Saying Yes to Everything
Last weekend, I attended the Southern California Writers Conference in San Diego. I met many other writers, learned a ton from the workshops and classes I attended, and generally enjoyed a weekend away from it all in the company of like-minded individuals.
On the last night, an author spoke to us after we’d picked over a buffet of mostly room-temperature food (and the room temperature there was set to approximately 40 degrees). But we don’t go to these things for the food. He was a highly successful author, but I hadn’t heard of him because I typically don’t read in his genre. That didn’t matter, since his very engaging speech was about his writing journey and how he became so incredibly successful as a full-time author. The biggest takeaway from his talk was one thing—he said “yes” to every single opportunity that came his way. I found myself nodding as he spoke. He started out by saying yes to writing jobs, such as copyediting plant seed packets, writing Hallmark cards, writing in different genres, writing comics, and writing screenplays. Each time, he reiterated that his lack of experience didn’t stand in his way. He simply said yes and figured it out.
His words stayed with me as the evening wound down, and I returned to my hotel room (mostly to defrost myself). And I replayed them in my head as I drove the hour home the next day. I compared myself to him (thief of joy, I know), which is an odd comparison, but it was a fun mental exercise.
In general, I am a “yes” person. Any opportunity to market my debut (February 3!), any writing opportunity, paid or not, any person who seeks advice from me about writing or how to publish an essay, a short story, or a book, I am happy to share the knowledge I have. I have said yes to several writing groups where we share our work and critique each other's. And my “yeses” don’t stop there. I also work part-time as a physical therapist, so I say yes to as many patients as I can each week, yes to attending to my kids’ needs (because of course I do!), yes to keeping up with friends, yes to carpools, yes to making dinner every night, and probably yes to other things I haven’t remembered.
The other night, as I sat on the couch typing patient notes, my head bobbed with fatigue. Some days I’m sure I resemble a starfish with one little arm, or are they legs— poking into each area of my life— giving each part just a fraction of my attention. And reflecting on that author’s advice, I decided, maybe saying yes to absolutely everything isn’t the answer for me.
If I am to stay in this writing game, which I very much would like to, then pacing will be what I say yes to. Saying yes to things after I weigh them carefully. Of course, saying yes to anything concerning family is number one, saying yes to friends in need is a close second, and saying yes to an hour of exercise a day is important for my mental health. The rest I will have to figure out as I go along.
That said, my book releases in a little over a week, so I set up my first book signing on February 5th at 6 pm. If anyone lives in the vicinity of Pages, A Bookstore, in Manhattan Beach, CA, please stop by. I would love to see you. And Pages would love to sell you a book. Or two.
I am posting a link to the RSVP page.
https://pagesabookstore.com/event/2026-02-05/special-author-event-lindsey-goldstein
Otherwise, I started reading Half His Age because I was curious about the hype. Can’t say much about it yet. But it seems to be polarizing.
Watched Regretting You with my daughter last night, per her request, and I regret that time spent.
Until next time, which will likely be soon,
Lindsey
This made me think of how I don’t always agree with the whole “Let Them” thing - like sometimes maybe “Don’t Let Them.” 🤣 And yes to saying “no” to some writing opportunities that will drain energy you’d like to put elsewhere. Can’t wait for Gap Year