Sunflowers, prisons, and silly dancing 🌻💃

What most people get wrong about writing a book is the idea that every book has to be a massive book, and it doesn’t.

It can be a MicroBook.

The traditional publishing industry has decreed that there are conventions for how long a book needs to be, depending on genre and topic and blah blah blah but actually a book can be however long you want it to be.

It doesn’t have to be any particular length.

I love the idea of a MicroBook because of that.

Under 100 pages, maybe 15k to 25,000 words.

That’s it.

Pretty freeing, right? Much less daunting than having to write 80,000 or 100,000 words?

You don’t need to write the next Great Gatsby to have something valuable to say.

Sometimes the most powerful messages come in the smallest packages.

Thinking you might want to write your own book?

Start here, with How the hell do you write a book, which is the (Macro)Book I wrote and wish I’d had when I first started out as an author.

Buy it here.

p.s. To be fair, The Great Gatsby is only about 47K words and look how important that is!

Okay. Time for the Friday Goodie Bag! Here’s what I’ve found for you…

These glorious sunflowers half an hour’s walk from my home

Aren’t these the most beautiful thing? Look at their happy faces. The sun. The clouds. The golden hour joy. Please go outside at least once a day and notice things. Find something interesting, perhaps just the way a raindrop hangs from a rosehip, or dew on a spiderweb, or the disgusted expression on the face of the neighbourhood cat boss.

An absolutely stunning image of a field of sunflowers glowing in the early evening golden hour sunshine. Above is a clear blue sky, the odd fluffy cloud. On the horizon are dark clouds with a golden sun lighting them from above. It looks like a heaven.

This newsfeed eradicator

This comes with a caution because apparently if we use it, it might result in a ban from LinkedIn… But this Chrome plugin will remove the newsfeed from various social media platforms (you can choose which). If you, like me, get sucked into doomscrolling and then feel sad and hopeless, perhaps this might help. Or get you a permaban, which might help even more…

If you don’t want to risk a ban, try this instead: make your notifications or your profile your main social page, so you can do what you need to do — post or comment or whatever — then duck out. Set a timer. Don’t go beyond your timer.

These Scottish prisons changing outcomes for kids

There’s a new scheme helping dads who are in prison bond with their children — taking visiting time out of the visiting room and into the playground, including sharing meals with their family. It’s an 8-week programme that covers positive parenting, raising healthy kids, and general playtime. Read about it here.

Louis Grenier’s great book Stand the Fck Out

I’ve just finished reading Louis’ book and it’s like a full marketing programme in book format. Plus it’s a really great read. I’ve sticky-noted all the action points and I’m working my way through it, treating it like the in-depth course it is. Get yourself a copy and get onto Louis’ email list. He’s a treasure.

This unexpected silliness from Avant Gardey

Avant Gardey is one of my favourite dance troupes and this snippet of silliness caught my eye. Always be unexpected if you possibly can. Give your audience a surprise. And maybe a chortle.

What I’m reading

I’m currently reading An African History of Africa by Zeinab Badawi and boy oh boy is it an ambitious project — the entire history of Africa in one volume? PHEW. It is, in places, a little bit “this happened then this happened” and I would LOVE to see more of Badawi’s story and storytelling in there — however, the scope is magnificent and it’s absolutely fascinating.

What I’m writing

Putting the finishing touches to my latest zine. And also doing a little journalling project: every day in September I’m writing out a quote and sketching an illustration to go with it. So far it’s causing me great delight.

Quote in large letters above: “You are the one that you are looking for.” Audre Lorde. Below, a cartoon of binoculars with giant brown eyed eyeballs.

Word of the week

skosh

Meaning: a tad, a smidgen, a very small amount. From the Japanese sukoshi, pronounced “skoh shee.”

US servicemen stationed in Japan during WW2 shortened the Japanese word to “skosh” and later used it as a nickname for the smaller soldiers among them.

Quote of the week

“We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand, and it is no good moving from place to place to save things; because the shadow always follows. Choose a place where you won’t do very much harm — yes, choose a place where you won’t do very much harm, and stand in it for all you are worth, facing the sunshine.” — E. M. Forster, A Room with a View

Have a most splendid weekend. Slow down, and make things.

And if you’d like to experience my magic, MicroBook Magic Season 7 begins on October 20. You can get on the waiting list here.

Write your book!

p.s. Know someone who might enjoy my week-daily emails? Please get them to sign up here.

How to work with The MicroBook Magician

MicroBook Magic: Write your MicroBook in just 8 weeks — book for October 2025

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Book Coach In Your Pocket: Let’s see how much you can get done in just 30 days

VIP Book Breakthrough Day: Make a quantum leap in book progress in just one day (or two half-days)

Nonfiction Book Ghostwriting: Idea to book in just 20 weeks

Buy My Book: How the hell do you write a book?