Finding the fun
Why we write
Hello writers,
Personal Note… (skip if you only want the writing workshop info)
Are you okay out there?
Like I said in a note a while back, the vibe on whether it’s a good idea to be a writer is a bit all over the show at the moment. It’s sort of a Best of Times, Worst of Times moment.
And my conclusion about this state of affairs (to quote myself) is this:
“you need to write, first and foremost, for yourself. You need to have fun in the creative practice so that you don’t lose your mind trying to write for a publication trend that could be gone before you’ve even submitted. You need to like (if not love) your story.”
Writing isn’t a little dopamine machine where you’re going to get a hit every time you publish a piece, or a book, or a story. A lot of the time you write the thing and it takes months or years of work to get it published. By this time, any dopamine you got from finishing the thing is probably long used up and so you might be inclined to forget all the joy you got out of writing it.
I know this first hand. Between 2022 and 2024, I wrote a collection of short stories about motherhood - some of it flash fiction, some of it literary fiction, some of it spec fic - and I finished it in like August 2024 before my second child was born. I got great feedback on the stories from two wonderful beta readers Maire Fisher and Megan Natasha Ross.
During that time (2022 and 2024) I didn’t (and maybe still don’t) have the head space, time or concentration to write a novel because my writing was constantly being interrupted by other people’s tears and poop. But before my second one was born, I had it in my head that the postpartum experience wouldn’t be as bad if I could spend some of my miniscule free time searching for agents and publishers to submit it to.
A bit mad, yes. But, I am generally that way.
This was partly true. It was good to have a reminder that I was not just a breast and comfort place, but also a human with a brain. It was good to send emails like a real human and say, hello, Jen is still here. I submitted and submitted, and then forgot about it.
Then I got a bunch of rejections, mostly totally generic, but a few with helpful feedback. Then some more rejections. Then some that were like, we like story A, what are you doing with that. Then some that said, this collection is all over the show. And so…
I felt a bit, shall we say, less motivated to keep submitting. I am a sucker and totally read all the articles about people who got agents when they are eleventy-one after eight thousand rejections and now they are happy. It’s like reading about lotto winners. It’s kind of nice, and it does restore some sort of faith that you might be next.
BUT, this only really works if I keep writing. As we joke in our household when it’s the week before payday and we contemplate buying lottery tickets, ‘You gotta be in it to win it!’
My options are this:
I just sit and look at my collection and don’t do anything with it and I don’t write other things, and I fill my mental worry hole with the idea that I’m a failure.
I rework my collection and keep submitting it.
I self-publish my collection.
I write something else.
My answer is always, do number 4. Even if you’re going to to 1 - 3. WRITE SOMETHING ELSE. Why?
BECAUSE IT IS FUN. It’s fun to make shit up. It’s fun to laugh at your own in jokes. It’s fun to describe people and research and eavesdrop. And if I only do 1 - 3, I risk forgetting this.
So, I’m writing. Are you?
This post is free to read but if you’d like to support my writing you can buy me a coffee, here.
Want to write something new?
May workshops
This May, the in person and online workshops are focussed on writing with the senses and through the seasons. Like Claire Keegan says, the job of writers is to paint mental pictures for the reader. Using sensory information to make your words come alive is a really powerful way to do that.
The details are as follows:
16 May: In person creative writing workshop, Newlands, Cape Town, 9 - 1. R500. Includes tea, coffee, and cake.
22 May: Online writing workshop, Zoom, 9 - 1. R400.
Come and join us to do the fun part of being a writer.
To book your spot, email jenthorpewrites@gmail.com
Want to work on your existing writing?
Close Readings
I have loved reading the pieces that were submitted to me in April for close reading. They were rich and varied and inspiring, and I felt thrilled to be reading them like I’d been sent secret treasures in the mail.
Thank you everyone who has submitted to me. If you’d like me to take a look at any of your writing, find out how that works, here.
Lunch time revision series
I’m offering a series of four revision workshops focussed on polishing up your writing, reading like an editor, and learning some tricks to make your writing clearer and stronger.
Details of those sessions and costs are here. The first one takes place on 28 May.
Hope to see and meet some of you this month!
Until next time,
Jen
Loved reading this. I can so relate!