I hope the use of a pseudonym does help you get free from your ego. I know it wouldn't for me. But even as myself I don't see how I can be a trustworthy narrator. I don't trust my own memories and definitely not my feelings. Interesting article. It makes me reflect on how these days a lot of people--especially deciders-- seem more interested in author's life's stories than the stories they have to say...
Thanks for reading Remy -- you definitely got the gist of it.
I agree -- even if I was myself, I wouldn't be a trustworthy narrator. I don't think many can. But I feel the need to escape from that false pretense. I feel the need to warn everyone of that, hence the pseudonym.
You know, I’ve struggled with this same issue often. All I can recall is a word here, a shape there. Just fuzzy emotions, most of which I blacked out only to now struggle to remember.
This piece gave me a lot to think on this morning ... “It’s apparent that the masses want reading to be instructive or prescriptive”… the Brontë sister in me really fucking hopes not.
care about both. writing and whose writing it. if beckett did it I am in. as I go through the new fiction at midtown manhanny -- its I hate to say, boring. seriously meh. very few serious noodlers --- its more about figuring things out on a fictional level that engages in its excitations and equivocations, using characters as fate -- but I like fiddlers who riddle with language, who've read adorno s the negative dialectic! -- adorno read beckett and i am not sure but I am pretty sure that beckett read adorno....we ARE who we read -- ha -- I am after those who perver the cause of just is --- like books that break wind.. joyce actually includes a "rasberry" in one of his books.... thanks for this nicely put, writing is on a certain wavelength always a question of faith...
We are constantly stimulated to read dead, digested information instead of experiencing it through the imagination system. From reading fiction, I gain wisdom to act with self-discernment. From reading non-fiction, I gain knowledge to proceed with prudence and running the risk of forgetting what the next step was.
You are funny and thought-provoking, give you that. You remind me of the quote, "Art is the lie that tells the truth". And for all I know you might really be a porn star. Who knew Harry Reams was such a literary intellectual? But seriously, the problem with much fiction is that it's a time-waster. Without any particular grain of truth, but merely pure entertainment giving you a place to focus your attention other than the real world. There are a lot of readers out there I think. They just want to escape this madhouse for a little while. So... there are those looking for escape and there are those looking for some nugget of information they can maybe use. There's so much to know. And time is limited. You have to make your writing worth the readers time. We shall see how you do.
I'll check it out. I've been off and on with Substack for about 6 months now. While I've seen plenty of stuff I'd consider fictional if not downright delusional, most of it claims to be non-fiction. As far as I've seen, but I know I'm seeing just a small sliver of the whole. Do you ever just wander around Substack, gawking at all the different stuff that's out there???
This was a sublime essay, Clancy. So articulate, so relatable. Many things I would like to quote, but right now my little black rectangle's application won't let me highlight words. Weird. Anyway, so good. I inhaled this. I would inhale more. And fiction. And the retros. Those sound excellent. (I have been pondering doing something similar with one piece, once it is finished. So I hope you don't mind if I do. I won't call it a retro, though. I'll call it a, err, Slakros? No, that doesn't work. Re-slake? Hmm, sounds a bit too much like Jillian Hess's "Re-Noted" posts). I digress...
Thanks Nathan. I think that actually I am sort of refitting the retros idea from others on Substack anyway, mostly poets who fit it in the same post as the poem. Mine would be more long form, but same idea. Hopefully getting one out this week, I would love to see your take on it as well!
I know you have mentioned Paul Auster before, I will have to finally read them.
You are doing great work with The Matterhorn, Kate. I don't read all of your work, but what I have read about truth in fiction has influenced a lot of this essay, so thank you.
Thank you, Clancy. That’s such a kind comment. Likewise, I always enjoy your work when I have a chance to read it!
You’ll see these ideas throughout Auster’s fiction, perhaps climaxing in the 4321 tome, but you could start with the short novella City of Glass that plays with the concert through naming quite a lot. Probably it’s online. It’s also a graphic novel!
Reading is absolutely transactional. Fiction is entirely interactive. Readers take in the writer's words, and create their own meaning by applying their own personal schema -- their own life experience, their education, their age, their values, etc. That is why three people can read the same book and come away with entirely different understandings of it. As writers, we never know what the readers will perceive, what sense they will make of our stories. We put it out there, and we let go. We have no control over what our readers think. I found this particularly salient, Clancy: "If you ever are curious to know who Clancy Steadwell truly is, I am proud to simply point you toward my stories.... you may get a picture of the life this author inhabits, learn a little more about your own in the process, and the fictions within yourself and us all." It is the best we can hope for.
Nothing but love and admiration for the effort. And your skills as a writer and leader around these parts. It’s a long haul {checks word count on current, stalled novel} but I’m glad you’ve come over the threshold. Turn on the paid option and I’m there.
