We should talk about overthinking ...

I suspect I am like many other writers, sweating a lot about what publishers are thinking and doing with my submissions, or what is happening in the great abyss that a contracted work falls in to before it emerges many months later as a published book. We tend to be overthinkers. It comes with the territory. Honestly when your job centres on extensive brain noodling to create meaningful, believable and rational plots and characters, it is hard to shuck off this intensive thinking. We start to apply it to EVERYTHING. We are gap fillers, using our empathic skills to scrutinse and prognosticate on what others are thinking and feeling, about us and our work. We follow trains of thought into tunnels and out the other side. We stop at the most unexpected stations, and sometimes we get out where we shouldn't.

If we write full time it means we have more of this overthinking time. We don't want to be obsessed about how long that submission is taking and what it might mean. We don't really want to imagine all the possible implications of that long silence following our enquiry. We're just made that way. That's why we're writers. Its a pretty rubbish side effect of the job. You can suggest 'keeping busy' all you like but keeping busy for a writer just means more thinking time. Daydreaming, considering, wondering,  obessessing, crying into our coffee ....

And then you add in social media. And as a writer it can be a useful tool in the drive to raise one's profile, broaden visibility, and help with branding  and book sales. People tell you to avoid it, or spend less time on it, and sure it can be a vast rabbit hole that has all the qualities of a gravity well. But it's not the time wasting concerns that do my head in. Its the fact that if you join the writing community on any/many platforms (because that is what writers do), it is a constant reminder of the achievements and successes of others. Have enough followers/friends and you can sprint from grateful, excited post to grateful, excited post about book launches, festival invitations, award wins, film deals and bestselling statuses which only serves as a contrast to your own current stalled position in the wilderness. Of course the relentless positivity is not some skewing of an overabundance of good things happening to everyone else except you, its just a normal pattern of people mostly sharing the good news and keeping mostly schtum about the crap things, or an absence of tweets about an absence of progress in their careers, or whatever. Be part of a big enough group of mostly writers and the normal occurence of good news can't help but look top heavy It just seems like everything is happening to everyone else except you, but its not true. It's an artificial effect.

Of course when you combine the two - overthinking and everyone else is clearly doing way better than me - it can become downright unhealthy. So what to do to maintain sanity?


1 - buy some jigsaws/books of sudoku/code crackers. A most excellent way to keep the brain too busy for random thoughts. If you need to switch off, do some puzzles. Reading is great, and important for writers, but you need to find things unrelated to writing to truly switch off.
2 - make sure you follow people on twitter/facebook/instagram who aren't writers to get some balance. I recommend squidthegriff on instagram and endless screaming (@infinite_scream) and @JamesBlunt on twitter.
3 - remember none of it is real. It is our minds working over time and the false evidence of social media. (however, should your worst prognostications turn out to be true remember a) most of your prognostications weren't, and b) confirmation can be liberating, allowing you to process it and move on)
4 - have a strategy for when you feel yourself slipping down the slide of obsessiveness. This strategy might include knitting or baking, exercise, and looking at cat pics/videos. Telling a writer friend can help but can also intensify the obsessiveness - have a list of people you can approach who will listen carefully, give you a wee slap and provide a rational explanation for whatever thought process you are having.

Hmm - I'll keep thinking on this. I think the list of helpful tips should be longer so I'll be trying to add to it in the coming days.

Excuse me while I do the limbo...

This year is a year without a book. I have a small project which will be out in print next month and I have been writing, mostly on the novel which I began while at the Pah Homestead, but this has been a fallow year. Sitting on the sideline watching the book world move forward without me. Excuse me while I do the limbo.

After the hurly burly of the last few years this feels strange. But I am no stranger to strange. Much of the first half of the year was spent at the Pah Homestead. Several months ago my focus was on preparation for our big overseas trip and then we embarked on the trip itself, which was awesome and monumental, both literally and figuratively. And then we returned and the remainder of the year fell into a kind of limbo with few fixed dates. The most excellent NZ Book Week (in the last week of October) and the wonderful and full of warm fuzzies NZ Bookshop day (on Halloween!!) was a most welcome departure from this. Huge thanks to the NZSA for rescuing this incredibly important event, and to the two bookshops (Time Out Bookstore in Mt Eden and the Dorothy Butler Children's Bookshop in Ponsonby) who invited me along on the 31st to share in their celebrations. It was a day of mutual love and respect between booksellers, writers and illustrators, and readers, and every one felt very wanted by the end of the day. I have everything crossed and knotted that this becomes an annual arrangement.

