I'm Angsty
It's time to write a new novel
I’m planning to start writing a new novel next week. I’m going to dive in with Your First Draft November on Chill Subs. This will be my fourth novel. I am querying my third, Threshold, a twisty tale about family secrets and inherited shame partially told by the front door of a family home. It asks questions about motherhood that I have been asking my whole life. I so proud of Threshold, it’s a book I’d want to read and I hope it finds a home.
AND, I am a writer and so I will keep writing whether Threshold finds a home or not.
The next story is champing at the bit to be written and I am feeling the now, well-known, discomfort when I go too long without being consumed by a novel. I start to get angsty and despondent, I wake up feeling gloomy. These are the warning signs that say, ‘get to work on something else, Susannah.’ At the end of it all, it’s always about the writing. Writing feeds me in a way I’m so deeply grateful for. I want to publish my novels, of course, and I hope to soon, and, I don’t think publishing them will feed me in the way the actual writing does.
Often when I’m starting out working with writers in my mentoring capacity, I get asked, what’s the most direct route to finishing this book/project etc? I get it, we live in a capitalist world that wants production, but that’s not what I’m about. I will always tell writers, 1) I don’t believe there is a quick route to write a book and 2) the joy is in the writing, how it moves you, how it changes you, how it forms you, you might find once you get started you don’t want the quickest route.
I know I’m doing a November novel writing challenge, but it isn’t about getting to the end quicker its about getting into the momentum of the work.
So, I’m off to enjoy Dia de Muertos here is Mexico (my favourite time of year) knowing that next Monday, I will be diving into another book. What a joy, what a privilege that I get to write in this lifetime.
Who’s joining me in starting something new this Monday?
Recommendations
A few things I’ve enjoyed recently…
Article: Have you ever wondered how decisions are made about which books are sold by independent bookstores? This article by Fisher the Bookseller about just that was fascinating and so insightful. I won’t look at a bookshop shelf in the same way again.
Writing Advice: I really enjoy reading what Shannan Mann has to say on Substack. I loved this piece on Unhinged Advice for Writers. Contrary to the title I think it’s pretty brilliant advice.
Poetry: Anyone else willing to hang on every word Michaela Coel ever writes? This poem and the performance of it makes me hope that Coel will be bringing something new into the world soon.
Album: I know everyone is saying it but Lily Allen’s new album is so good. We need more personal essays set to music I say.
Mentoring
“Susannah is a wonderfully warm and caring mentor and I would recommend working with her to any writer (or any person)! Thanks to our work together I am able to move forwards again where I had become stuck. With her insightful questions, which she always seems to ask in just the right moment, she illuminates the path forward into your work, as if handing you a lantern that helps you see clearly what just seconds before felt like an impossibly tangled mess. Work with her if you can! It will be transformative.” Emma V. Amsterdam
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I know what you mean, I have a story that's become longer than I originally thought. It really wants to get out, but there are these small slow scenes that need to happen and I feel like they are so hard to just sit down and write. I tend to distract myself with the things I'm putting up on here.
Looooove these reminders!
I also often tell myself what a privilege it is to create... and for me what a privilege it is to fail! The fact that so many don't get that opportunity becasue of many reasons, means I can let go of anything else but the joy and privilege of creating... and LAUREN! Is it really a failure if you do as you say and make the writing the best bit? 🧡🧡🧡