I keep meaning to write a follow-up to SHIT HAPPENS — that was a fun story to write ;-) Well, thank you... that means a lot. I'll add that question to the potential ones for the post!
A process question about starting and then knowing when to stop. Is it a balance between hard earned talent and intuition? Do writers get a rhythm happening?
Cheers for this opportunity. So my question... bugging me since 2004. When the "The Lonely Dead" (Straw Men Book 2) was published, i was confused to see that it was written as a stand alone novel. Building the character of John Zandt in the first book, is one of the most amazing things i have ever read. The soul of this character is like a dark volcano slowly erupting black hole matter...Ward Hopkins was also a great one.
Rebuilding those characters in "The Lonely Dead" and "Blood of Angels", i felt it was mission impossible. I knew them from the first book and had strong feelings. Having to re-read their story and re-feel them, it took something away from me and in the end i failed to be sucked into books 2 and 3 in the same way as in "The Straw Men".
So the question: Does it bug you also? Did you consider the option of Book 1 to be mandatory in order to read 2 and 3? Was it maybe a publisher's recommendation? I understand that three stand alone novels is the financially viable option and i would probably advise that.
I hope i don't sound like a snob critic. I am not! Your books make this world a better, and slightly scarier, place and i am always waiting for something new (Michael Rutger where are you? We need a third book...).
I love the idea of supporting writers I like here on substack. But then I look at how many newsletters (is that the right term? Substacks feels... not) and at $5 each per month, it'd end up being more than (does sums in head) a *lot* a month. And new and interesting people appear all the time. I know that you don't *have* to have a paid sub for everyone, but how to choose? Argh, etc. Especially when that money could be spent on books or beer. Or the nice bottle of whisky I've just ordered. Ooops.
That said, I realise that my $5/month might go towards *your* books or beer, and that'd be a good thing. For you, anyway. And it'd encourage you to keep doing this *waves hands* and that'd be a good thing for the rest of us.
This feels like it ought to be its own substack post.
Yeah, it's a tough question. And while I'm totally there for writers being paid for their work, it always feels weird to raise the question, which is why I'm trying to find a way that works. And you're right about the amount of content available on Substack, and how impossible it would be to sub to all of it. I've just paid $17 a month for one, but only because it's full of insider intel about the TV industry, which — given I work in it — is worth it to me. But for others, just because I like what they do? Can't do all of them...
So I'll try to keep the paid stuff such that it's either (a) something that not everybody wants, or (b) useful enough that it's worth paying for... let me know if you think I'm getting the balance right!
Same old same old is what I'm trying to avoid but as someone who struggles to put ideas on a page, I'd like to know do you get bored when you're writing? How do you stave it off when it strikes?
I like this. I particularly like the offspring's point of view on the subject. I have no questions, but I would be interested in seeing midjourney images up against the prompts you used to create them, as I struggle to create anything useful there at the moment.
That's a good idea... I'll do that in a post. The truth is it takes a lot of fiddling, and working out what the AI likes, and doesn't. Sometimes, a very simple prompt will get surprisingly good results: the wizard at the top of this post was simply "a wizard walking through the streets of modern London" BUT I added a suffix I've worked out which I used most of the time for moody photos: "epic detailed photograph shot on kodak detailed bokeh cinematic hbo film grain, Kodak portra 800 --ar 9:16 --v 5 --s 750" — thus specifying using the v5 engine, and using the nebulous "style" perimeter, which seems to give the AI space to be more "imaginative" in the sense of leaning into its own inbuilt style.
You also find that some looks come out better in v4 than v5, tho photos are generally better in v5. Again, for moodiness, I've asked for a bunch of pics "in the style of" either Todd Hido or Gregory Crewson — both of whom I knew already, and it seems to understand. You can also add a "no" suffix: if you add "--no cars" for example, it'll not put cars in the image. Mostly.
I tend to spend a bit of time each day cruising the Explore tab on the Midjourney account page, copying the prompts of things I like, and messing around with them. Often parts of the prompts make no difference. Sometimes, removing one part produces quite different but just as interesting results. There's a LOT of trial and error, which is why I upgraded to the Standard Account, which allows you to use Relax mode: takes a bit longer for images to come through, but doesn't count against your hours.
It's definitely a skill to be acquired... I look back at my first attempts as the work of a rank amateur now!
Ah, well... I was wondering if working with Gaiman altered your process in any way? Albeit consciously or unconsciously, hence Hannah was created and her devilishly tricky grandfather. I loved Hannah’s story and was exhausted by just reading about all those steps. (Will she return at some point?) I can imagine you both, sat over a dark table, whiskey in hand, discussing talking mushrooms and the possible character arcs of demons.
Well, HANNAH was written a couple of years before I started working with Neil. I mean, I've known both him and his work for decades, but I certainly wasn't aware of any conscious influence... it felt more like bringing the energy of ONLY FORWARD to a new place and style. It was certainly fun to write :-)
Ah yeah, I can see what you mean about the Only Forward feel. I think it was the devil that made me think of Neil’s influence but only after the fact of hearing you were working with him not while I was reading it.
