What made creative work work in 2023
And what didn't.
What Worked
Taking the pressure off. Off what? Depends. In the spring I needed to take the pressure off everything as I got my meds sorted out and emerged from a depression. Luckily I was able to take a sabbatical of sorts from my day job (nursing). Now, I’m ready to go back to work, and I’m looking forward to having something else to focus on t
o take the pressure off writing. Here’s a plug for nursing as a parallel career for creative people.
Indie booksellers. When you sign with a publisher, you get kind of excited about having your books in Barnes & Nobles around the country. But here’s what’s really awesome: hearing that your book is a “best seller” in your favorite indie store, or that it’s selling well in an indie store you’ve never even been to. Indie booksellers are worth their weight in gold. If they love your book and connect with you, they will be your best champion. (Shout out to Bluebird & Co. in Crozet, Virginia)
Teenagers. Hear me out. Those of you with younger kids, this is a message from your possible future. I am reaping the rewards of raising kids that are independent, know how to figure shit out, and respect creative work. It’s not all rainbows and unicorns, but it’s pretty freaking nice.
Driving. I turn on the adaptive cruise control and lane assist and don’t listen to anything and just drive on the highway until I get to the kind of receptive state where ideas come from. Then I use the voice memo function on my phone so I don’t forget.
Charlottesville has an honest-to-god Finnish sauna. It just opened in November. A real sauna-specific wood stove, lovely hosts, beautifully constructed, and right by the Rivanna River for the essential cold dip and moment in nature. It’s seriously almost as good as therapy and can be relied on to get me out of my head.
Having a great agent. Sometimes you need your agent to deliver the hard truth about the business (check) and sometimes you need them to be earthy and reassuring and drop the F-bomb a few times (check). You need them to know their shit and genuinely believe in your work (check, check). Thank you to Laura Bradford.
What Didn’t Work
Refusing to let go of a project that wasn’t working and writing through withering self-hatred. I don’t regret trying, and now I know better how to listen to myself, and that misery is an indicator to change course. And the project is on the shelf, not in the trash. But I do wish I’d called it a little sooner.
Being on the wrong meds. Your mental health is a really important piece of the creative toolbox. One could argue—and I think I will—that it is the box. Do people make great art in spite of deeply troubled states of mental health? Yes. But it sure as fuck doesn’t work for me. Not that I need to be all happy and mindful all the time. Life is life after all. But depression and creative work don’t go well for me. In fact, I think it’s part of why I got so stuck on my WIP (see Didn’t Work #1). Getting the meds right took a frustratingly long time, but it was worth it.
Pantsing. Okay. I said it. My beloved state of seat-of-the pants writing. Don't plan too much! Just write! Get in the flow! It’s okay to write a shitty first draft. All will be revealed by putting pen to paper. All those quotes like how writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. (Paraphrasing E.L. Doctorow) Yeah. Didn’t work out this time. I’m not saying it can’t, just that 2023 wasn’t a good year for pantsing, so I’m trying other methods now. Still trying to keep the preparatory work loose and creative though. If I over-engage my analytical mind it kind of kills the fun.
Most of the rest of the world. It can be hard to believe that creative work matters when the world is on fire. But it does.
What worked for you?
I’d love to hear what worked and didn’t work for you. What did you learn this year, and what will you be carrying forward into next year? Drop a note in the comments :) Happy almost New Year. May 2024 bring peace and prosperity.
What worked: revising, and re-revising, my short stories, and submitting them until they found good homes. Accepting that my process on novel #3 looks different from my process on past novels, and that's how it's going to be. Knowing that I will find my way eventually. Leaning into a new chapter that I've longed for but worried was irresponsible (looking at you, MFA). What didn't: trying to hold to an arbitrary timeframe for things that are beyond my control (like when/if my novels will get published).