BENJAMIN LEROY
As the end of the year approaches, it has become an annual tradition for me to take holidays off as a chance to organize and clean, hoping to donate as much as I can to anybody who might be able to use it. Before I break my arm patting myself on the back pretending that it’s all about helping others (and mostly it is), I confess it’s definitely satisfying when I look around and see less stuff.
Because stuff gets in the way of life.
The clutter of old things I used to think I couldn’t live without, but now can’t stand to live with, takes up physical and mental space that can be better served by absence.
I can apply this same principle to work. When I know I have an overflowing query pile, it nags at the back of my head something fierce. When I know that my to-be-read stack is deep enough that it’s going to take me days of reading to get caught up, I feel guilt. That gets in the way of my ability to be as efficient as possible in that part of my life.
I can fix that feeling (or at least give it aspirin) by doing things like closing submissions. And let this serve as that announcement. Submissions for Tyrus are temporarily closed while I get caught up.
But that’s only kinda relevant to what I wanted to talk about.
For me, one of the things that makes me reject a submission with the quickness is when I feel claustrophobic while reading a book. It might be too many characters, a convoluted plot, minutiae that doesn’t serve the story or have redemptive charm, or any of a hundred other things. If I feel buried by literary stuff, I do whatever I can to shrug it away (aka not reading).
So, as the holidays come and you work on your novel, be sure to keep your space clear of distraction—both by your computer/typewriter/dictaphone AND the world in your book. It’s what best for both of us. Unless I’m wrong and some of you enjoy the clutter. Do you?
P.S. We're still giving away books for the holidays. Details here.
