very talented, I find that funny, and I like it when words are used in that sort of way. I once asked a student I was teaching if he was ill or sick. He didn’t get the joke and just asked me where the tissue paper is. The Mysterious Disappearing Tissues Also, is it me, or does no one know where the tissue paper ever is? I mean, do we hide it from one another? Is there a night fairy that moves it? What is going on here? The first thing anyone ever asks when they need tissues is where the heck is the box of tissues? For something that we all use a lot, especially during certain parts of the year, none of us know where the hell this thing is. The State of Modern Literature The second thing I wanted to say is about the state of modern literature. Now, I am not going to pretend like I am up to date on it. I’m not. I am more concerned with my own books and stories than all of literature as a whole, but I just can’t help but wonder whether literature is not as popular as it thinks it is. I think we would call it a niche field now. Sure, you can make a living from it, but don’t expect everyone to know you. It is more like ballet or Broadway than TV and movies. Although I am starting to think that all modern media is nothing more than a niche field. I don’t know. I hear two things from modern literature. On the one hand, I hear people praising it and the authors and their books as though we are all supposed to reinvent the classics and forget about them. But then I hear that modern literature sucks and that you should read the classics. When casual people name an author or book, it is never a modern book, but a classic. I don’t know what is happening there. Does modern literature suck? Beats me. I have a hard enough time writing up these updates. I am just trying to get back my energy and health so I can be 100 percent when I am doing this. When Life Throws Curveballs Let’s end this with something you can take with you. There are times in your life when you need to focus and pay attention a little more than usual. No, no, I am not talking about a freaking test that asks about sin. You can use a calculator for that too. I am talking about when life throws a curveball at you for no other reason than life has been throwing fastballs at you all night, and now wants to see if you can handle the breaking ball. You may get sick and be out for a week. You may have to deal with a death in the family. You may have an injury that takes time to get over. Whatever it is, that is when you'd better pay attention. That, that moment, that is the test. When you are in a moment like that, devote as much of your time to getting out of that hole. Take the medicine wisely. Plan the funeral accordingly. Go to physical therapy as you should. Because you have to learn to take care of yourself, and that involves the moments you are not expecting. So next time something happens in your life that is bad and you were not ready for, don’t get mad or upset, get dialed in. Focus for that brief time to help yourself and others around you. And remember, all things must pass. Do yourself a favor while they are passing through.

A flash fiction story can explore the limits of wealth and desire. In “What He Couldn’t Buy,” Greg Luti follows a man with a mysterious condition who goes on a wild shopping spree, buying everything in sight while searching for something that money can’t buy. I was talking to a buddy of mine at work one day, it was the time of the day when we are all about done with the job, but still have to be there, so we make small talk to pass the time. I was printing out some documents as he sat there doing nothing. The story he told me is what I am about to tell you. He heard of a guy who went into a store, I don’t remember which type of store it was, but I guess it was the type of place you could do this sort of thing. The guy just pointed at stuff and bought it. Like it was nothing. He took a few of the paintings on the wall, a few statues. Actually, a lot of statues… the buyer had a weird thing about statues. I think the number was in double digits. Yes, there is a man who once bought ten statues for no other reason than that is what he felt like doing. Have you ever seen ten statues in your life? This man bought them like most people buy chips at the grocery store. Then there were furniture pieces he bought that seemed unnecessary for any person to really own, like an office desk that has room for two chairs, but is for one person. One of the desks switched between a desk and a bed. Another had so many compartments you wonder what the person at the desk was actually doing. Then there were the couches… Oh my god, the couches. The guy might as well have taken all of them. He pointed, and he got them. The man selling him all the stuff was even sitting on a couch, when the guy looked at him and noted he would take that as well. There was some stuff the guy bought that he didn’t even know what it was, but he bought it. He pointed at the chest and said, “I’ll take it.” He didn’t even look inside the chest. He saw three more chests like that on the table, and then decided to buy those too, and he took the table also. Old-time games and trinkets no one would really use or even need. The guy bought them. He didn’t even ask what they were. The seller stopped describing the particular history of the items when the buyer acknowledged he wanted them all. Screw the history, the buyer didn’t care. In the back were old books, and he took every one of them. Yeah, those never stood a