Skip to content

Why I Haven't Written a New Book

2019-06-11 · letter vlog · John · 3:39 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion, timely hook

On the day the Turtles All the Way Down paperback comes out, John explains why he has not written a novel in 510 days: besides other work, publishing a successful book overwhelmed him with fear and destabilizing attention, so he has been writing The Anthropocene Reviewed, a quieter place.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — 510 days without a new novel; the Turtles All the Way Down paperback is out today

  • ★★ John learned it has been 510 days since Turtles All the Way Down came out; a paragraph or two a day would have produced a draft of a sixth novel, but he hasn't written one. — 00:00:00 · Turtles All the Way Down
  • ★★★ The Turtles All the Way Down paperback is published today in the US: cheaper than the hardcover, softer cover, a Q&A at the back and a couple of typos fixed. — 00:00:16 · Turtles All the Way Down, United States

00:00:29 — Why no new novel: other work, fear around publishing, everyone having an opinion, publishing versus writing

  • ★★ John says he partly hasn't written a novel because of other work (Crash Course European History, the Partners In Health project, TV and movie adaptations), though he has had some kind of day job for most of his writing life. — 00:00:29 · Crash Course, Partners In Health
  • ★★ John is grateful that Turtles All the Way Down was generously received by critics and readers, with reviews in places like The New York Times and The Guardian. — 00:00:45 · Turtles All the Way Down, The New York Times
  • ★★★ John says publishing the book was very difficult for him, 'champagne problems' aside: he was overwhelmed with fear about whether people would like it and whether it was good, useful and the best it could be. — 00:00:59
  • ★★★ John says that with a lot of success it can feel like everyone has to develop an opinion of your work, even people not familiar with or interested in it. — 00:01:14 · celebrity
  • ★ As an example, John has not seen Fifty Shades of Grey yet feels he must have an opinion of it, and kind of does, though maybe the movie is amazing. (playful) — 00:01:27
  • ★★★ John says making something people like, or dislike so much they define themselves against it, can be pretty destabilizing. — 00:01:36 · celebrity

  • ★★★ John says writing stories has always been a way out of himself: inhabiting other people's consciousnesses gives him a break from his own. — 00:01:45

    “Writing stories has always been, like, a way out of myself”

  • ★★★ John says publishing is something else: a mess of wanting to be liked and successful, hoping his stories are useful, and passing on gifts other people's stories gave him. — 00:01:53

  • ★★ John says for about a decade writing has also meant touring, publicity and movie rights, which he is lucky to stress about but finds stressful. — 00:02:08
  • ★★★ John says that, for the moment, all this leaves him unable to write much fiction, but he hasn't stopped writing. — 00:02:22

00:02:28 — Writing The Anthropocene Reviewed instead; pleasures of discovery; intent to publish more novels; thanks

  • ★★★ John started writing in a quieter, safer place: The Anthropocene Reviewed podcast, reviewing facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale, from scratch-and-sniff stickers to Taco Bell breakfast. — 00:02:28 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)
  • ★★ John says exploring this new kind of writing, seeking where personal experiences connect to universal ones, has been fun and fulfilling. — 00:02:53
  • ★ John was way too into scratch-and-sniff stickers as a kid, an early sign of his fascination with virtualized experience, but only understood their chemistry by writing about them. — 00:03:01
  • ★★ John says the pleasures of unexpected discovery are similar whether writing fiction or nonfiction. — 00:03:14
  • ★★ John intends to publish more novels, hopefully many more, and meanwhile is grateful his existing books still find new readers. (hedged) — 00:03:19 · Turtles All the Way Down
  • ★★ John says books are quiet, interior experiences in a very loud world, as are his favorite podcasts, and thanks viewers for listening regardless of medium. — 00:03:27 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast)

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: celebrity · The Anthropocene Reviewed (podcast) · Turtles All the Way Down

Also: Crash Course · Fifty Shades of Grey · Partners In Health · Taco Bell · The Guardian · The New York Times · United States

Only in the description or credits: The Fault in Our Stars

← Previous: 8 Things I Wish I Knew When I was Writing my First Novel · Next → What /Actually/ Happened at Chernobyl