So, the built-in Substack transcript was NOT a hit on the last audio post. Sorry about that, friends, and thanks for your patience as I figure out the best medium here.
This time around, I’ve got both options available for you to use. In other words: you can use the in-app or in-browser transcript that Substack automatically generates…
Or you can just read onward to get the whole thing in text form.
Or of course, you can simply listen.
Either way, thanks for being here! 😘
Pre-Order Campaign!
Before I drop down to the links mentioned + full transcript, I do want to point you all to my latest pre-order campaign for The Whispering Night. It’s hands-down my favorite pin so far in the enamel pin lineup we’ve had for this series. And all you have to do to get it is pre-order the book before November 18, 2024 and submit the receipt at the button below.
Here are some pre-order links to help you out:
Barnes & Noble — the 25% off pre-order sale is happening right now for members!!
Schuler Books — signed and personalized editions! Just make sure you specify at checkout that you want the book personalized and to what name it should be personalized! And remember: they ship internationally.
THANK YOU! Now onto the links and transcript!
💚 - Sooz
Links Mentioned:
Duck Note — love this “app”
Transcript:
Hey, guys, it is Susan Dennard here. I am recording from my patio right now because it is summertime and when it is summertime all I do is work outside, if I can.
So I apologize if there's any sort of noise, like insects or birds. Or we’ve been having so many deer. I cannot express to you how many deer I see every day as I'm working. I do not live in a rural area. So yes, deer.
Oh, dear.
Pardon me, that was a dad joke. Now before I dive into my post today, or my audio recording, I have two things that I would like to share with you. First: I have recently discovered a drink that I'm obsessed with. It is very refreshing in the summer. And you all must try this. All of you. Now. You have a command.
So first, you take espresso. Although I don’t usually do espresso; I just make really dark coffee and use just a little bit…
Oh my god, there goes a deer! Hello, deer!
And you put that in your cup, and you add ice cubes. And then—this is what makes it delicious, trust me. You put sparkling water on top, flavored sparkling water. I like grapefruit. But lemon is also quite delicious. Something citrusy is best. It really like brings out the flavor of the espresso. And it is so good. And all of you must try it and then leave a comment telling me how grateful you are to me for introducing this drink into your life.
Okay, now the next thing I have discovered: it’s not really an app because it’s browser based. But I have saved the link on my phone, so it has its own icon and everything. And basically it is an app.
Hey, deer! Hi, deer!
And it’s called Duck. I will link to it in the show notes (see above) and duck note dot app. I think I should probably check that before I say that yes, duck note dot app. And it is essentially like texting yourself. I really like it for keeping track of all sorts of different things. I’ve always used like a standard note app called SimpleNote. But there’s something about the texting shape of it that I really, really like, I suggest you guys check it out. It’s free. It’s created by just an engineer who made it because he wanted it for himself.
So duck note dot app, I use it to record like story ideas. I have been using it too because I can take pictures to keep track of which lands things as I’m rereading and quotes I also use it to I have a chronic pain situation with my pelvis. So I’ve been using it to record and track that. I have just a random notes one anyway, it’s a really cool app, check it out duck note dot app.
Now moving on to the main event: I am coming at you again with a question from the Ask Me Anything on
. This is from Clarissa. And I really like it because it is very appropriate to my current writing situation. The question is:What keeps you motivated through setbacks, tough times, and when things don’t always go the way you expect them to?
Okay, then she also asks about getting new covers for the Witchlands. I will answer that over there on the Worlds. But here, let’s take with the idea of motivation.
This…I had to think about this before I sat down to record because motivation is such a tricky thing. I have written at length about motivation during tough times. So I will link to those (above).
But how do you stay motivated, just as a writer, when let’s say life is not collapsing around you?
I mean, for the last year and a half—more than that now—it has been kind of in a constant state of collapse. I'm like that…I’m like the guys in Inception and the dream. It’s just falling apart around me.
Ah, I have to laugh so I don’t cry.
But things actually have finally kind of smoothed out in my in my personal life. In the last month I would say. Ish. But of course I am now under intense deadline, which I've referred to many times. I have three books due this year. One, we’re done with. The Whispering Night is DONE. You can’t see it but I'm clapping, wiping my hands. Done. It’s even gone through Pass Pages all of that.