chance. He asked if the bookshelf was available to buy, but the seller told him it was not. That was a part of the store. This dude went into a freaking store and bought whatever he wanted, like it was nothing. When asked if he had the room for it all, the guy was almost insulted by the question, as though it was even dumb to ask. The guy got to the register and asked for the total, but before he did, he asked the seller if he liked his job, to which the seller said he did for the most part. The rich guy then offered him a job right on the spot, no fuss. There were two people in the store standing by, and they were offered jobs too, even though they had nothing to do with the purchase. Before the purchase was complete, the man noted that he would buy the store, but he is not in the area enough to really do that. Then the man stopped the conversation and spoke sternly to the seller during the entire spree, “I am here for one reason, actually. I mean, I like all this stuff you have, but there is something that I heard you guys sell. The word on the street is that the item is called the cure. It can help with sleep and other problems. Does that sound like something you have?” He stared at the seller with a frankness he had not shown before. His eyes didn’t blink. His facial expression stayed there, and the jovial expressions he had earlier were gone. The seller dropped his head, for he had heard this rumor from customers many times before, and he had addressed them before, too. “That is an old rumor started by the old owner of this place. Back before the current owner took over, this place had a bunch of items, weird items, like occult stuff, and one of them he advertised was a cure for what you are seeking. I think my owner asked him about it when he bought the place, but that was nothing more than a lie. That item doesn’t exist and never did. Sorry about that. Want me to ring you up?” The buyer changed his facial expression to hide his frustration. “Hey, man. It happens. No big deal. I mean, I just thought I asked.” The seller then noticed the restless shoulders the buyer had, and his red eyes, as though he had not slept in days. The buyer finished the purchase, twitching a little more than he had when the spending spree began. That was basically the story. I am not sure how much of the story I even believe. My co-worker didn’t really confirm whether he thought it was true or not. When he was done telling it, I gathered what I had printed out and went back to my desk.

Greg Luti announces his upcoming poetry book titled “Clearance” in this book update, sharing the ironic and humorous reason for the title choice while explaining his decision to focus on compiling existing poems rather than continuing work on his novel Hit of Henry. Title of the Next Poetry Book The title of my next poetry book will be called Clearance, for the simple reason that I enjoy the name of it, and the joke is fairly obvious. Clearance is probably where the book is going to land in the stores. I am really a sucker for the ironic, funny titles for my books, especially for my poetry ones, since those never really have much of a theme anyway. Yes, I am the type of author who would make the title of the book something where you would say, “Wait, what is that called again?” Goal for the Book I am trying to put the poems I have for this book together as soon as I can, honestly. I have the poems lying around. The sooner I get this done, the better. The poems are already complete, so now I have to put the book together.

A book update can offer readers an early look at new work. In “Two Poems from Clearance,” Greg Luti shares two poems from his upcoming poetry collection — one a lighthearted dialogue about a scheduling mix-up — while discussing the process of compiling older poems into a new book. Compiling the poems I am putting together the poems that I wrote before I started this blog into a collection. I have a handful already put into the book, which I am going to share a few here. I am not sure if there is a theme to the entire book though. The first poem I included here is a funny dialogue-driven poem about a common meeting misunderstanding. The second is an ambiguous warning about what you don’t want to see. Wednesday Meeting Adam walked over to his co-worker, Samantha. “Hey, night.” “Night.” Samantha stopped him before he could leave. “Don’t we have a meeting tonight?” “Do we? Has it been two weeks already?” The company has a meeting every two weeks where the staff gets together and talks about their problems. “I think it has.” “Yeah, I can’t believe that you asked a question last time. I mean, who does that?” “What was my question? I forgot.” “I think it had to do with one of the customers. I don’t remember exactly.” “Oh, yeah. I ask the questions early in the meetings, to get them out of the way.” “I mean, the fact that you asked them. Don’t most not say anything during these meetings so they can go faster?” “I don’t know if we are having the meeting tonight.” “I guess they are too busy to have the meeting. I am not surprised.” “Yeah. It has been really busy.” “Maybe it is better with no meeting.” “They normally send out an email on the day of the meeting.” “Yeah, I forgot all about it, until you mentioned it.” “We have a meeting every other Wednesday.” “Right…” “Oh my god, I just realized why we don’t have a meeting.” “'Cause they forgot about it?” “It’s Tuesday.” “Oh my god, it is.” “Meetings are Wednesday.” “Right… So I guess I will see you at the meeting tomorrow?”

