Hi everyone!
In this Issue:
“What are you working on now?”
Why serial monogamy might not be for me
News and events
SJW recommends
The Writers’ Lodge
“What are you working on now?”
Where writing is concerned, I’ve always been a serial monogamist. And reading for that matter, when it comes to books at least. I’ve always chosen a book and then read it, usually to the end, before choosing my next book. Just like I won’t abandon one part-read (usually — there are exceptions, and this is something I actually wish I found easier to do because I’ve ended up wading through a lot of rubbish through sheer bloody-mindedness), I won’t pick up and start reading a book until I’m done with the one before it. I know this isn’t the same for everyone; some people have several novels on the go at any one time, maybe in different genres, or they’ll be reading some non-fiction alongside their fiction. But generally speaking that’s not me. Choose a book, read it, choose another. That seems to be the way I go.1
That same approach has applied to my writing too. I work on a book, I finish it, I work on the next. Or, more or less, anyway. There’s always been a period of overlap towards the end of a project, when I’m just tidying things up, fixing things, and the exciting work is done. Then, quite often, a new project will come along and tap me on the shoulder. It’ll be dressed in shiny clothes and have a cheeky glint in its eye, promising me untold excitement. You don’t want to be working on that old thing, it will say. Come with me. We’ll have so much more fun. But I know what’s good for me. I promise this new idea that I’ll keep it in mind for when I’m done. I might even start a new notebook, or occasionally even create a document in Scrivener2. But otherwise I'm strong, I resist its allure. This beautiful new idea will just have to wait until I'm ready for it, which has always made it very easy to answer the question ‘What are you working on at the moment?’
Until now, that is. Due to a number of factors — some related to the Covid-19 pandemic, others more personal — the book I was hoping to finish last year stalled as it was coasting down the runway. This has happened before, but this time there wasn’t just one project tapping me on the shoulder and begging for my attention, but eight (and, though I’m prone to exaggeration, this time I’m being serious. Eight potential novel ideas had stacked up on the runway behind the one I was trying to get in the air). And what’s worse/better, depending on your point of view, was that at least two of them weren’t whispering seductively in my ear, but screaming. I began to hate the lumbering beast of a novel that was refusing to take off, because it was holding me back from looking at the shiny new things queuing up to follow it, so I had to make the difficult decision to take it out of action, at least temporarily. I cleared my desk.
Now, all I had to do was decide which story idea to focus on. Easy, right? Wrong. With a clear runway and more than one project to choose from, I found myself unable to pick. I began planning one, but the others complained so loudly I had to stop. I decided I’d begin planning two or three, fully expecting that at some point I’d find I’d lost interest in all but one. That didn’t happen. I found myself enjoying them all, and unable to abandon any of them.
This was a great situation to be in, but on another level it wasn’t helping. I needed to choose! I felt like I was staring at the menu in an amazing and ultra-exclusive restaurant; by choosing one of the mouthwatering dishes I’d have to reject the others, and it would be a long time before I would be sitting here again. So what to do?
Now, it so happened that one of the projects I was working on was leaning towards becoming a short-ish novella, so I rolled up my sleeves and began writing that, whilst ‘tinkering’ with the others. It went well but then, to make matters worse, the book I’d thought I’d abandoned sort of rumbled back to life, although (luckily) in a much different form which just so happened to dovetail neatly with another idea I’d had. I kicked that into the long grass, temporarily at least. I kept my head down, wrote the novella, then consulted friends. I asked them which of three ideas they thought I should go with next, but no one could agree. I decided I’d start two of them while I let the novella lie fallow before the edit, and see which one felt right. Luckily for me, this time one did take off, and I realised the other was a memoir that I needed to write purely for myself and which, therefore, I am taking very slowly. At around the same time though, an idea I’ve been thinking about for about 10 years now barged in through my front door and absolutely demanded to be heard.
Which is why, now, when asked ‘What are you working on a the moment?’ the only truthful answer I can come up with is, ‘I’m editing one book, while writing another, tinkering with a third and planning a fourth’.
Maybe serial monogamy isn’t for me, after all.
News and events
NEW! On Monday September 12th I’ll be in conversation with Conner Habib, at Waterstones in Brighton. We’ll be discussing psychological thrillers, books, writing and Conner’s fantastic book, Hawk Mountain. Full details, and tickets, here.
Just a reminder that I’ll be appearing at the Capital Crime Festival 2022, at Battersea Park in London. I’ll be on the panel “Hook, Line & Twist: Entering the warped minds of crime fiction’s ‘big idea’ authors”, along with Tim Weaver, Alice Feeney, Stuart Turton and Hervé Le Tellier. Take a look at the full schedule here.
SJW recommends
A psychological horror film is being shot at an isolated house deep in a forest. Former soap-star Adele Rafferty has stepped in to replace the original actress at the very last minute, but something isn’t quite right about the production. When the strange goings-on in the script start to happen on set too, Adele begins to fear that the real horror lies off the page…
The Writers’ Lodge
“Chock full of brilliant insight and advice. It’s things like this that help to keep the flame alight.”
Are you a writer? Do you want to write?
In the last few issues we’ve been looking at:
Getting to grips with plot and structure
How many acts does your story need?
How to get going when you’re not in the mood to write
Working with an agent
The Writers’ Lodge is a nurturing and supportive newsletter for anyone who is writing, or who is considering embarking on a writing project and wondering whether they have what it takes, or may even just be considering their first tentative steps into writing fiction.
How to sign up
I’ll be sending The Writer’s Lodge updates to all those with a paid subscription to this newsletter. I’ve kept the price affordable, so for less than a pound a week you’ll receive the updates and full access to the archive, plus you’ll be able to leave comments and be part of the growing community.
Happy reading/writing!
Although, writing this, it occurs to me I will sometimes dip in and out of a non-fiction book I’m reading for research, alongside the novel I’m reading for pleasure. But so far that’s pretty much been the only exception.
My writing software of choice. Other options exist…
Thanks, SJ - enjoyed this chapter. It put a lot of things into perspective and has given me permission to cross-pollenate different projects in the future. I've recently been paralysed by not know which genre is my natural fit, having written and published four novels with little in common. Need to get back to writing for pleasure alone. All the best to you :)