I’ve listened to the first two in which she (and her guest Cheryl Strayed) advise a writer who is struggling with procrastination and feelings of guilt.
The writer worries that spending time and energy on her creative work takes something away from her children, which is definitely something I identify with… Elizabeth Gilbert and Cheryl Strayed are incredibly encouraging and wise, and I’m really looking forward to the rest.
I’ve also pre-ordered Gilbert’s new book – Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear.
Here’s the blurb:
Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now, this beloved author shares her wisdom and unique understanding of creativity, shattering the perceptions of mystery and suffering that surround the process – and showing us all just how easy it can be.
By sharing stories from her own life, as well as those from her friends and the people that have inspired her, Elizabeth Gilbert challenges us to embrace our curiosity, tackle what we most love and face down what we most fear.
Whether you long to write a book, create art, cope with challenges at work, embark on a long-held dream, or simply to make your everyday life more vivid and rewarding, Big Magic will take you on a journey of exploration filled with wonder and unexpected joys.
In this episode I chat to bestselling author of romantic comedy, Annie Lyons. Annie and I signed with Carina at around the same time and her debut novel, Not Quite Perfect, came out a month after mine. We got chatting online and have shared the highs and lows of being newly-published authors. Not Quite Perfect became a bestseller and Annie followed it with Dear Lizzie and a novella, A Not Quite Perfect Christmas. Annie’s new novel, Life Or Something Like It, is published next week (on 13th July).
We talk about pre-publication nerves, dealing with criticism, writing routines and Annie’s slightly unconventional route to publication.
I had a stinking cold when this interview was recorded, so please excuse my sniffing/coughing/snot-choked voice.
Annie Lyons was a delight to chat with, though; you guys are in for a treat.
Books recommended by Annie:
A Novel In A Year by Louise Doughty
On Writing by Stephen King
I give a small writing update and recommend using a planner or calendar to measure progress as ‘what gets measured gets done’. I use a Plannerisms Planner which you can see in action on my author blog.
Got a question about writing or creativity?
If you’ve got a writing-related question that you’d like featured on the show, please don’t hesitate to ask.
I’ll answer it on the show and credit you (unless, of course, you ask to remain anonymous).
Ann Patchett is one of my favourite writers. If she’s not one of yours, you probably haven’t read her, yet… She won the Orange Prize with the (astounding) Bel Canto, but all of her books are brilliant.
In last week’s C.L. Taylor interview, I mangled a quote from Ann Patchett and it inspired me to re-read the essay I had half-remembered.
It’s the best, most truthful description of the writing process that I have ever read.
Patchett spends months thinking about her novel before she starts writing. She doesn’t make notes or an outline, she figures things out in her mind and says that this is her favourite part of the process.
‘This book I haven not yet written one word of is a thing of undescribable beauty, unpredictable in its patterns, piercing in its colour, so wild and loyal in its nature that my love for this book, and my faith in it as I track its lazy flight, is the single perfect joy in my life…
When I can’t think of another stall, when putting it off has actually become more painful than doing it, I reach up and pluck the butterfly from the air. I take it from the region of my head and I press it down against my desk, and there, with my own hand, I kill it. It’s not that I want to kill it, but it’s the only way I can get something that is so three-dimensional onto the flat page. Just to make sure the job is done I stick it into place with a pin. Imagine running over a butterfly with an SUV. Everything that was beautiful about this living thing – all the colour, the light and movement – is gone. What I’m left with is the dry husk of my friend, the broken body chipped, dismantled, and poorly reassembled. Dead. That’s my book.’
The whole essay is wonderful. You can purchase it as a standalone:
What do you think? Does this description of the process ring true for you? Let me know if you have a different take (or favourite writing quote – I love a good writing quote!).
In this episode I chat with Cally Taylor about hopping genre, developing craft through short stories, getting the writing bug, and typing while walking on a treadmill.
Cally Taylor wrote two sparkling romantic comedies, Heaven Can Wait and Home For Christmas, before turning to dark psychological suspense under the name C.L. Taylor. The first of these, The Accident, was hugely successful, shooting up the Kindle charts and selling over 150,000 copies in the UK alone. Last year, Home For Christmas was made into a film by JumpStart Productions and, since this interview was recorded, Cally’s second thriller, The Lie, has shot up the bestseller charts.