A writing update often signals a meaningful shift in an author’s routine. In “Twice a Week Is Here,” Greg Luti announces that his newsletter will now be delivered twice a week — on Sundays and Thursdays — while also sharing his ongoing efforts with short stories and the small but meaningful wins he’s experiencing from reader engagement. Twice a Week Is Here I am happy to say that the newsletter is officially going to be twice a week. That is right, now I am jumping into your newsletter on Sundays and Thursdays. Because one morning of my rants was not enough. Now you are getting two! I would like to think there are some of you out there that get giddy over seeing my name in your email feed, but I mean, I don’t think I do that for any newsletter either, so if you don’t, that is fair. I actually remember I had a newsletter about a book subscription, and to make a long story short, I don’t use the subscription anymore. The newsletter was nice, though. The Imagined Conversation Here is a conversation I imagine one of you has: “Honey, I am reading a newsletter that says Homer didn’t read.” “Oh, that’s nice. I mean, Homer Simpson wasn’t that smart of a man. He was actually an idiot.” “No, not that Homer. The other Homer.” “Oh… Did you lose a bet?” “Let’s not bring that into this.” “If you are going to be a bad gambler, don’t read nonsense, too. One is enough.” “It’s a nice newsletter. Sometimes there are stories, sometimes writing advice.” “I am sure it is a nice newsletter.” “You don’t think it is?” “I never said that…” “Hmmm…. Is this a bad time to say I paid for full access to the site?” “Jesus Christ…. We really have to talk about your spending habits.” Short Stories Are My Kryptonite Enough about the newsletter, though, and let’s talk about something that is a pain in my butt, or back, since, honestly, sitting at my desk all day typing can really put a strain on a guy. This is my kryptonite, my Achilles heel, or the thing that I really stink at. One word: short stories. Okay, that is technically two words, but you get my point. I don’t know why, but when I get to sitting down and looking at my blog schedule, and I see I have to write a short story, I look at it and say, “Nope. Not happening.” I have a few short story ideas, but nothing that I am confident can become a full short story. I don’t really have a solution for solving this problem, aside from putting my time into it. That is not a great solution, I get it, but I think I am viewing short stories as more than what they are. I have a general idea of what I want to say, and then just jump. Head first, too. The only way to actually write a short story is to, you know, write one. Facebook Problems (and Solutions?) Another thing I have been doing is working on is social media, and going into groups and communicating with other writers about my editing services. It took my assistant and me to figure out the plan here, but we are now interacting here, so that is a win. Now, for the loss… I made a mistake in my writing career. I am now paying for it, not literally though (thank god for that), I thought I would be clever and advertise my Facebook page to anyone in the world. There are billions of people out there. Why do I care where they are from? I thought wrongly. I then advertised my Facebook page to anyone with a pulse. If you know anything about Facebook, then you know where I am going with this. My Facebook page is all spam accounts now. There are a bunch of real people on it, but they are so few and far between that it is hard to find them. I am now stuck blocking mostly all of them. Yeah, so I am slowly getting rid of my fake followers on Facebook. There is a lesson there to anyone who wants to hear it: don’t try to be clever and outthink the system, since it will come back and bite you in the butt. Small Wins Matter There is good news, and that is some people have responded to my newsletter and even shared it with their readers. Here I was thinking I was giving writing advice to only my readers…. I am finding that whatever small victories I gain are worth noting, for if you only ever see the bad things that need improvement, you are not doing a service to anyone, especially yourself. Yes, there are always areas to get better in. I mean, anyone can tell you that. But can you see the areas that give you pride in your growth, and make you appreciate the actual journey you are on? That is the real question. If you are going on this trip and only see the bad and get down on everything, then that is not a trip at all; that is a therapy session.