But the rest of the time... well ... I'm mostly still in limbo. It feels like being in one of those flotation chambers where you have no choice but to be introspective. I've been navel gazing and reading posts and articles on the social media platforms I'm signed up to which can be a very dangerous occupation. And trying to fathom twitter which is a deep well of weirdness. Whether Essena O'Neill's reasons for quitting social media were honest or not she's right about sites like facebook, twitter and tumblr being a heavily filtered version of reality. Even if photos and comments are raw and genuine, folk still curate their images and words carefully to show the side of themselves they are willing to reveal. And people have agendas. Twitter, while it still feels like learning a foreign language, is a perfect example of an agenda driven medium. All sorts of strangers have started following me and I know it's not because of my phenomenal wit and stunning beauty (ahem - cough) as clearly neither of these are on display on the platform (cough, cough). For some, it's because they hope to sell me something at some point, whether it's their services or their books. I am allergic to direct selling, preferring to find my books by way of good writing and discovering an author is really cool and has interesting things to say, which seems to be a novel way of doing things these days. And I always (where possible) try and buy my required services locally. And yet twitter  is so interesting. Social media has multiple means of luring you in and turning you into an internet zombie ... anyways, as always, I have digressed.  

So, while I wander the labyrinth of social media like a modern day  Ulysses without a ball of string wondering whether I mind being lost or not, 2016 looms... looking mostly like a blank canvas. The thought of a new year is always a mixture of dread and giddy anticipation. So many possibilities, so much free time.

I do have a picture book scheduled for release next June. Yay!! Fuzzy Doodle. Illustrated by the marvelous Donovan Bixley and published by Scholastic. I don't have any pics to share yet and I am feeling a little coy about revealing any part of the story. Soz. But soon folks ... soon you can have a wee peek...

So, one key event for 2016, and the rest has still been feeling like a yawning chasm of nothing. An emptiness...

I booked a few things to give myself the illusion of busy and/ or important. Tickets for my SO and I to see The Tempest at the Pop Up Globe Theatre in March. And a follow up specialist's appointment in October. Woohoo! But after the schedules of the last few years things were still looking a leedle bit barren. Don't worry, my SO said, things will crop up. That's pretty much always been my philosophy too. Stay connected and involved. Keep writing - cos that's what I like to do. And have faith that things will arrive to pepper the calendar with busy and/or important. And fun!

And you know what? It's already started happening...

Things everyone should know (in no particular order)...

Committing to be a writer is a bit like starting a family - you don't appreciate the hard work involved until it is too late to turn back. The good thing with both is that the hard work is worth it and not so much like hard work if you are enjoying yourself. Of course there are times when it is just hard work and nothing else and you think the stress of the job may kill you. But, like countless other parents/writers before you, it doesn't kill you and you get some happy, shiny, smiley moments which make up for the cold-sweat, heart-in-mouth moments. Even though its hard work I'd rather be writing (and parenting) than anything else. Good times.

My most recent writery task has been helping the publisher put a map together for the new book. I have been poring over maps and cross checking historical place names and plotting locations and agonising over whether it should be Uzbekhistan, Uzbekhskaya or Uzbekh SSR in 1939. My advice to you dear reader is to never write about a real place during the first 50 years of the 20th century in Central Europe. Write about a fantasy place - the map will be a lot easier.

I have been thinking some more on social media. A while back I lamented that social media was not the automatic fountain of popularity, fame/notoriety and sales success that some would have us believe (you can buy that instead for 29.99 in three glorious colours at The Warehouse). Getting noticed by anybody is really one of the greatest challenges for writers and illustrators everywhere. Social media isn't a magic bullet. And it can be a big time suck. But better to have a presence than not I think. Social media is everywhere and millions of people use it, yet it is still a small percentage of all of those attempting to get noticed that actually succeed. Yet I want to be there if someone wants to find me, or mine is exactly the kind of book they are looking for. I thought I would share some of my observations as part of the social media audience (a consumer rather than a producer) on what I think works/helps.

