Writerly thoughts
Writing frustrates me.
Well, yes, I also happen to love it dearly and cannot function (or think) quite properly without it.
But writing frustrates me.
I cannot quite explain it in words. (Great, now writing is failing me too.)
But somehow, writing has become that one thing that both take up me to cloud nine and drop me down to a bottomless pit. It can bring me elation, excitement, joy, anxiety, purpose, fear and frustration – all at the same time.
I face this cacophony of emotions every day as I write for clients (as a copywriter). But the intensity seems to increase in volume – by deafening decibels – when I stare at the project that matters most to me: my novel.
Never have I understood Ernest Hemingway’s quote more than now:
“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
I do bleed, sir.
Sometimes I wonder if it’s partly because I’ve been writing short-form non-fiction for too long.
So to encourage myself to flex my creative writing muscles a bit more, I tried a couple of things:
a) I challenged myself to write an original short story every month.
Which I did for a few months. And then I kind of… stopped. I don’t know if it’s because I’m just not that into short stories. Or because I decided to put all my energy into writing a novel. Or just because I got distracted.
Now that I’m thinking about it, I might try to write another short story soon.
b) I also started a podcast.
The idea of a podcast had been brewing in me for years. But I never knew what to talk about. What would people want to listen to? More importantly, what would be interesting enough to keep myself working on it?
Finally, one night, a few months ago, while chatting with my husband as we cleared the kitchen and washed the dishes (as old married couples do), the lightbulb moment came.
And Stories of Yore was born.
A podcast on folktales, myths and legends from South East Asia and beyond.
And a project for me to get up close and personal with ancient stories that have stood the test of time, learn the art of storytelling, and put my writing skills to work.
The latest episode is about one of my favourite Chinese folktales: the legend of the Moon Goddess. If you’d like to have a listen, you can do so on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
How do you exercise your creative writing muscles?
Book talk
I have just finished Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, and I can’t wait to jump into its sequel, Crooked Kingdom.
I’ve put off reading this for ages. The hype surrounding this duology is huge, and I was convinced – and terrified – that I would be disappointed. (I know. I have this thing where I’m just reluctant to read hyped-up books for fear of disappointment.)
The fact that I didn’t quite love Shadow and Bone (I stopped at book one) didn’t help its case.
So Six of Crows sat in my Goodreads’ want-to-read list, and then in my to-be-read stack, for a long, long time.
But finally, I took a deep breath of steel and courage, and decided to read it.
And it was amazing!
The description of it being “Oceans 11 in a Game a Thrones world” is spot on. Such an exhilarating journey, in a complex but fascinating world, and with multi-layered characters that totally grew on me.
It’s even making me consider continuing the Shadow and Bone trilogy, just to go back to the Grishaverse.
Other bits and pieces
Shadow and Bone is also a Netflix series now. Have you watched it? I really want to, but am forcing myself to wait till I’ve finished Crooked Kingdom.
I came across this tool for writers, and I’m obsessed. It’s the Freewrite Traveler, a device dedicated to help writers draft without distraction (oh gosh, all that alliteration is making my heart sing!). But the price tag is, sadly, a major hurdle for me.
A big thank you to Hattie Crisell for recommending Toby Litt. I’ve been reading his Starting to Write course on his website, and it’s brilliant.