Writing prompts are a popular tool, but they’re not always the best way to generate ideas. In “How and When to Use Writing Prompts,” Greg Luti takes a closer look at the common advice around using prompts and explains when they can actually be useful versus when they might limit a writer’s ability to draw from personal experience. The Common Advice About Prompts Whenever I hear about writers using a prompt, the process is quite simple in that the site, or whoever gave the prompt, basically leaves the writer be. As I have grown as a writer, I have become further and further from the prompt that I am almost against the use of it, but before that, I suppose we should discuss what a prompt actually is, and why you would need it. What Exactly Is a Writing Prompt? A writing prompt is a line or two that gives you directions on what to write. It doesn’t tell you what to actually write, that is still up to you, but it does give you a path on where to go. An example of a prompt would be “write a story under 500 words that has to do with loss.” The prompt isn’t really meant to tell you what to think of the topic, only present you with a topic. Does it care if it is 300 words or 400 words? Not really, as long as it doesn’t go over 500. And does it care if you like love or hate it? No. It only wants you to be in that department. So that is a lesson right there: Prompts do not give you an opinion on the topic you are writing. Sorry, you have to come up with that one on your own. And let’s face it, the topics for prompts are normally designed so you don’t have to really think too much about them. I mean, are you going to sit there and think about love or just jump right into the piece and hope you have 500 words about it? If you are like me, you’ll probably have an idea of where to go, and then just jump. So yeah, prompts don’t give you an opinion. Where Do Prompts Usually Come From? I normally have come across prompts on sites like this, or other writing-related sites, that are all about words and writing. I know that I have seen them on social media and even participated in a few. That is how it all happens. You open your laptop or your phone, and then you read the prompt, and go back to your office and work on it. Writing places, or sites, or magazines, whatever you want to call them, like to include prompts as a way to get the reader engaged with them. And I get it. The act seems genuine, and for the most part, it is, having readers think about a piece and then even submit it for the site. I do have an issue with prompts, though, and it is why I don’t advocate for them openly to writers as their first option. Why I’m Not a Big Fan of Prompts The first reason you shouldn’t use prompts is that they dictate the topic. I don’t want to be that guy, but I am; you are alive 24 hours in a freaking day, going around doing whatever it is you are doing…. Is there not one thing you want to write about for that day? One… Not even one thing. Writing for a prompt requires a writer to associate with topics that may not be currently in their life, which I would say is where the best inspiration comes from. The second reason is that by relying on the prompt as a way to spark inspiration, you are not training yourself to view the parts of your life as an area for stories. That is a bad habit to form. Do you get the issue? If you are going to improve as a writer, you are best to find the stories that reflect your life, your experience, and that means you are not looking at prompts for the answer, but yourself. If you are seeing the prompts as the time when you are inspired, then you are missing out on times in your life that the stories could come from. That observation skill is more important to develop than the ability to write up a poem about loss. The third reason I don’t like prompts is simple. I am too damn busy with all the other stories I am writing, and I am sure that every other professional writer out there is too. I would love to get to that random prompt about love, but I have a book, make that two books, I have to get done, three books that need to be edited, and a handful of blog posts to write. If you are like me, once you get started with writing as a career where you are crafting story ideas and outlines daily, you will soon find the prompt pointless, as it is not really helping you with your goals. Now, if you are someone who likes to write in their spare time and enjoys the prompts as a fun activity and doesn’t plan on going further with them, then obviously, the prompts are for you. But as for professional writers, those who have a schedule and a deadline to meet, the function of a prompt is questionable, at best, a waste of time, at worst. When Prompts Can Actually Be Useful Okay, so is there ever a time you can use a prompt? Am I going to be over here protesting the very thing like some grouchy old man who doesn’t know that clouds don’t have feelings? No, I think that prompts can be useful in a certain structure, which is how I use them when I do. I use them when I am out of ideas, or I simply don’t want to use any of the stories I currently have. I use the prompts as a way to change things up, to challenge myself, because my creative juices could use a shift. How I Personally Use Prompts The second thing I do, and I highly suggest this for anyone using prompts, is I create my own, so that the prompts are related to me, and they can go back to my own experiences, so that the observations I am making during the day are never far from the prompts themselves. The activity I made up was one that involved including a writing style from a famous author I knew, a genre (like poetry or whatever), and then a topic that I had already thought about before. I pick something from those, and then I have a prompt. Here is an example: I would have the author style be Shel Silverstein (who I know wrote nonsensical poems), the genre be flash fiction, and then the topic be something like technology. All those things I have thought about before, and know about, so I'm not going into the prompt completely lost. I am then writing about a flash fiction piece that is about technology and a little bit silly to the point of absurdity. The prompt relates to me, rather than whatever the site or magazine suggests. The Bottom Line on Prompts Prompts are a nice tool for writers to use when they want to challenge themselves, but as far as their usefulness in a writer’s overall development and attainment of goals, I don’t think they are great for that. If you are burned out from that book you are working on, and still want to write up something, then you can use a prompt, but I wouldn’t get too crazy with using prompts all the time. You want the ideas to really come from you more than anywhere else anyway.

