Yesterday I wrote a draft of a post about hustling to build an author career – what that looks like depending on your skillsets and capacity, and what it looks like for me, your resident spoonie. I’ll still post it as I think it’s a useful conversation about the work that goes into trying to claw a career from this industry. BUT I also got a wee bit frustrated with myself for the element of ‘ugh publishing sucks’ creeping into my posts yet again. I mean, I’m not wrong, but also sometimes Eeyore needs to look at flowers, you know?
First though, writing update time: It’s been almost two months (oops!) since my last free post, and two weeks since my last paid one. In that time I’ve been beavering away at Quiet Walkers, which I talked about a wee bit here. It’s currently sitting at about 3/4 done, but had to be set aside for me to do a (hopefully) final pre-sub edit pass for Monstrous Theatre. Cue moodboard. And I’ve also just finished drafting a commissioned short story that I’ll hopefully be able to talk more about soon.
This isn’t really going to be a post with a specific premise about publishing or writing, it’s just going to be me looking for some nice things going on right now in my writerly bubble. And maybe some cat pics.
Good thing number 1: I’ve been really happy with my writing progress recently, given constraints from semi-regular events and my energy levels. Sometimes, when you’re jumping between writing and other things, or when the writing is a little bit of a strugglebus, it’s really easy to feel like you aren’t making much progress. But whether you tally your writing by time spent at the keyboard, or word counts, it can be really reassuring to look back at that scattered period of time and say huh, despite ALL THAT I wrote nearly 60k in two months, that’s not nothing.
Perhaps for you that might look more like – huh, I managed to sit at the keyboard 4 days a week all this month. Or – I wrote at least one sentence every day. Or – I finally figured out this goddamn plot. Or whatever. Actual volume is less important than remembering that cumulative work matters more than one-off good days, and you’re probably doing more, and working harder, than you give yourself credit for.
Good thing number 2: I keep seeing beautiful art online, like Lee Madgwick’s stuff , and Jocelin Carmes‘ too, whose pictures feel like story prompts each time. I mean look at these two:
[The Forbidden Lamp, Jocelin Carmes; The Marsh Gate, Lee Madgwick]
I keep reading beautiful books too, like The Shape Of Monsters by CL Hellisen, The Unicorn Hunters, by Katherine Arden, Nightshade and Oak by Molly O’Neill, Scratch Moss by David Barnett or The Women by Kristen Hannah. And music – I’ve been mainlining Kingfishr and Noah Kahan, First Aid Kit and Kate Rusby while I write this latest book and ugh they’re just delicious.
Having beautiful art at our fingertips is a precious thing. That sounds a bit obvious, and I feel like we do a lot of defending the need for art in These Times. But this isn’t about humanity’s intrinsic dependence on art, it’s about the fact that there are wonderful, talented people everywhere I look, bringing their creativity into my life and sparking my own creativity, feeding that part of me where my stories grow. No book is written in isolation, they are all a conversation with the art and the world around us, and I’m so glad I can nurture my stories on this Very Good Shit. I have an art images folder on my phone that I just scroll through sometimes and sigh happily.
Good thing number 3: Now then. Bear with me. There’s been A LOT (omg so much) discussion about The Odyssey film, and Emily Wilson’s critique of it. Some of that discussion has been frankly unhinged, but fortunately my wee online bubble has hung onto rationality for the most part! But it feels a little like the similarly, umm, energetic conversations around the Clarke Award shortlist this year when it was announced. I’m not going to express an opinion on that, as I’m on the list and it would be weird. BUT what that and the Nolan thing have reminded me, is that it is bloody marvellous actually to be in a community that cares this damn much about stories and storytelling.
One of the great things about the Clarke Award is that each year it generates conversation – about what it’s saying on the state of science fiction, what it’s getting wrong, what it’s getting right, and so on. It makes people read books they might otherwise not pick up, and explore their own reactions in new ways. Likewise, Nolan’s film has got people reading the book, thinking about changing societal standards, the borderlines of retelling and reinterpretation and failures of both.
We are surrounded by structures of media that want us not to care too much about anything. Not to engage too deeply with anything, because that will slow how much content we absorb. Doomscroll rather than read, multiscreen our tv viewing rather than focus, buy new fancy editions so we can make content about owning them, whilst never planning to read them. There’s a deeper corrosion to that, to do with political passivity, inaction and ease of manipulation. But this is a positive post goddamnit. So let’s just say, with a lot of engines trying to stop us caring, I love that I get to share a community with people who persist in caring deeply. About books and creators, storytelling and its future, and society and its future.
Good thing number 4: I still have not touched genAI in any form whatsoever. No, not even there. Or there. It’s not that hard, I promise. And although our politicians are woefully behind the curve on this one, it does feel like the societal tide has turned. No one wants it in schools, no one wants datacentres, and the publishing industry has the lowest sectoral uptake which is both not surprising, and nice to hear.
Good thing number 5: I promised cat pics. Have two cats and what is basically an aerial cat.
Good thing number 6: I have been writing now for 12 years, publishing short fiction for 11, and longer fiction for 5. I’ve drafted… (counts frantically)… 12 (nearly 13) novels & 2 novellas. And guess the hell what? I’ve got better in that time. I’ve learned so much and become so much braver with my writing. AND I have people in my corner who believe in me and are hustling the hustle on my behalf like absolute champions. Yes, as you’re all well aware (I apologise), I’ve been struggling through some publishing doldrums this last year, but my agent has remained impressively optimistic and determined throughout and editors have consistently wanted to work with me again. The again means a lot.
It is so hard to get a book written, harder again to edit it, a whole feat of superhuman endurance to sign with an agent, and just endless minefields and cliff edges to get, and keep being, published. If you’ve hit any one of those stages, you’re amazing. Whatever you’re doing, if you’ve hit failure and got back up again, you’re amazing. If you’ve honed your spite and stubbornness to a fine edge and refused to quit, I salute you. I have so many friends who are struggling with heavy challenges both in life and in writing, and their perseverance, skill and tenacious love of the work is genuinely inspiring to me. So here’s to all of you who are doing the thing, even when it feels hard.
Hark at that! I managed a whole post without getting sidetracked by publishing rants! I know many of you prefer the salty posts and I’m not going to lie, they’re cathartic for me too. So never fear, the Opinions shall return. But today we’re taking a moment to look for the good things, for our stupid mental health or whatever.
Thank you as always for your support. Because accessibility in publishing is important to me, I keep all my craft and publishing posts free, so any shares or tips are greatly appreciated. Wishing you a fabulous weekend.