Reading is one mind speaking to another. I don't know if a one-way communication act counts as a transaction. But when the reader, on social media like this, replies to the author, that is most certainly a transaction. Better yet if the author replies to the reply. Meta-meta-schmameta!
[late to the party here] I like the transactional nature of reading/writing for this reason: intent and reaction are blind to both parties. In that way we’re both the unreliable narrator throughout.
Keep writing, under whatever auspices. I’ll keep reading.
Great stuff :) I like this - When I publish something, what I can promise is that, if you are willing to step inside the barricades of our little black rectangles, I will give you something for five to eight minutes. At the break room, the bus stop, the grocery line, waiting at the doctor, between sets at the gym.
I think I provide a window into a life ( mine ) of a Gen X spaz... some people may be interested... and it may evoke emotion :)
This is thoughtful and thought-provoking. Much of what you say I agree with instantly. You are at times coming at things from a different place from me - but I value that the more, because what you describe is compelling. I think fiction for you does some of the same things poetry does for me. Thank you for this engaging read.
Incredibly strong piece. One thing I struggle with is that, as a pseudonymous author, developing an online persona increasingly seems like a requirement for successfully marketing an indie novel (examples of this like "Delicious Tacos" come to mind). Personally, I'm not keen on doing this, not merely because of plain-old ego-mitigation reasons, but also because I like to firewall my private life from my public life. Fiction is sufficient for me to express myself, I don't need to diarize my day-to-day life in order to receive a creative benefit.
I hope the use of a pseudonym does help you get free from your ego. I know it wouldn't for me. But even as myself I don't see how I can be a trustworthy narrator. I don't trust my own memories and definitely not my feelings. Interesting article. It makes me reflect on how these days a lot of people--especially deciders-- seem more interested in author's life's stories than the stories they have to say...
Thanks for reading Remy -- you definitely got the gist of it.
I agree -- even if I was myself, I wouldn't be a trustworthy narrator. I don't think many can. But I feel the need to escape from that false pretense. I feel the need to warn everyone of that, hence the pseudonym.
You know, I’ve struggled with this same issue often. All I can recall is a word here, a shape there. Just fuzzy emotions, most of which I blacked out only to now struggle to remember.
This piece gave me a lot to think on this morning ... “It’s apparent that the masses want reading to be instructive or prescriptive”… the Brontë sister in me really fucking hopes not.
care about both. writing and whose writing it. if beckett did it I am in. as I go through the new fiction at midtown manhanny -- its I hate to say, boring. seriously meh. very few serious noodlers --- its more about figuring things out on a fictional level that engages in its excitations and equivocations, using characters as fate -- but I like fiddlers who riddle with language, who've read adorno s the negative dialectic! -- adorno read beckett and i am not sure but I am pretty sure that beckett read adorno....we ARE who we read -- ha -- I am after those who perver the cause of just is --- like books that break wind.. joyce actually includes a "rasberry" in one of his books.... thanks for this nicely put, writing is on a certain wavelength always a question of faith...
I want to read more of these essays, PNP.
We are constantly stimulated to read dead, digested information instead of experiencing it through the imagination system. From reading fiction, I gain wisdom to act with self-discernment. From reading non-fiction, I gain knowledge to proceed with prudence and running the risk of forgetting what the next step was.
Thanks Igga, I’ll do my best!
You are funny and thought-provoking, give you that. You remind me of the quote, "Art is the lie that tells the truth". And for all I know you might really be a porn star. Who knew Harry Reams was such a literary intellectual? But seriously, the problem with much fiction is that it's a time-waster. Without any particular grain of truth, but merely pure entertainment giving you a place to focus your attention other than the real world. There are a lot of readers out there I think. They just want to escape this madhouse for a little while. So... there are those looking for escape and there are those looking for some nugget of information they can maybe use. There's so much to know. And time is limited. You have to make your writing worth the readers time. We shall see how you do.
Thanks for reading Keith. Most of 'stack is fiction if you want to check it out and judge for yourself!
I'll check it out. I've been off and on with Substack for about 6 months now. While I've seen plenty of stuff I'd consider fictional if not downright delusional, most of it claims to be non-fiction. As far as I've seen, but I know I'm seeing just a small sliver of the whole. Do you ever just wander around Substack, gawking at all the different stuff that's out there???
Ahhhh, this says for me all the grumbly-things I’ve had rumbling around in my head.
(Still reading, paused to say this).
I'm with you, brother.