A poem can confront the reader directly about whether the writing is worth their time. In “These Words,” Greg Luti gives permission to stop reading if the words fail to connect, urging readers to close the page, return the book, and walk away if it simply isn’t for them. Stop reading these words if they just don’t speak to you. If you feel nothing when you come across a phrase. If the words don’t jump off the page. If there is nothing living in these words. Stop reading them. Close out the page if they just don’t cut it for you. If there is nothing there that interests you. Nothing there that matters to you. Nothing you wish to read. Close the page. Return the book if it is not for you. If the book was not what you expected. Or what you wanted. And you don’t even want to finish it. Return the book. Because clearly I am not the writer for you. So go on and stop reading this. Give me back my words if they just don’t do it for you. Give me back my nouns and verbs. Give me back all the other words I use. Give me back the periods, too. They are not meant for you, so let me have them back. Because the words are not for you. So go on and stop reading them. Return my stories if they are just not for you. Give me back my character development. Give me back the plot twists. Give me back the dramatic endings. They are not meant for you, so let me have them back. Because my stories are not for you. So go on and stop reading them. You don’t want me around, and I don’t want you around. Let’s make this easy on both of us and just go our separate ways. I’ll forget about you, and you will pretend like I don’t exist. Because clearly I am not the writer for you. So go on and stop reading this.

A writing update often reveals how an author adjusts their process to match new goals. In “Refining the Routine,” Greg Luti shares how he is evolving his daily writing habits to support a twice-weekly newsletter, learning to balance patience with urgency and embracing the simple but powerful idea: “Take your time, but hurry up.” Refining the Routine I have been all about refining the routine of writing at this point. As I mentioned last time I wrote one of these updates, I am trying to write up enough on this blog to have a twice-a-week newsletter. I have grown with this blog a lot in half a year. I had to transfer the posts from my Patreon page, then I made a post per week, then I went to two posts a week, and then I even added more types of posts. I think I have hit a good area with the twice-a-week newsletter, one that I am comfortable with as a writer. I think that some would view this as a bit much, but I don’t really view it that way. My Current Writing Routine I like where I am with it all, honestly. I open up my laptop and then see what I have to actually write up for the blog posts. Depending on what needs to be done, that's what I write for the day. I say that direction in the books is always important, and I am starting to think that it can apply to everything. If you have a plan, then the course will be much easier to navigate. I am trying to put those words into action when I work. Transitioning to Twice-a-Week Newsletters I am still in the transition of putting up two newsletters a week, so I will see how that goes. See, I only started writing up enough of these posts so that I can then justify the newsletter being twice a week, so, as of this writing, I have not sent out a newsletter twice a week yet. Working on New Subscriber Emails Talking about the newsletter, I am working on getting something for new subscribers to receive when they subscribe, rather than only the editing workbook. I think a few emails that explain how things are around here may help the readers. I have not really thought about this too much, honestly. I wanted to do it, but then I decided that twice a week for the newsletter would be better, so I went with that as the focus instead of the welcome email. Expanding Book Updates and Short Stories I am definitely working on getting more book updates, which are about what books I am working on, and short stories, which are longer pieces I write, on this blog. I have learned that the short stories are tougher for me than the other pieces, like the poems or the flash fiction, because they require a little bit more out of me. I just can’t sit down and knock out an entire short story, unlike when I write a flash fiction or a poem. I have adjusted so that I can then write more short stories on this blog. The book updates are natural since they are just whatever it is I am working on with my books, and since there is always something there, it is not difficult for me to find something for you guys to read. Goodreads and Author Profile Challenges What is funny is how I recently attached this blog to my Goodreads page, but then I thought about something I heard recently; I think that Goodreads is all but dead. I mean, I am sure there are many who are interested in getting their book recommendations from Goodreads, but I remember at one point, Goodreads was a part of the conversation people were having. Somewhere along the line, Goodreads got lost in the public discourse. We know of it, but nobody seems all that interested in it. Heck, I am only on it because I am an author. Where did the readers go? I am not sure. I hear author newsletters, TikTok, and Instagram, but I would be lying if