1) don't try too hard. Relax. If you are a writer you are most likely a reader as well. Appeal to the reader in yourself. And do it because you want to.
2) don't hard sell. If you do nothing but try and sell your product I will go elsewhere to find something interesting/entertaining/unique. If I like you because you are interesting/entertaining/unique I might buy your product. Your blog, goodreads profile, facebook fan page should be about you and your books and your journey and stuff like that, not just a shop front or quest for more 'likes'. Create an enticing environment that your audience will voluntarily 'choose' to like
3) don't tell me you are the next big thing - I like to decide these things for myself.
4) I like substance. If your social media is glittery and flashy with bells and whistles but little actual content I will go somewhere that has substance. Of course some audiences love the glitter, and the bells and whistles and if this is your target market, your investment was worth it. Therefore it pays to know something about your audience. Mine seems to be the fringe with little disposable income but I can't help but keep writing for them.
5) If you are not writing new material I will drift away and find someone who is writing. Promotion is not an end in itself (unless your job is as a promoter). Make some product too
6) everyone loves the chance to win free stuff. Give some product away
7) don't despair if you work your fingers to the bone and you don't make many sales. Keep making your social media forays a reflection of who you are as a person and a writer. This is a long game. I am now finding that my long game approach is paying unexpected dividends.

My daughters recently had an experience that kind of proved all of this. One of them in particular is an ardent fan of and shopper at a particular online American vintage clothing shop - The Cobrasnake. The shop owner is a noted photographer in the LA indie fashion scene. Whenever she receives a parcel from this shop my daughter tweets and facebooks her delight in her purchases. The shop owner came to NZ for fashion week and my girls went to the pop up Cobrasnake shop sale yesterday. Without them saying a thing the shop owner recognised my girls, addressed them by name and took photos with them. Needless to say, they were thrilled. The good fortune was in him coming to Auckland and being there at the shop in person. But what happened was the luck my daughter had created. Its a long game and you never know how its all going to come together. Share your highs, lows, triumphs and disasters, talk about the things you love most and you may find the world (and some very interesting people in it) take an interest.

And here is some entertaining and edumacating advice from writer Maggie Steifvater. Things everyone should know in no particular order (and I think vinegar can be used to keep dried up felt pens/markers going a little longer - vinegar certainly seems to be multi-talented).

Salesman was not part of the job description...

Recently I posted a link to an article that appeared in the Guardian that sought to debunk the suggested benefits of social media for raising your profile and selling your books. All very interesting stuff and there has been plenty of debate on this topic across the intramaweb - Ms Crisp has some links to the debate at her blog here. I like this comment by frequent blogger, and writer Nicola Morgan which kind of touches on some of the issues here. Like it or not social media is here now (and staying forever I reckon) and is a part of the authors promotional arsenal. I am reasonably active on social media, but the bottom line is I must write the material that forms the foundations of my writing career first. Then do what I feel comfortable doing to promote myself and my books. I like a mixture of social media and personal appearances. Social media is less effective in the children's market I think. Picture book and junior novel buyers aren't hanging around on the internet, they are chasing after the readers or are a little too young to be trawling blogs and facebook looking for authors. Teachers and librarians do use social media but its also brilliant to go meet them in person. It is different for teens but I think they drive the connection more than the authors do. I could probably do more to promote myself and my books but there is a corresponding rise in my feelings of awkwardness, embarrassment and discomfort if I try. There is a tipping point and I aim for just this side of it. I am always looking for ways to work smarter not harder, with a lower embarrassment/discomfort quotient. These are the things I will do - but it is always a love of books and the written word that will dominate my approach. I do want my books to sell. I understand the direct correlation between sales and continuing interest from publishers but there must also be some understanding of the underlying truth that I am a writer and not a salesperson/social dynamo. If a lack of sales skills was the factor that stymied my writing career, I don't think its me that needs to change.

In other news: I pounded the keyboards and finally got to the end. There are still more edity bits to go but hopefully nothing too major. Now it is finessing all the twiddly bits like a glossary and a note on pronunciation and a map and acknowledgements and things like that. After living, eating, breathing this story day in and day out for so long, I am finding the current phase fairly weird. Part of me has a distinct urge to go write another book straight away. I REALLY want to. But realistically I have other things that need doing. Things that I have pushed further and further down the to-do list because they are hard and tricky and less pleasant. Sometimes you have to go there and that sometime is now. Wish me luck