Your Attention, Please
Also: are you marking those donation texts as junk? I am.
I am trying to make this newsletter helpful and valuable to the creative writing community specifically, and I want to start this one with a THANK YOU.
If you know me, you know I am terrible at accepting that people like me and my work. Thank you for reading, for engaging, for subscribing (!?), for PAYING for your subscription (!?!?).
It means the world to me, and then some.
My friend and fellow artist, evan austin, recently asked me a question I think every writer could benefit from answering:
How carefully/consciously and by what measures/needs do you make your decisions about narrator and tense?
My answer? iT dEpEnDs (ugh).
I decided early on as a writer to never adopt a disingenuous narrator. Unreliable, sure, but I don’t know who I’m writing as until I write it.
The voice, style, and tone are developed as I develop the early drafts. The narrator is a character that reveals themselves just like any other character.
I also take into consideration genre conventions and trends in the market. For Tilting Gravity, for instance, I chose a very “Brandon Sanderson-esque” voice because Skyward was a “pie in the sky” comp title at the time I was drafting.
As for tense (and POV)… Make your sacrifices to your creator(s) and hope it works out.
Personally, I’m a sucker for first-person, present tense and second-person, any tense but those are too experimental for the general commercial market right now.
What’s your answer?
NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION
My soul is wearied from the attention economy at the moment. Is yours?
Do you need to rest? I know I do.
Here are three restorative reads I recommend:
Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee
How To Break Up With Your Phone by Catherine Price
A NEW PROJECT OR TWELVE
I’ve been getting lost in research and ideas, and I’m considering beginning a romance author pen name because Jenn Storey as a brand (ugh) was made for readers ages 14+. Speaking of which, the zero draft of book two of the Eichon Series will be done by December 31. You heard it here first.
Here’s a hodgepodge of research topics that are mainly just ~vibes~ still, but might form into story-like objects, regardless of genre:
Troubadors
Occitania
Court jesters/entertainers
The history of the romance novel
Goose farming in the Middle Ages
Modern-day muses
All of the Grimm fairytales I can get my hands on
“Difficult women”
I have also had two exciting meetings recently! One with my book coach, who wants to help me develop a retelling project. The other with an author PR company I consulted with on Tilting Gravity’s launch.
These are real expenses that I have to pay for out of pocket as an indie author, by the way. And I share this only to share the reality of what being a career writer/author is actually like.
The truth of the matter is, I’m going to need help keeping my online life and brand alive if I’m going to start focusing on what I’m meant to be doing: writing stories about women finding their power and protecting books.
And, every single time I have invested in myself, I have seen returns.
THIRD (or sixth) TIME’S THE CHARM
Going back to school for a third (technically sixth if you count the two false starts and the post-baccalaureate certificate) time has me feeling more prepared than ever.
I’ve started to structure my day job (entrepreneur/freelancer) in ways that will support me through another 2-3 years of graduate school. I’m feeling optimistic and hopeful about my personal future.
It’s almost like I’ve done this before.
WHERE’S WALDO?
I’ve decided to put together an almost-Waldo costume for Halloween, which will be celebrated in Chicago this year with loved ones.
Finally.
Happy Halloween, witches, say hello to your relatives for me if it’s appropriate, brujas, and blessed All Saints’ Day, catholics.
Be safe, everyone. <3
⚠️SECRET PROJECT ALERT⚠️
I’ve been secretly fulfilling my dream of becoming a video game writer. A small team of friends, myself included, have created a visual novel, choice-based video game for kiddos and their adults.
We are Kickstarting the project October 31 with a playable demo!
…OK LOVE YOU BYE!