But Witchlight. Oh, Witchlight. The book that is so hard to finish because it is so many plot threads. I feel so much pressure from the fandom—in a good way, I love. This is not me trying to, you know, throw shade on my wonderful readers in any way.
It is a good pressure. It is a motivating pressure. But it's a lot of pressure and not a whole lot of time.
So, there are a few different kinds of motivation that I experienced during times, like right now, when I am under intense deadline, the sheer pressure from my publisher is enough to keep me going.
Now I have to say, my publisher is fantastic, and they don't, like…They never crack a whip or anything and say you need to get this done. You know: Go, donkey, go! They really have been fantastic about understanding the challenging circumstances of my life and giving me the space to deal with that.
But with the Witchlands in particular, I want to be done. I have kept fans waiting for so long. As I wrote the entire Luminaries trilogy. You know, went through IVF, miscarriage, had a baby, nearly died, all of that. And I have kept fans waiting, and they have been very patient and very wonderful, very understanding.
But I am tired of making everybody wait. And so I feel an intense amount of motivation to get this done for the readers.
And so, honestly, that is a huge reason that I get up in the morning and dive right in. I get up really early right now. Like 5am, I am making my coffee and getting to work.
So yeah, I feel a lot of motivation in that regard. Which is external, right, that is a an external pressure that I feel.
Sometimes external pressure is from, you know, the publisher, who even—bless them—as kind as they are, I will still want to perform for them, because I know that they as a business are relying on me. That is why I really, really pushed myself to get The Whispering Night done. Because I know for them, maintaining the momentum of the trilogy is important. And so we wanted to get those out. 1, 2, 3. And I have managed to pull that off.
Now Witchlight…Because there was such a big gap, there was less pressure on me from the publisher. The gap’s already there, right? Readers are waiting; they'll keep waiting (we hope). But as mentioned, I feel pressure to the fans.
I want to perform for you.
Sometimes there’s other external pressure that comes on to me, you know, my agent, for example, is helping me a lot with Witchlight. As is one of my good friends. (Hey, Rachel, if you’re listening!) And so I really want to also perform, so to speak for them, I want to get this book done. Get chapters written. Get things edited and assembled the way that I need them…for them.
So there's a very specific face as I work each day that I’m trying to get this done for, in addition to the nebulous, huge group of readers expecting it. The fantastic fandom.
I will be totally honest that I don’t love external pressure. Even though…that’s not entirely true. I should say I don’t love external pressure when I am under an intense deadline and trying to meet, you know, certain dates so that the book does not get delayed. Again.
I don’t love that feeling mostly because the way my brain works. And I'm going to point you back to the most recent audio before this (above), in which I talked about intuitive writing and a series of choices. Mostly because of how my process works. I just really struggle to know exactly how long a book is going to take me to write and create and end up exactly the way that I want it to be.
But at the same time, sometimes that external pressure is necessary because…I always call myself a gas: I tend to expand to fit the container that I'm in.
So if someone gives me a really big container, aka the deadline is really far away. I will expaaand and work on lots of other things, until I am down to the line on the book that’s actually due.
I’m sure people would love to tell me I’m a procrastinator, and perhaps the right. But I also have come to accept this about myself. (Thank you again—one more plug for Becca Syme, for helping me understand my number one Adaptability strength.) So it can be really good for me to have external pressure.
After Witchlight gets done, which I'm hoping will be very soon, I will have the external pressure of finishing and editing The Executioners Three, for that to come out. And I feel significantly less pressure on that book, just because it is so much more finished.
It’s not necessarily more written—it’s about the same amount of the book written in terms of percentage, as Witchlight. But it is a simpler story. And it is not the sixth book in a popular series in which I am trying to impress everybody, and reward everyone who has stuck with me for this long. It is its own standalone beast.
So that’s one kind of motivation.
And, like I said, it’s not always the one that I love most, but it can be the one that really forces me to get things done.
The other motivation I have is more intrinsic. It is an internal motivation.
There’s sort of two pieces to it. So one of the motivations, this intrinsic motivation, is when I have an idea that I just really love. And usually, it’s not an idea that I have shared with anyone yet. Or maybe I’ve sort of pitched it to my agent, but I haven’t shown anyone words yet.
