The Loneliness of the Long Distance Writer

A quick hello + a reader's poll.

Photo by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash

Hi friend.

I have no idea what that subject line means. It just popped into my head. This year—what with the country being a heaping dumpster fire—I’ve just been going with the flow. Email subject line doesn’t make sense? Who cares? Nothing makes sense these days.

(Apologies, BTW, to Alan Sillitoe for butchering your story title.)

Anyway, hi! I hope you’re doing as well as can be given, you know, everything. I hope you’re healthy and safe and are taking time away from social media and maybe even making something. Personally, I’ve been doing a LOT of painting. I actually sold one! On a whim, I submitted one of my paintings to a members exhibit at a local gallery and it’s up now, hanging on their walls!

When I shared this piece of news in a Facebook writing group I’m in, one of my fellow writers reached out and asked if I had any other pieces for sale. I sent her some images, and she picked a 16x20 painting I’d done a few months back. My first baby went off to a new home!

Honestly, I never started painting thinking anyone would want—or would even see—my work. I did it because I love the act of creating something that doesn’t involve a screen. I love using paints and tools in unusual ways and coming up with something new—some unexpected color combination or unusual texture. I love thinking, what would happen if I do this? And then seeing the results.

And it’s interesting (albeit a tad infuriating) that I can’t seem to approach my writing this way. I kicked off this year with one goal: to do more creative work. To write short stories, maybe a novel. To go back to wiring personal essays. To loosen the restraints and get weird on the page. And yet, every time I sit down to write, I feel a mental wall build up. Any and all ideas evaporate and I just can’t do it.

So, my next step is to figure out how to use those “what if” tactics that work so well in my visual art in my writing. To try new things and not worry if it will work or who (if anyone) will see it or like it. I’m not there yet, but it’s a goal.

You? Any creative goals this year?

In the meantime…

I’m plugging away at this here publication. If you’ve read this far, you should know that I love love love Creative Reverberations so much. I’m so happy with the interviews I’ve done and the people I’ve had the honor to speak with.

What I’m struggling with is what to do beyond the interviews. I feel like I should be doing more, but I don’t know what. I’ve tried various things:

• Art & entertainment-related recommendations—sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly, and sometimes from my interview subjects—on things to read, watch, listen to, and do

• Monthly curated playlists and roundups tied back to that month’s interviews

• Key takeaways/lessons I’ve gleaned from interviews

• Bonus content from the archives—that is, older interviews I’ve done for other publications, published in full here…

Honestly, I don’t know how much, if any, of it resonates.

So, here’s a little poll for you. I’d LOVE to hear from you, Gorgeous Reader, about what you’d like to get from this little publication.

PLEASE take a moment to select one of the options below. And if you have any additional suggestions, feel free to reply to this email or reach me directly at sandra@sebejer.com.

I hope you had a chance to read last week’s interview with Oscar-nominated editor Michael Shawver. One of my other recent interviewees, cinematographer Nicholas Kraus, is also affiliated with an Oscar-nominated project. The Alabama Solution, which he shot, is up for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. And next week I’ll share my recent chat with Ruth E. Carter, who just became the most nominated Black woman in Oscar history. She’s up for an Academy Award for Costume Design for her work on Sinners.

That’s it for now. Thanks in advance for taking the poll, and thank you for reading! Have a great weekend!

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