I am subscribed now, for my sins. Insert pithy comment about tuppenny happenny snips of money disappearing from our accounts adding up to something or other.
Tax season is nearly over. I am a person who when she was Young (I am 60 {sixty!} tomorrow) wrote obsessively. At some point, maybe in my early 30s I decided that I really had nothing new or interesting to say. Then I went on antidepressants. I work in ceramics now, and mess with yarn.
At any rate, I am interested to read the Q & A. I am listening to a Lovecraft podcast of the fine John Langan right now, and hearing people talk about how they write is fascinating.
This is a wonderful idea! And I love the input of the younger generation 🤣
I am useless at phrasing questions so rather than rambling ad infinitum to maybe compile one plausible question I will sit back and enjoy your responses to other people's questions!
I'm thoroughly enjoying my subscription. Just keep throwing words at us 🤷
My question is how do I get over the cringe? I have a brain full of ideas and am desperate to put pen to paper but, as soon as I do that, I read it back and am cringing at how amateur it sounds.
I then give up and go back to my normal office job, where my business writing is amazing and I can knock out a 10 page memo in my sleep. But I don’t want to be good at business writing, I want to write fiction.
I really want to give writing a better go, so I’d love your ideas on how to stop being self critical, get over the cringe, and keep going.
Thank you
Ps I just read what I wrote and am cringing at this post (joke)
Assuming I'm still meant to throw questions this way: what do you do with the thoughts in your head until you're ready for them to go into stories? I'm assuming you don't have a magical brain that will store things in an organised fashion for you to come back to... Mine certainly does not do this on my behalf.
Is it all pen(cil) to paper? A patchwork of indiscernable post its? An app? Trusting the thoughts to a document to manipulate?
You are, and good question. I have for decades maintained a "Bitz" file. I type out random ideas, scenes, descriptions of places into it. And SOMETIMES remember to go back and look. For larger ideas, I either give them a single-line description in one app or other, or... trust that they'll stick in my mind. I tend to think that ideas for novels, for example, need to be compelling enough to stick with me for a while...
I keep meaning to write a follow-up to SHIT HAPPENS — that was a fun story to write ;-) Well, thank you... that means a lot. I'll add that question to the potential ones for the post!
A process question about starting and then knowing when to stop. Is it a balance between hard earned talent and intuition? Do writers get a rhythm happening?
Logged as a question — thank you!
I spend all my hard earned pounds on Chardonnay good man, but I will see what I can scrape from the bottom of my handbag.
LOL
Hello Michael(s)!
Cheers for this opportunity. So my question... bugging me since 2004. When the "The Lonely Dead" (Straw Men Book 2) was published, i was confused to see that it was written as a stand alone novel. Building the character of John Zandt in the first book, is one of the most amazing things i have ever read. The soul of this character is like a dark volcano slowly erupting black hole matter...Ward Hopkins was also a great one.
Rebuilding those characters in "The Lonely Dead" and "Blood of Angels", i felt it was mission impossible. I knew them from the first book and had strong feelings. Having to re-read their story and re-feel them, it took something away from me and in the end i failed to be sucked into books 2 and 3 in the same way as in "The Straw Men".
So the question: Does it bug you also? Did you consider the option of Book 1 to be mandatory in order to read 2 and 3? Was it maybe a publisher's recommendation? I understand that three stand alone novels is the financially viable option and i would probably advise that.
I hope i don't sound like a snob critic. I am not! Your books make this world a better, and slightly scarier, place and i am always waiting for something new (Michael Rutger where are you? We need a third book...).
Thanks!
This is a great question - thank you! Logged and will be answered...
I love the idea of supporting writers I like here on substack. But then I look at how many newsletters (is that the right term? Substacks feels... not) and at $5 each per month, it'd end up being more than (does sums in head) a *lot* a month. And new and interesting people appear all the time. I know that you don't *have* to have a paid sub for everyone, but how to choose? Argh, etc. Especially when that money could be spent on books or beer. Or the nice bottle of whisky I've just ordered. Ooops.
That said, I realise that my $5/month might go towards *your* books or beer, and that'd be a good thing. For you, anyway. And it'd encourage you to keep doing this *waves hands* and that'd be a good thing for the rest of us.
This feels like it ought to be its own substack post.
Yeah, it's a tough question. And while I'm totally there for writers being paid for their work, it always feels weird to raise the question, which is why I'm trying to find a way that works. And you're right about the amount of content available on Substack, and how impossible it would be to sub to all of it. I've just paid $17 a month for one, but only because it's full of insider intel about the TV industry, which — given I work in it — is worth it to me. But for others, just because I like what they do? Can't do all of them...
So I'll try to keep the paid stuff such that it's either (a) something that not everybody wants, or (b) useful enough that it's worth paying for... let me know if you think I'm getting the balance right!
This could be interesting.
Same old same old is what I'm trying to avoid but as someone who struggles to put ideas on a page, I'd like to know do you get bored when you're writing? How do you stave it off when it strikes?
