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description=A few Notes on brevity and the joy of words.;
author=Debra Engle;

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small talk by debra engle a world of your own a world of your own subscribe sign in small talk a few notes on brevity and the joy of words debra engle may 06 2026 29 11 1 share a couple of weeks ago i was sitting on our porch swing thinking about what i want to share in my substack column in the coming months what could i do to freshen up my column to create something new and hopefully helpful a world of your own is a reader supported publication to receive new posts and support my work consider becoming a free or paid subscriber subscribe i d just written a column about downsizing my office so the word decluttering came to mind and then these words floated in as i find more peace in my inner home i need less and less in my material one huh i opened up canva created a little meme with those few words fiddled with the type fonts and thought well that was fun then i thought of other words healing peace inpowerment a word my guides gave me a year and a half ago right after the presidential election i sat on that porch swing for a couple of hours fiddling and playing with single words and definitions and now i can t seem to stop it feels like a kind of word game think of a single word and listen for the rest i ve always loved moving words around bring in a new one back off on another shuffle them around find a more robust verb read them out loud hear them as music sculpt them into something beautiful or arresting today for instance i was working with one of my writing mentees she had about 770 words in a piece she wants to read in the memoir class i m teaching and we needed to bring it down to about 500 so we went through it together sentence by sentence word by word taking out anything extraneous tightening everything that could be tightened it was like giving the piece better posture and a tailored suit she learned a lot and i had fun sharing the pleasure of editing it makes me think of the years i spent happily copyediting and copy fitting magazine articles which also felt like a game to me how do you take a five inch story and turn it into a three inch story how do you keep the heart of it while letting everything else fall away how do you get rid of a widow or orphan typesetting language for a single word that appears on a line by itself at the end of a paragraph or top of a page it was some of the best writing training i could have had and now these little memes feel like an extension of that our attention is such a rare commodity these days we re all moving quickly scrolling quickly thinking quickly if people are generous enough to give me their attention for even a few seconds i want to make those seconds count so if you bump into these little notes in your substack feed you ll know where they came from somewhere between a porch swing a lifetime of loving words and the joy of saying just enough and if you feel called to click on the little heart below them please do maybe heart will have a meme of its own one of these days blessings deb subscribe from readers to writers i got to spend last saturday with the lovely people pictured here writers friends and fellow summiteers which is what we call our story summit community we gathered at the dsm book festival in des moines for a panel on something we have all personally experienced making the leap from reader to writer there s something special about being in a space like that surrounded by people who love books and are starting to hear that quiet voice maybe i have something to say too the festival was held in the neighborhood where i grew up hosted by an independent bookstore called beaverdale books when a petite and soft spoken dynamo named alice meyer first opened the store it was at a time when independent bookstores and even the big chains were closing their doors but she had a different vision support local authors build community create a place where stories could live and breathe and she s done exactly that the store isn t just surviving it s expanding in fact they just doubled their space it has become a true community pillar which is an important reminder wherever you are support your local bookstore support your library these places matter more than ever as for our panel we talked about what it really means to become a writer and one of the most important things we shared is this being a writer is so much bigger than writing a book or a screenplay it might be a substack column a podcast a memoir your family s stories written down so they re not lost it s about giving form to something inside you that wants to be expressed of course we also talked about rejection because every one of us has experienced it more than once probably more times than we can count but the writers who keep going the ones who stay curious and open those are the ones who build a life in writing there s no single path from reader to writer but there is a moment when something shifts when reading is no longer enough and you feel the desire to step into the story yourself if you ve felt that you re already on your way and if you d like support please let me know story summit writer s school will help you find your path and if you re looking for more writing and spiritual support the book is available here for pre order i can t wait to introduce it to you october 13 a world of your own is a reader supported publication to receive new posts and support my work please consider becoming a paid subscriber upgrade to paid a note to my readers i write a world of your own as a member of the iowa writers collaborative which is led by julie gammack of des moines i m honored to be part of this group featuring the diverse voices of more than 70 professional writers and journalists across the state of iowa i encourage you to check out their columns a world of your own is a reader supported publication to receive new posts and support my work consider becoming a free or paid subscriber subscribe 29 11 1 share previous next discussion about this post comments restacks mary st onge may 6 liked by debra engle what a genius idea thank you for sharing i plan to add this to my meditations and i look forward to reading your book you are such an inspiration reply share 1 reply by debra engle rosemary donnelly may 8 this the joy of saying just enough so i won t say any more except thank you reply share 1 reply by debra engle 9 more comments top latest discussions no posts ready for more subscribe 2026 debra engle privacy terms collection notice start your substack get the app substack is the home for great culture this site requires javascript to run correctly please turn on javascript or unblock scripts