I told you I know where those that are no longer on Goodreads went. It took me a long time to even get Goodreads to update my author profile, since, for a while after school, I wrote under a pen name. I asked them if I could somehow transfer the reviews of the books to copies that have my actual name on them. They said no. Yeah, I didn’t think that would be a problem for me when I started writing under my actual name. I wrote books, and got reviews for those books, but those don’t go to me, actually. You really can’t make that up. Learning Amazon and Book Promotion I am trying to learn a little more about Amazon and how to get my books featured more on it, similar to how I learned about SEO. I am looking into book review services for my books, since I know that is the easiest way to get noticed. I plan on looking into Amazon and getting book reviews in the near future. Turning Pieces into Workbook Lessons When I am writing up my poems, or my flash fiction, or other pieces for the blog, I am trying to keep note of a lesson that can be taught from the piece to later use in a workbook for people. Sometimes the pieces have obvious lessons, sometimes they don’t have anything. I wouldn’t say I am really pushing for lessons to be taught in every piece, but if something jumps out at me as something I can teach, then I will use that later on. An example of this is when I used a story I knew in a story I wrote. I wrote a character mentioning a story. I saw after I wrote the piece that the idea is great for a lesson for readers and writers, on how to basically write a story when the characters refer to another story. Showing Instead of Telling As much as I like writing advice and creating my notebooks, I must say there is no substitute for convincing the reader that I know what I am doing than actually doing it. I am not really a fan of those who talk a good game but don’t have anything to show for it. I talk about writing stories, and then I have a few I can point to as proof that I am knowledgeable in that area. This feels like a post for one of my writing and editing advice pieces, so I will stop here before I go on a rant. Final Lesson: Take Your Time, But Hurry Up I will end this with a lesson or something you can take with you. Little steps over a long time amount to a great distance. I think that is what I am learning. Improve every day, and you will see whatever you are working on grow with you. I love to quote Nirvana with the line: Take your time, but hurry up. That is about right. You are not in a rush to get whatever you are doing done right away. The world will still be spinning if you don’t do everything now. But also, in the same vein, don’t just mess around and do nothing. You don’t have all day, and time is limited. Know when to take your time. Know when to hurry up. That seems to be the key to it all.

A flash fiction story can explore the tension between personal creation and public legacy. In “The Artist,” Greg Luti follows a pupil who completes a powerful artwork only to reject his teacher’s advice to share it publicly, arguing that true fulfillment comes from creating for oneself rather than seeking fame and remembrance. A pupil finished up his artwork as his teacher walked over to check on the student’s progress. “Wow. This is good.” The teacher noted. “I mean, this is really good. Too good.” He looked at his pupil, who stood by the painting. “You made this?” The pupil nodded. “People should see this.” He looked at his pupil. “I hope they remember you.” “I don’t wish to be remembered.” The pupil looked away from the teacher. “Legacies are for those who wish to sell their lives to history. I don’t want that. I came into this world unknown, and I wish to keep it that way.” “You don’t want people to talk about you?” The teacher backed away, taken aback by the answer. “To be a reference they bring up during conversation, a token of culture, a point for others to dissect. I don’t want that.” “You speak nonsense.” The teacher shook his head. “For how can we appreciate the art without knowing the artist?” “I don’t care if people ever like my art. I don’t care if they ever appreciate it. I make my art for me and me alone. That is all I wish to do. If the world wishes to remember me, it is because they wished for it to be that way, not me.” “So what happens when the artist becomes a point of reference, as you call it?” “He becomes a whore to the information whores in the world. Everyone takes what they want from his life to fit their needs. He becomes a very caricature of what it means to be a human. His life is no more his own, but the world’s.” The teacher stood silent for a second. “If you make art, you are to be remembered forever, but not as you wish, for the world will take what they want of your life and make it its own. If you don’t make art, then you are not doing what you were put on this Earth to do. An Achillean problem, if I ever saw it.” “Yeah, it is why I am hesitant to put my artwork into the gallery.” The pupil admitted. “Correct me if I'm wrong, but did Achilles not go into battle? If history is to remember you, it is because you were deemed worth remembering. People make your life their own because your life is greater than theirs. Sometimes life has other plans for people, and it is on them to recognize their destiny. Even Achilles could not outrun his fate.”

