Do We Have Enough Kindling To Burn This Log?

🌀Welcome to the August 2026 edition of Spiral-Bound, a newsletter for writers.🌀

IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH KINDLING to burn the log, burn it.

If you don’t, then you have some options.

• You can use what you have to burn what you can.

• You can look for more kindling.

• You can find a smaller log.

• You can walk away.

This summer, I’ve been working with 150 memoir writers during my course Memoir Summer.

I call it a course, but really it’s an event. We’ve had the basic sessions, me lecturing from a Zoom stage. In addition, we’ve had co-working sessions, office hours, guest speakers, guest workshops, critique groups, and most importantly, writing time each week.

Part of the beauty of an affair like this is that these memoirists get to answer Seth Godin’s strategy question, Do you have enough kindling to burn this log?

For many, the answer is yes. I wanted to write this piece/essay/book, and I’m writing it. I have 2 pages now. I have 25 pages. I finished my first draft. I finished the last two chapters. I finally have the first two chapters. I was struggling with a structure, and I’ve found it. I’m writing but still struggling with structure.

Here’s an update from one writer, Beth:

I feel fantastic about my progress! I’m learning so much from you that I can’t hold it all in. I love that I can go back to the information you share. I look forward to years of pondering and putting your words into practice.

Here’s an update from another, Lisa:

I am so enjoying the class. You are a good teacher. And I appreciate your generosity and encouragement. Your kind words really stunned me and touched my heart. I wrote a lot last week and some this week.

And this one from Donna:

I use your class as a touchstone. To keep me going. I am determined to finish a manuscript if, for no other reason, to prove to myself I can do it. To finish what I've started.

Of course, those are the emails I love to read.

For some, however, the answer to Godin’s question is no. I had this idea. I thought I wanted to do it. I thought writing would be easier for me. Something came up. I got sick. My partner got a rough diagnosis. Summer is full of travel. The children are out of school.

For others, the answer is in between.

For example, Jennifer wrote:

I had to share that in the past three weeks, I've steadily written 25k words! I finally got into a structure and rhythm that is working for me, and I hope to have a 50+k (really rough) draft by the end of the class. The piece has taken on a momentum of its own, which I find is pulling me to write every day. After I got into this routine, though, I've had less energy to attend the extra meetings of the class. I don't fully understand what that is about, but it's interesting to learn how my writing muscle works.

Jennifer is saying that she has sufficient kindling to burn her memoir, but not enough for all the class sessions. She is using her kindling to write, which seems to me like a great decision. The goal, after all, is getting words on the page.

I propose Seth’s question because it’s an important one to keep asking ourselves, about many things.

Seth Godin, if you don’t know, is the entrepreneur and marketing guru who wrote This Is Marketing. Today’s question comes from his 2025 book, This Is Strategy.

Strategy is the big picture—what you do. In his words, strategy is the “long-term vision of the change you seek to make.”

Tactics are how you do it.

He means your resources, those of:

• time

• energy

• health

• creative ideas

• money

• space

• emotional stability

• love in your heart (!!!)

Let’s return the question to you.

I hope you are interested in studying writing with me this fall. I sure love to teach it. I love to see people working toward their dreams.

Registration is underway for my signature course, Magical Craft of Creative Nonfiction.

Please note: This is not a course geared for beginners.

This is the only cohort of Magical Craft I am teaching in 2026.

Most of my courses serve large numbers of writers and journalers, but the cohort for this fall’s course will be small. If you want a smaller group, consider it. We have six writers so far, and I’m expecting about twenty.

Therefore, if you have enough kindling for a semester of writing (a two-hour session one evening a week for twelve weeks),

come on in.

If you don’t have the kindling, join me in 2027.

Information can be found at my website.

More Info on Magical Craft

On my main Substack, Trackless Wild, I’m working on a new offer. A Course in Courage is taking shape and will be starting soon. It’s a correspondence course that will be sent to paying subscribers of Trackless Wild. All you need to do is become a paying subscriber at the monthly or yearly level.

Climb aboard the courage train!

Take Me to TRACKLESS WILD

Greetings, fellow writers and readers! Southern Literary Review has requests for reviews and would love to have your help connecting readers to good books by Southern authors. If you are interested in reading and reviewing a title, let me know, and I will connect you with a publicist or author. We are happy to have author interviews and/or book reviews.

Warm regards,

Donna Meredith

Editor, Southern Literary Review,

southernliteraryreview@comcast.net

Join Georgia Interfaith Power & Light (GIPL) on Saturday, August 15, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at White Bluff Presbyterian Church in Savannah for a regional summit.

This summit invites faith leaders and environmental activists to dig deep and let justice grow on Georgia’s coast. When we nurture a movement grounded in equity, resilience, and healing, we create space for transformation. Together, we will explore how the wisdom of our faith traditions shapes our call to pursue justice. We will consider how to live into this call through practical climate solutions and how policy efforts can support thriving communities.

We will be joined by keynote speaker, Janisse Ray, author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood.

Then, through a variety of workshops, attendees will gain tools to build and strengthen Green Teams, advance climate justice, and engage in advocacy from the ground up. Together, we will find practical ways to live out our shared call to care for our congregations, our communities, and our Common Home. (See website for more information about workshop offerings.)

General Admission is $25. Student tickets are $10. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. Tickets will NOT be available at the door, so make sure you register early!