Also, I mention that my debut novel, The Language of Spells is now available in paperback (meep!)
and I recommend a book I’ve been enjoying this week: The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer
Listener question:
This episode’s listener question comes from Maggie Jones – thanks, Maggie!
‘How ‘sucky’ can a book be when you send it in?!’
‘This question is definitely something I struggle with as I have very little confidence in my own work and never feel that something is good enough or even safely passed the ‘it sucks’ stage.
And therein lies the problem. We are probably not the best people to judge the suckiness or otherwise of our work.
Also, it’s worth remembering that ‘sucky’ is a subjective term. I think it might have been Jenny Crusie who said ‘your book is not a $100 bill, not everyone is going to like it’ and that is so true.
There may be published books that you don’t like, that other people love.
So, a book’s merit is a subjective thing. There is no opposite to ‘sucky’ which is ‘perfect’, only opinion on what is good or bad or fun to read or boring.
Once you’ve accepted that there isn’t an ideal you can achieve before sending your work out, you only have to ensure that it’s as good as you can make it.
Whether you’re sending your book to an agent, an editor or hitting ‘publish’ yourself to put it into the Amazon store, there are steps you can take to make sure that it’s ready.
Things like finishing it first, and rewriting it as much as you can stand to get it into the best possible shape. You can also get perspective through feedback from critique partners or by letting it rest before you edit for a final time. Four to six weeks is a good amount of time to leave it, so that when you come back to it you can see it anew. When I do this, I find I can detach my writer self from the reader, and I often find there are plenty of things I like – and have forgotten writing. It’s like magic. It also makes the dull or awkward or confusing parts glaringly obvious.
I hope that helps, Maggie. Thanks again for the great question.’
Got a question about writing or creativity?
If you’ve got a writing-related question that you’d like featured on the show, please don’t hesitate to ask.
I’ll answer it on the show and credit you (unless, of course, you ask to remain anonymous).
My guest today is Stephanie Burgis, award-winning author of short stories and novels that mix the genres of fantasy and historical.
I’ve know Stephanie online for a couple of years and I’m continually impressed by her productivity. No matter what is going on in her life, she seems to pull amazing word counts out of the bag with an astonishing regularity.
Stephanie is also a generous and supportive member of the writing community, and it was wonderful to get the opportunity to speak to her.
We talk about the importance of both discipline and kindness in staying productive, and Stephanie gives her top tips for making it through the long slog of a novel.
Recommendations from the podcast:
Stephanie mentions that the Clarion West Workshop was life-changing for her as a writer.
The wonderful short story that made me sob (available free to read on the Daily Science Fiction site): Dancing In The Dark
I share my recent difficulties with getting back to writing after a short break, and a technique for introducing a little kindness into the way you speak to yourself when struggling with writing (or anything, really!).
I also answer my first listener question (sent in by @evergrowinbrain – thank you!).
He wrote:
‘I do wonder if forcing words out ever becomes good stuff and if you keep tabs on which bits your write ‘under duress’ and which bits were easy.
Are 500 rubbish words still better than no words at all?
Or do they not count if they aren’t good?’
My experience, for what it’s worth, is that by the time I’ve finished the draft and let it rest, I can’t tell which words came easily and which did not.
I slogged my way through 50,000 words of a book once before deciding that life was too short to spend this amount of effort on something I hated. I put the book in the metaphorical bottom drawer. A year later I read it with surprise and pleasure. There was lots of good stuff in there.
So, to answer your question, I don’t think the quality of the words matter for two reasons. Firstly, you are too close to assess quality at the time; you need to finish the project and let it rest before you know.
Secondly, it’s all practice and you should count all of the words you write. You might end up deleting them, but that’s okay; sometimes it’s necessary to write the wrong words before you get to the right ones. And you should definitely get the credit for the work!
The only thing I would add is that if you are finding every single writing session a horrible slog, then it might be worth considering whether there is something wrong with the big picture. It might be that you’re trying to write a book for the wrong reasons, or that there’s something wrong with your plot or character motivation.
I do hope that answers your question, and thank you again for writing in.
If you have anything to add to my answer – or an alternative opinion – do let me know.
And if you’ve got a writing-related question that you’d like featured on the show, don’t hesitate to ask.
Please spread the word and, if you can spare the time, leave a review on iTunes.