This was a sublime essay, Clancy. So articulate, so relatable. Many things I would like to quote, but right now my little black rectangle's application won't let me highlight words. Weird. Anyway, so good. I inhaled this. I would inhale more. And fiction. And the retros. Those sound excellent. (I have been pondering doing something similar with one piece, once it is finished. So I hope you don't mind if I do. I won't call it a retro, though. I'll call it a, err, Slakros? No, that doesn't work. Re-slake? Hmm, sounds a bit too much like Jillian Hess's "Re-Noted" posts). I digress...
Keep it up. The Venn diagram's maw is waiting.
Thanks Nathan. I think that actually I am sort of refitting the retros idea from others on Substack anyway, mostly poets who fit it in the same post as the poem. Mine would be more long form, but same idea. Hopefully getting one out this week, I would love to see your take on it as well!
Awesome. Looking forward to reading the first one!
And thanks, it'll be in a little while for me, once The Sernox is completed.
You are sounding a lot like Paul Auster, and I mean that as a huge compliment. I mean in regards to your pseudonym & metafiction.
Long live fiction! Some people want it. I’m educating the youth so they continue to want it and understand it’s inherent truths.
I know you have mentioned Paul Auster before, I will have to finally read them.
You are doing great work with The Matterhorn, Kate. I don't read all of your work, but what I have read about truth in fiction has influenced a lot of this essay, so thank you.
Thank you, Clancy. That’s such a kind comment. Likewise, I always enjoy your work when I have a chance to read it!
You’ll see these ideas throughout Auster’s fiction, perhaps climaxing in the 4321 tome, but you could start with the short novella City of Glass that plays with the concert through naming quite a lot. Probably it’s online. It’s also a graphic novel!
Reading is absolutely transactional. Fiction is entirely interactive. Readers take in the writer's words, and create their own meaning by applying their own personal schema -- their own life experience, their education, their age, their values, etc. That is why three people can read the same book and come away with entirely different understandings of it. As writers, we never know what the readers will perceive, what sense they will make of our stories. We put it out there, and we let go. We have no control over what our readers think. I found this particularly salient, Clancy: "If you ever are curious to know who Clancy Steadwell truly is, I am proud to simply point you toward my stories.... you may get a picture of the life this author inhabits, learn a little more about your own in the process, and the fictions within yourself and us all." It is the best we can hope for.
You are totally right Sharron, thanks for reading.
These are thoughts I’ve had for a long, long time. I felt I finally had to get them out there.
I am standing, clapping. Ole 💃🏻 Clancy, bravo, bravissimo.
*bows*
Mos Def's quote, "All great music lovers try to make music at some point,"
Nothing but love and admiration for the effort. And your skills as a writer and leader around these parts. It’s a long haul {checks word count on current, stalled novel} but I’m glad you’ve come over the threshold. Turn on the paid option and I’m there.
Um, somehow my comment was on the wrong entry. Ugh. I need sleep without toddlers.
Haha no it’s fair, this post is pinned to the top of my page and the cover photo looks similar.
Glad to have you onboard Mr. Curtis!!
Reading is one mind speaking to another. I don't know if a one-way communication act counts as a transaction. But when the reader, on social media like this, replies to the author, that is most certainly a transaction. Better yet if the author replies to the reply. Meta-meta-schmameta!
[late to the party here] I like the transactional nature of reading/writing for this reason: intent and reaction are blind to both parties. In that way we’re both the unreliable narrator throughout.
Keep writing, under whatever auspices. I’ll keep reading.
Great point Mr. Curtis. Thank you — I’ll try!
Great stuff :) I like this - When I publish something, what I can promise is that, if you are willing to step inside the barricades of our little black rectangles, I will give you something for five to eight minutes. At the break room, the bus stop, the grocery line, waiting at the doctor, between sets at the gym.
I think I provide a window into a life ( mine ) of a Gen X spaz... some people may be interested... and it may evoke emotion :)
Thanks Mr. Blackbird! I will have to check it out!
This is thoughtful and thought-provoking. Much of what you say I agree with instantly. You are at times coming at things from a different place from me - but I value that the more, because what you describe is compelling. I think fiction for you does some of the same things poetry does for me. Thank you for this engaging read.
Thank you for reading and for your thoughts Thomas. We are all coming from our own place. I’m glad we can open our hearts and understand each other.
Incredibly strong piece. One thing I struggle with is that, as a pseudonymous author, developing an online persona increasingly seems like a requirement for successfully marketing an indie novel (examples of this like "Delicious Tacos" come to mind). Personally, I'm not keen on doing this, not merely because of plain-old ego-mitigation reasons, but also because I like to firewall my private life from my public life. Fiction is sufficient for me to express myself, I don't need to diarize my day-to-day life in order to receive a creative benefit.
I've written a similar piece some time ago, which you might enjoy: https://www.decentralizedfiction.com/p/online-pseudonymity-and-the-post
Thanks for reading ARX-Han, I think we are like-minded. I'll check your post out!