Hi friends,

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about the rhythms of energy we move through as creative people. Some days, it feels like the work drags us by the ankles and we’re just along for the ride. Other times, we’re standing on the edge of something electric—the kind of energy that makes us want to cancel plans, open a fresh document, and get it all down before it slips away.

The truth is, most of us try to manage our lives as if energy is a constant, as if we should have the same capacity, the same focus, the same ability to produce every day. But that’s not how it works. Energy is seasonal. It rises and falls, sometimes predictably, sometimes not at all. And one of the best skills we can cultivate is knowing how to work with those waves instead of against them.

This past week, I caught one of those waves. Out of nowhere, a new structure for my thesis arrived—something that felt truer, more aligned, and more workable than the idea I’d been carrying. I let myself follow it, even though it meant tossing out the plan I’d already made. Once I did, the stories poured out. I ended up reorganizing the entire book into a braided chronological timeline and wrote one-paragraph summaries for all twenty chapters in a single day. Since then, I’ve been averaging about 2,000 words a day—roughly a chapter each time I sit down. At the time of writing this, I already have five chapters drafted, which feels like a solid foothold going into what I know will be a heavy semester with three courses on my plate.

I’m not under any illusion that this pace will last. It won’t. But that’s the point. When energy shows up with this much clarity and enthusiasm, I don’t waste time trying to preserve it or make it sustainable. I ride it while it’s here. Because six weeks from now, when the semester hits its hardest point, I’ll be glad for the head start I gave myself.

So here’s what I’m learning in real time: capitalizing on energy isn’t about trying to force yourself into productivity when you’re tired or uninspired. It’s about respecting the surges when they come, and giving them as much space as you can. That might mean reshuffling your schedule. It might mean putting aside a different project. It might even mean scrapping a plan you thought you were committed to. But if you can trust the rhythm, the work that comes out of those seasons tends to carry you further than you expect.

A question for you: What would it look like to stop trying to “manage” your energy and instead collaborate with it? Where is your energy asking you to lean in right now?

What I’ve Been Up To This Week:

• No new submissions this week.
• One rejection from last week’s submission binge (to be expected!).
• LOTS of thesis work; organizing structure & stories.
• 5 thesis chapters written.
• Bought all my books for the semester.
• Started making inquires about the internship teaching writing for the spring.
• Sent out a few queries to test the waters.

Keep writing,

Jesse