A common piece of writing advice is to read constantly in order to improve. In “Who Did Homer Read?,” Greg Luti challenges that idea by looking at Homer, the ancient poet credited with the Iliad and the Odyssey, who may never have read a book at all — yet still became one of the most influential writers in history by drawing stories directly from the world and oral traditions around him. The Common Advice: Read More There is a bit of writing advice that I do agree with, and I think, for the most part, many writers agree with it. The advice is something that is given so much to people to help them improve themselves, that it may not even be given only to writers. The advice is simple. If you want to be a better writer, you should read. I think I can speak for most writers when I say that is some good advice. To be a better writer, you should read. Why is that the case, though? Well, it increases your vocabulary, gives you new ideas, and helps you see what good writing is (assuming you are reading those worth reading). I guess we can change the advice slightly to read those who are great at writing to become a better writer, rather than reading any book you pick up off the street. Which I guess makes sense. You wouldn’t go to the local gym and then expect to learn how to play the sport by watching random dudes play. You would attend a professional match, and one where those who know what they are doing display their talent. If you want to improve your own ability in anything, learn from those who do that thing the best. How Reading Shapes My Writing I find that when I read certain books, my writing for a brief period of time mimics that style. I am not trying to write that way; it is only that style, that voice, that is still on my mind, so when I have a chance to record a few things, I will naturally take from something I recently read. Think of those who sound like Shakespeare after they read him. That is good to an extent, but I would argue the writer should find their own voice too. But Then There’s Homer That gets me to a question I have about reading and writing and the connection between the two. I just got over telling you how reading is beneficial for writers. It is better for everyone. Heck, if we wanted to make this society a better place, then we would all read a little bit more. There is no debate there. I am not even trying to come up with a witty way to make you rethink that idea, because I agree with it. But as long as I have been agreeing with that approach, there is a writer who defies that method and makes me question what I am even telling you. His name is Homer. You may have heard of him. He wrote two of the oldest stories from the ancient world. He is so old that people we say are ancient called him ancient. In fact, we know so little about the guy that we don’t even know if he even existed. Regardless of when you go into a bookstore, one name will always be in it: Homer. The man is considered the first great writer the world has had. The one name that influenced other writers over the years. We all know of the city of Troy, Achilles, the Trojan War, and Odysseus, and it is mostly because of Homer. He is the guy who kind of put it all together. Who Was Homer Really? The popular belief is that Homer was more of a compiler of the stories he heard other bards tell than a writer in the traditional sense. He learned of various stories and then put them down in one coherent tale. He didn’t really sit at a laptop writing up words, or have a quill pen ready to record his great verse. He knew of the stories and then gave them poetic flair with his own use of the language. The Big Contradiction You may have noticed something I didn’t say or include about Homer. And that is, he was a voracious reader, because we simply don’t know. Perhaps Homer walked around with books and read as much as a person studying for a law test. That could very well be the case, and that only proves the original advice I gave you. I do have a hard time telling you with a straight face that reading is the best thing you can do as a writer, and then when I look at Homer, I think, “What did that guy read? Where did he get his ideas from?” It is wrong for me not to at the very least address the obvious contradiction. Here I am telling you to read, and yet a writer better than most who ever lived may not have actually read. The Blind Poet To make the situation even more wild, there is a theory that this Homer fella was blind. Yeah, so one of the best writers ever did not read, could not see, and yet somehow created timeless works that are still studied to this day. I swear you can’t even make this stuff up sometimes. Perhaps there is a lesson we can take from Homer, and that is the story, the great tale, the epic you wish to write, is not as far away from you as you may think. It is all around you, and if it is not in your direct world, then there are echoes of it in those who walk among you and who you live with every day. Do you really think that Homer walked around and thought, “Boy, I just don’t know what to write.” No, he knew a very important part of writing is not the creation of the ideas, or the grasping of them through reading, but the recognition of the potential of a story in all the information he knew. And that is just what he did. So he took a little bit from here, a story of a myth from there, added a character trait here, and then what did he make? Something completely original but also very familiar. The Real Lesson from Homer So yes, you should read, and that should help you with your words, but don’t forget to be like Homer when he was putting together his stories, as he learned that stories are all around us; sometimes, you just need to know where to look.