Logged as a question — thank you!
I like this. I particularly like the offspring's point of view on the subject. I have no questions, but I would be interested in seeing midjourney images up against the prompts you used to create them, as I struggle to create anything useful there at the moment.
That's a good idea... I'll do that in a post. The truth is it takes a lot of fiddling, and working out what the AI likes, and doesn't. Sometimes, a very simple prompt will get surprisingly good results: the wizard at the top of this post was simply "a wizard walking through the streets of modern London" BUT I added a suffix I've worked out which I used most of the time for moody photos: "epic detailed photograph shot on kodak detailed bokeh cinematic hbo film grain, Kodak portra 800 --ar 9:16 --v 5 --s 750" — thus specifying using the v5 engine, and using the nebulous "style" perimeter, which seems to give the AI space to be more "imaginative" in the sense of leaning into its own inbuilt style.
You also find that some looks come out better in v4 than v5, tho photos are generally better in v5. Again, for moodiness, I've asked for a bunch of pics "in the style of" either Todd Hido or Gregory Crewson — both of whom I knew already, and it seems to understand. You can also add a "no" suffix: if you add "--no cars" for example, it'll not put cars in the image. Mostly.
I tend to spend a bit of time each day cruising the Explore tab on the Midjourney account page, copying the prompts of things I like, and messing around with them. Often parts of the prompts make no difference. Sometimes, removing one part produces quite different but just as interesting results. There's a LOT of trial and error, which is why I upgraded to the Standard Account, which allows you to use Relax mode: takes a bit longer for images to come through, but doesn't count against your hours.
It's definitely a skill to be acquired... I look back at my first attempts as the work of a rank amateur now!
I was going to ask something about Hannah Green & Gaiman but I’m too skint to patronage anyone, so I won’t.
Well, that doesn't feel like it's about the process... so ask away ;-)
Ah, well... I was wondering if working with Gaiman altered your process in any way? Albeit consciously or unconsciously, hence Hannah was created and her devilishly tricky grandfather. I loved Hannah’s story and was exhausted by just reading about all those steps. (Will she return at some point?) I can imagine you both, sat over a dark table, whiskey in hand, discussing talking mushrooms and the possible character arcs of demons.
Well, HANNAH was written a couple of years before I started working with Neil. I mean, I've known both him and his work for decades, but I certainly wasn't aware of any conscious influence... it felt more like bringing the energy of ONLY FORWARD to a new place and style. It was certainly fun to write :-)
Ah yeah, I can see what you mean about the Only Forward feel. I think it was the devil that made me think of Neil’s influence but only after the fact of hearing you were working with him not while I was reading it.
I am subscribed now, for my sins. Insert pithy comment about tuppenny happenny snips of money disappearing from our accounts adding up to something or other.
Tax season is nearly over. I am a person who when she was Young (I am 60 {sixty!} tomorrow) wrote obsessively. At some point, maybe in my early 30s I decided that I really had nothing new or interesting to say. Then I went on antidepressants. I work in ceramics now, and mess with yarn.
At any rate, I am interested to read the Q & A. I am listening to a Lovecraft podcast of the fine John Langan right now, and hearing people talk about how they write is fascinating.
Excellent - thank you!
This is a wonderful idea! And I love the input of the younger generation 🤣
I am useless at phrasing questions so rather than rambling ad infinitum to maybe compile one plausible question I will sit back and enjoy your responses to other people's questions!
I'm thoroughly enjoying my subscription. Just keep throwing words at us 🤷
Excellent - thank you! And you may find that the answers help frame your questions...
I might... Not sure that's something you want to encourage 😉
Are you intentional in getting inspiration and ideas, is it passive or a combination ?
Hey Dan! That's an *excellent* question, actually... logged to be answered.
My question is how do I get over the cringe? I have a brain full of ideas and am desperate to put pen to paper but, as soon as I do that, I read it back and am cringing at how amateur it sounds.
I then give up and go back to my normal office job, where my business writing is amazing and I can knock out a 10 page memo in my sleep. But I don’t want to be good at business writing, I want to write fiction.
I really want to give writing a better go, so I’d love your ideas on how to stop being self critical, get over the cringe, and keep going.
Thank you
Ps I just read what I wrote and am cringing at this post (joke)
That's both a good an important question - and one EVERYBODY faces, even if they've been doing it a while. I'll add it to the list to answer!
Assuming I'm still meant to throw questions this way: what do you do with the thoughts in your head until you're ready for them to go into stories? I'm assuming you don't have a magical brain that will store things in an organised fashion for you to come back to... Mine certainly does not do this on my behalf.
Is it all pen(cil) to paper? A patchwork of indiscernable post its? An app? Trusting the thoughts to a document to manipulate?
You are, and good question. I have for decades maintained a "Bitz" file. I type out random ideas, scenes, descriptions of places into it. And SOMETIMES remember to go back and look. For larger ideas, I either give them a single-line description in one app or other, or... trust that they'll stick in my mind. I tend to think that ideas for novels, for example, need to be compelling enough to stick with me for a while...