Fierce on the Page Community:
Love Thy List

The writing life is solitary in some ways, but like any endeavor that involves other people— colleagues, readers, publishers, editors—a significant source of potential happiness or unhappiness lies in the relationships you cultivate. Keep in touch with these people who matter to you. Make it clear that you value their interests, friendship, expertise, or whatever else. But even more important than telling them what you appreciate, tell yourself what you appreciate about the community you are cultivating as you hold those names and faces in your mind.

Why? Because when you love your list, it loves you back.

In chapter 56 of Fierce on the Page I talk about how my veterinarian blew it with his list—and what this taught me about appreciating my own.

How will you honor and cultivate the relationships you already have? How will you thank the people in your literary community for the value you are co-creating with them? What would they want to know about your work and your writing life? Who do you want to know better? Who do you intend to add to your database this year? How can you love your list a little every day? Let’s compare our best strategies right here.