Acknowledgments
By Yuvi Zalkow | August 30, 2021 |
I recently had to write the acknowledgments for my forthcoming novel. This caught me off guard because I hadn’t thought about writing acknowledgments, maybe because I’m superstitious about pondering over that part of the book until you have to write that part of the book. But the process was so interesting that I’m now thinking it’s a good idea to occasionally stop while working on any sizable creative project to acknowledge what allows you to do this crazy thing.
But don’t trust Writer Me, check out YouTuber Me, who captures more aspects on acknowledging and appreciating this writing space, along with the usual dose of self-mockery.
NOTE: No stick figure drawings were harmed in the making of this video.
So what about you? Are you able to stop and appreciate the act of creating something?
Yuvi Zalkow is the author of the novel I Only Cry with Emoticons (Red Hen, 2022) as well as A Brilliant Novel in the Works. His stories and essays have been published in Catapult, Narrative Magazine, Carve Magazine, Rosebud, The Los Angeles Review, and others. Yuvi received an MFA from Antioch University. He uses his poor drawing skills to make YouTube videos and mobile apps that ooze with his worries and anxiety.
Love this, Yuvi! Taking a step back,
examining that invisible line that pulls us to the end of the story and all those line handlers.
Well done — and you made me laugh this Monday morning.
I acknowledge YOU!
Thank you, Rose!
Ah, minty fresh message, Yuvi. And hilarious, as always. But also, as always, a wise message beats at the heart of it. I don’t know where I’d be without WU and so many of the folks I met here. But I doubt I’d be doing this thing that I love.
Regularly stopping to appreciate that fact, and those kind souls, seems like a very nurturing practice. Thank you, Yuvi; Thank you, Yuvi’s microphone; Yuvi’s wires…. [skips ahead, past Bender, to:] and thank you Yuvi’s wise mind and kind heart.
Always great to hear from you, Vaughn. And I always appreciate your thoughtful words…
Love the video and the spotlight on acknowledge mints . . . er, acknowledgements :o)
I also love the idea of keeping a list or log. From research to revisions, people and places can have a big influence on how our stories come together.
Thank you!
That’s really true, Rebecca. I think it connects to research and revisions for sure. Thanks!
A very humorous, humane, and human video, Yuvi. Acknowledged!
Thanks, Tom! Yeah, it took a few rounds of trying this topic until I felt like I could get the message and the humor into the same video… 😜
Such a zany sense of humour. I love it.
Thank you, Leanne! 😜
Thanks for acknowledging that there is so much more to thank, so many more people to thank, that the acknowledgement page really is rather useless, if in my writing journey I try to thank everyone who has been there for me during months, years, courses, outlines, workshops—it all gets so boring, like this sentence! (great post)
I like how in your comment you bumped into both things I struggled with in my video… both that there’s a boring aspect, but also that there is so much to thank and to appreciate… Thanks for the comment, Beth!
Loved this Yuvi. My first emotion upon waking is that of thankfulness so yeah, happy for this writing life. Several years ago, I started a page of acknowledgments for the novel that refuses to be be finished (or maybe I refuse to finish it, but why quibble) because I’m pretty sure I’m going to forget. Btw, I get acknowledging the pain too…because where would we be without it? In a weird way, it gave me the time and space I needed to just be, daydream.
Thanks for the comment, Vijaya! That’s really interesting for me to ponder what my first emotion is upon waking up. I’m not sure that mine is thankfulness… I think I need to sometimes stop and remind myself to be thankful. And then I can enter into this space of appreciation. (I also have a novel that refuses to be finished!) 😜
This was hilarious, but also a good reminder that we need to be thankful for all the people, and things, in our lives that impact our writing, even pain, which right now has stopped me in my tracks. No more to add to the comment while I go take some much needed pain reliever of the green kind.
Thanks for the words, Maryann! Hope you get some rest from the pain… Take care!