It’s all for me. And those ideas are really special. They are protected, they are vulnerable. And I try to keep them close for as long as I can. Because I love…I just love them so much. And I love having them only for me. I don’t have any external pressure on them yet. And that’s a magical place.
I am maybe daydreaming constantly about the characters, or writing scenes and just pushing forward and making those those different choices that are part of my process. And it’s glorious! I want to work on it because I am just so excited to be there and discovering this world and discovering these characters. And it is it's just exciting and magical.
And I'm sure many of you will recognize that that place.
Some of you will be the type who like to share, you know. Maybe have an alpha reader who reads as you write. But that’s not me. I learned that long ago that I really don’t like sharing as I write if only because I so frequently will get later into the story…and then rewrite everything as I see a better way to do it.
For details, listen to the previous audio post.
The second component of my sort of internal motivation is actually external. I know that’s confusing. Let me back this up. One of the reasons if not the primary reason that I write stories is because I feel a deep need to connect with other people. It is how I make that connection with other people.
I love doing events and meeting readers because it is kind of the whole point. It’s to meet the people who are picking up the books and loving the books enough to come see me.
I cannot express to you guys how deeply that moves me and motivates me. It's just the best feeling in the entire world to know that you touched somebody emotionally, mentally with something that you wrote.
Obviously, not everyone's going to feel that way. For some people, the best feeling comes from being, you know, in their own head and making up the story. For some people, that comes from hitting a bestseller lists or selling a million copies, or, you know, hitting the end and finally getting to go hang out with the kid.
Whatever, there is no wrong reason to write, or right reason to write. It’s just that for me that best feeling comes when I have met someone who got what I was trying to do. And it moves them in the way that I wanted it to move them. And they in turn, move me.
And so that motivation—that imagining of my ideal reader when they read the book and connect to the pieces I want them to connect with—that is a huge, huge motivation.
For me it is, again, the reason I write and so it’s not necessarily something I hold close everyday. It’s not like I get out of bed and think, I shall write for my ideal reader today! It’s more like something that I come to when I am really feeling like I'm slogging. Like the series of choices I’ve made so far haven’t gotten me where I wanted in the story. Or I’m stuck (as I frequently get).
I will link to my posts on my circling process (above).
And and so in those moments, I have to remember like, why are you doing this? Why does this matter to you? It's not just because you want to turn the book in on time and get a pat on the head from the publisher or your agent or your buddy Rachel. (Hey, Rachel!) It’s not just because you love this story so much.
It is because you, Sooz, want this to be out there for that reader who needs the book. Who needs this story right now.
And then I won't lie to you that when I’m editing, that can be really motivating, especially if I hit a point where I’m like: Fans are gonna love this part! (There are a lot of those in Witchlight, my darlings. So many spots I hope you will love.)
And so, yeah, that can be extremely motivating. And even though it is an external force, you know, that connection with other people? It is my personal why. And so therefore is, I think, an internal motivator.
Whew. There you go. Clarissa, I hope that answers the question for you, and I hope it maybe offers some motivational guidance for all of you who are also writers or maybe aspiring authors, and struggling to stay motivated.
I think figuring out your personal why…I mean, it’s such a cliche, and I apologize for that. But it also, there’s a reason why so many, you know, motivational speakers and productivity coaches tell you to start with why: because it does help you stay focused, and help you keep going, even when you’re struggling.
It’s been a tough few years for me, but I still do this because I absolutely love it. And because I know, as a reader, how much someone’s words can impact and change me. And I want to be that.
So knowing that why, it can really help you stay on track and get through tough times.
And then also knowing how you respond to external pressure—is it a motivator? Or does it actually just break you? You know, some people do not do well with external pressure. It does not motivate them at all. It just makes them want to stop. And learning that about yourself and being okay with it—it is okay if that’s who you are—can be pretty transformational.
So, yeah, fellow writers. Take a look at your motivation. See what it is that gets you up, gets you writing, makes you want to do this. There’s no wrong answer. But having it written down and knowing can really help guide you as you continue onward.
Okay, now, I have to go pick up my kiddo from school so have a fantastic day, my dear, dear misfits, daydreamers and DenNerds. And I will return. À bientôt!
Audio: Staying Motivated