One thing that struck me when reading this blog: all those delays led to your Odyssey seeing the day at the most fitting moment. The moment when the world is facing possibly the biggest migration crisis of our lifetime and millions of people are living away from home, without much hope for a new one, let alone for coming back to their old one.
Personally, I am privileged. I left my home having some security and support from my employer, but so many more had no such luck. And when I look at them - now I live in Armenia, a small country with only 3 million of its own people, the country that took in more than 100,000 refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh last autumn, and I, as many people, give some of my spare time to a charity that helps both them and Ukrainian refugees, - I see many things, but only rarely despair. They keep striving for life. They are all different of course, but I try to concentrate on those whose resolve and humanity could teach us all a lesson or two. Will they ever be back to their homes? Nobody knows. Same with those Ukrainians who found a refuge here. Their Odyssey has only just begun, and nobody knows what awaits them tomorrow, so there is no better time for your Odyssey than now. Tomorrow. September. We all need to know that there is hope for them and for the world. And this is what your books always do. They give home.
Odysseus was lucky in the end. He returned. Good luck to us all - we'll need it.
All I know is when I try to write I don't know shit––don't know what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, or how to do it. Sometimes it comes out anyhow. I'd like to give myself credit for this, but it's probably the elves.
Funny that this was posted at lunchtime when I already had scheduled in the out-tray my own piece on letting the elves (or a particular elf) do all the writing while I took the credit, which is of course the best way to write a decent book, and even a few indecent ones.
Last year I had lunch with a friend who has been writing poetry and short fiction for many years, but has never completed her much-talked-about (by her) novel because she doesn't subscribe to the elves theory and makes it all far too much hard work. When I explained to her the 'tuning into the muses/djinn/elves/whatever' process that I teach my university Creative Writing students she said, horrified, "Does Goldsmiths KNOW you do that?"
2) The Elwood jokes were fantastic; thanks for sharing those.
3) I hope you're right regarding the nature of incipient creativity. I have to write for a living, inspired or no, and that sort of stuff - well, one can crank it out. Needs must. Creative work is a wholly different animal, and having been mired in Elwood-level "stuckness" for months, with nary an elf in sight, I can only hope that your description of the germination process is correct. I'd like to think something's gestating below all the surface-level frustration, and daily busy-ness, and whatnot, though my staunch Lutheran forebears would likely label the problem as simple laziness and procrastination. (Not known for nuance, that crowd, and quick to blame the convenient "Old Adam" for a host of ills, ha.)
In any case, I'm so pleased that the next book is coming soonish. Ready to take the journey!
You, Mr. Fry are the reason why I want to be a writer and I will look forward to listening to your new book Odyssey as I am myself am quite fond of Greek stuff myself. I always intended to write a book about my life and how people like me on the autistic spectrum have to face the world in this life. I’ve known lots autistic people write books about their lives and how they’ve had to live with Autism and how they had to face it. hi myself, I’ve always wanted to be a writer in many ways and you’re the reason why your words and literature are something to me all my love.♥️♥️♥️♥️xxxx
Although this may have more to do with inspiration than creation I have a saying...
I take credit for it because I cannot recall whether or not I heard it from someone else or actually thought of it myself... " You are teaching your children even when you think you are not! "
Love your stuff here, it both makes me think, and helps me think... Thank You!
I was offered a job as a writer whilst still at university. I turned it down as I HATE writing. Still do. And I cannot stand for long periods without severe pain. So if that is what people recommend that writers do to stir their creativity, it looks like a dodged a metaphorical bullet…. !
I hope you do a book signing tour, Stephen. I’ve not seen you for three years….
A pleasant, frequently delightful read about how an author flails about in the production of what one eventually reads, standing up, as per doctor’s orders. Not quite sure I get the footnotes, though. Is it worth a footnote to convey, at the bottom of the page, the fact that Mr. Fry uses a keyboard in place of pen, pencil, or quill? Perhaps, but I’m unconvinced. Same with the standing v. sitting sort of thing. And I find it slightly saddening that it was seen as for some reason necessary to remind readers (who, by dint alone of their reading this Substack piece we know have nigh immediate access to the web, with a high-powered, maybe even educated by artifice search engine, of what Ogygia is.
Yes, yes, a tad pedantic, I hear both readers of this comment muttering, whilst shaking their heads with that slightest touch of condescension common to good but not great, equally insecure intellects. But I’m a crusty old dude abiding in front of my own keyboard, and I feel quite certain that Mr. Fry, should he notice my grumping about unnecessary footnotes, can weather the blistering critique. So . . . moving on.
Loved the old jokes, especially the latter. When a well-known ancient bit by its presentation still elicits a chuckle, the writer (artist? craftsman?) has done the job well. And I very much look forward to The One I’ve Been Waiting For.
Now I’ve got to go outside; there are warblers in the cherry trees and some little thing flitting about in the euonymus below that I feel I must identify and ogle. G’day all.
John Cleese, an acquaintance of yours, I’m sure, if not a good friend, has a short book on the role of the subconscious in creativity, which is, as you describe, an elf-like friend at work even while we sleep. Many times I’ve experienced coming back to the desk next morning to the place where I was mired in mud and there the answer is, appearing suddenly, obvious as the day. It hasn’t resulted in a book done in a month, but it got me through to the next page. https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/creativity-a-short-and-cheerful-guide-unabridged/id1579447275
One thing that struck me when reading this blog: all those delays led to your Odyssey seeing the day at the most fitting moment. The moment when the world is facing possibly the biggest migration crisis of our lifetime and millions of people are living away from home, without much hope for a new one, let alone for coming back to their old one.
