My Three Golden Rules

about writing, not just generally.

IN BRIEF:

1. Welcome back after my summer hiatus. I hope you enjoyed the snippets of works in progress I’ve been sharing the past couple of weeks.

2. This week I was on Talk Radio Europe’s Book Show, talking Parallels, as well as bit about my writing more generally¹. Don’t have a specific link for the episode yet, but it will be available and I’ll share when I do, or if you’re reading this more or less straight away, you can use their 7-day-catch-up feature (it was the 31/07 at 7pm CET) - I was on last².

3. We’re just eight weeks from the publication of my novella It’s Hard to Tell You This. This is the one for all you Playtime’s Over fans. Pre-order it now!

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ON WRITING:

Well, I took time out to figure where I was going, and I’m pleased to report that I still have no idea where I’m going. Such is life.

I am, perhaps, a little more chill about it though. I don’t have a plan, but I do have a rough timescale in my head, things I want to achieve by certain points, to justify all this. Nothing I’d want to say out loud, but I wanted time to think, I’ve done some thinking, all good.

Totally ready for action again now.

Dealing with mental health issues can be tough. Trying to forge a path in a creative industry can be tough. Doing both at the same time can sometimes be, well, really tough. The truth is I have had a difficult year in my own head, for a number of reasons that go beyond the remit of this newsletter. But the one thing I keep circling back to is that this whole writing thing only makes sense if I’m enjoying it. It has to be its own reward, because doing it in expectation of receiving anything else of the back of it is a mug’s game.

I filled in a questionnaire for a Review site recently³ and one of the questions it asked was about advice you’d give to a budding novelist. It is one of those questions you get asked but I think it’s an important one, not only because of the help it might give to budding writers, but because so often when you look at your answer, you realise you’ve not been paying attention yourself. So here, in no particular order, are my Three Golden Rules (for writing, not just generally)

First. Do not let others’ definition of what a ‘writer’ is shape your perception of yourself.

“Writers write every day!” No they don’t, not all of them. “Writers carry notebooks around all the time and are constantly jotting down ideas!” Nope. “Writers get up at 5am because they just need to write and sleep is for wusses!” Heck no.

So often, good advice is phrased in such a way as to seem like a law⁴. It’s not bad advice, per se, it may even be great advice, but it doesn’t mean if you’re not doing that, you’re doing it wrong. You need to do writing your way, that’s what makes you the writer you are.

Second. It’s better to write badly than not write at all.

It’s easier to make a bad novel good than it is to write a great novel straight off the bat. Always. Some will take more work than others. Some may have to be scrapped entirely. But it still has more value as a crappy Word document⁵ than it does as a great idea in your head.

Third. Don’t attach any value to writing beyond the writing itself.

It’s fine to shoot for the stars, to want to be the next, well, not JK Rowling, but a good version of that. But you probably won’t. Most people won’t. And even if you do land the big publishing deal, or the Netflix adaptation, you’ll still be you when you wake up the next day. Writing won’t, in all probability, make you rich and it won’t make your problems go away. Not the big ones, the ones matter. Writing isn’t the answer to anything other than a desire to write. Without that, it’s worthless. With that, who knows, anything might happen, and that will just be the cherry on top.

Do your own thing. Do it because you want to. And, most importantly, actually do it.

Smashed it, mate.

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I have enjoyed:

1. The Ballad of Wallis Island - Might not have seen this if we weren’t looking for a film to watch while on holiday that started in a particular window, and so glad we did. Tim Key’s a millionaire who’s invited his favourite folk duo (Tom Basden and Carey Mulligan) to perform an exclusive concert for him on his private island off the welsh coast. Only McGwyer Mortimer haven’t performed together in years, McGwyer (Basden) doesn’t know Mortimer (Mulligan) is also invited, and neither of the realise the audience will be just one person. What starts off as a hilarious comedy of awkwardness turns into a moving portrayal of love, with both Basden and Key layering their performances with unexpected nuance and pathos. Genuine future classic.

   

   One of Wallis Island’s hilarious scenes.

2. Superman - James Gunn has proved himself with Guardians of the Galaxy to be adept at both ensemble cape movies, and utilising second- or even third-string comic heroes to great advantage. Jumping from the MCU, he delivers arguably DC’s first essential movie outing since Michael Keaton pulled on the cowl in ‘89. Mr Terrific? Hawkgirl? Guy Gardner?? All great value, with a pitch-perfect Superman in the form of David Corenswet and the fantastic Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. And best of all? No half an hour of watching baby Kal-El landing in Kansas, being raised by the Kents and discovering his powers. We all know that part of the story, so let’s just get on with it. Great fun.

   

   Multiple armed police, some of them masked, apprehending one immigrant. Nothing to see here.

3. The Integrity of Joseph Chambers - In which insurance salesman Joe (Clayne Crawford) heads out into the woods to prove to his wife, her family and himself that he can fit into the hunting way of life that he’s married into, only to accidentally kill a man and subsequently go to pieces. Crawford’s performance is amazingly powerful, given he’s onscreen alone for much of the running time, and, while the film’s not billed as a comedy in any way, I found it darkly hilarious.

   

   Looking for some other people to be in the cast.

4. Alanis Morrissette - Having basically only known the two albums until this year, I’ve grown into a bit of a super-fan in advance of seeing her live in Cardiff at the beginning of July. She still has the same presence she had when Jagged Little Pill came out, still totally rocks, stalking the stage like a panther and whirling like a dervish. And I wasn’t crying when she finished her set with Thank U, it’d just been raining on my face…

   

   It’s fine, we didn’t need to be any closer…

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You purchase Parallels (Deixis Press), Greyskin (Deixis Press) and Playtime’s Over (Propolis) direct from my publishers, as well as from all the usual places, online and off.

Pre-order my upcoming novella It’s Hard to Tell You This (Deixis Press).

Ray Adams’ self-published books are available online, or out of my garage.

I also review books on my website, most of which are available through my affiliate book shop on uk.bookshop.org - it’s a great alternative to certain online leviathans owned by Trump-supporting billionaires, and supports independent bookshops. Affiliates also get a % of books sold through them, so go have a look.

1. And somehow my cats…

2. Or ‘headlining’ as we call it in the business…

3. I’ll be more specific if and when anything comes of it.

4. Or ‘Golden Rule’… wait, what?

5. Or whatever fancy-pants thing you use. Scrivener, probably.