Personally, I am privileged. I left my home having some security and support from my employer, but so many more had no such luck. And when I look at them - now I live in Armenia, a small country with only 3 million of its own people, the country that took in more than 100,000 refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh last autumn, and I, as many people, give some of my spare time to a charity that helps both them and Ukrainian refugees, - I see many things, but only rarely despair. They keep striving for life. They are all different of course, but I try to concentrate on those whose resolve and humanity could teach us all a lesson or two. Will they ever be back to their homes? Nobody knows. Same with those Ukrainians who found a refuge here. Their Odyssey has only just begun, and nobody knows what awaits them tomorrow, so there is no better time for your Odyssey than now. Tomorrow. September. We all need to know that there is hope for them and for the world. And this is what your books always do. They give home.
Odysseus was lucky in the end. He returned. Good luck to us all - we'll need it.
All I know is when I try to write I don't know shit––don't know what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, or how to do it. Sometimes it comes out anyhow. I'd like to give myself credit for this, but it's probably the elves.
Well that was comprehensively instructional. They should pay you more money. I say "they" because I don't have any.
Funny that this was posted at lunchtime when I already had scheduled in the out-tray my own piece on letting the elves (or a particular elf) do all the writing while I took the credit, which is of course the best way to write a decent book, and even a few indecent ones.
Last year I had lunch with a friend who has been writing poetry and short fiction for many years, but has never completed her much-talked-about (by her) novel because she doesn't subscribe to the elves theory and makes it all far too much hard work. When I explained to her the 'tuning into the muses/djinn/elves/whatever' process that I teach my university Creative Writing students she said, horrified, "Does Goldsmiths KNOW you do that?"
In case anyone feels inclined to read my related shameful account of stealing literary credit: https://rosbarbernews.substack.com/p/resurrecting-my-invisible-friend
I wanted to write a comment but nothing came to mind, damn!
1) Quite eager to read the next book.
2) The Elwood jokes were fantastic; thanks for sharing those.
3) I hope you're right regarding the nature of incipient creativity. I have to write for a living, inspired or no, and that sort of stuff - well, one can crank it out. Needs must. Creative work is a wholly different animal, and having been mired in Elwood-level "stuckness" for months, with nary an elf in sight, I can only hope that your description of the germination process is correct. I'd like to think something's gestating below all the surface-level frustration, and daily busy-ness, and whatnot, though my staunch Lutheran forebears would likely label the problem as simple laziness and procrastination. (Not known for nuance, that crowd, and quick to blame the convenient "Old Adam" for a host of ills, ha.)
In any case, I'm so pleased that the next book is coming soonish. Ready to take the journey!
You, Mr. Fry are the reason why I want to be a writer and I will look forward to listening to your new book Odyssey as I am myself am quite fond of Greek stuff myself. I always intended to write a book about my life and how people like me on the autistic spectrum have to face the world in this life. I’ve known lots autistic people write books about their lives and how they’ve had to live with Autism and how they had to face it. hi myself, I’ve always wanted to be a writer in many ways and you’re the reason why your words and literature are something to me all my love.♥️♥️♥️♥️xxxx
Although this may have more to do with inspiration than creation I have a saying...
I take credit for it because I cannot recall whether or not I heard it from someone else or actually thought of it myself... " You are teaching your children even when you think you are not! "
Love your stuff here, it both makes me think, and helps me think... Thank You!
I was offered a job as a writer whilst still at university. I turned it down as I HATE writing. Still do. And I cannot stand for long periods without severe pain. So if that is what people recommend that writers do to stir their creativity, it looks like a dodged a metaphorical bullet…. !
I hope you do a book signing tour, Stephen. I’ve not seen you for three years….
A pleasant, frequently delightful read about how an author flails about in the production of what one eventually reads, standing up, as per doctor’s orders. Not quite sure I get the footnotes, though. Is it worth a footnote to convey, at the bottom of the page, the fact that Mr. Fry uses a keyboard in place of pen, pencil, or quill? Perhaps, but I’m unconvinced. Same with the standing v. sitting sort of thing. And I find it slightly saddening that it was seen as for some reason necessary to remind readers (who, by dint alone of their reading this Substack piece we know have nigh immediate access to the web, with a high-powered, maybe even educated by artifice search engine, of what Ogygia is.
Yes, yes, a tad pedantic, I hear both readers of this comment muttering, whilst shaking their heads with that slightest touch of condescension common to good but not great, equally insecure intellects. But I’m a crusty old dude abiding in front of my own keyboard, and I feel quite certain that Mr. Fry, should he notice my grumping about unnecessary footnotes, can weather the blistering critique. So . . . moving on.
Loved the old jokes, especially the latter. When a well-known ancient bit by its presentation still elicits a chuckle, the writer (artist? craftsman?) has done the job well. And I very much look forward to The One I’ve Been Waiting For.
Now I’ve got to go outside; there are warblers in the cherry trees and some little thing flitting about in the euonymus below that I feel I must identify and ogle. G’day all.
John Cleese, an acquaintance of yours, I’m sure, if not a good friend, has a short book on the role of the subconscious in creativity, which is, as you describe, an elf-like friend at work even while we sleep. Many times I’ve experienced coming back to the desk next morning to the place where I was mired in mud and there the answer is, appearing suddenly, obvious as the day. It hasn’t resulted in a book done in a month, but it got me through to the next page. https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/creativity-a-short-and-cheerful-guide-unabridged/id1579447275