On the open ocean, an anchor

Cruise notes, producing ideas, perfumed ink and the end of a top-level domain.

On Deck Four of the Navigator of the Seas, some friends and I discovered a small miracle. In a ship capable of carrying four thousand passengers, there exists a sanctuary left largely deserted: very few people would be found on the external promenade at any given time.

I’d wondered why—was it a kind of primal fear, to see an endless horizon? Or was it a nuisance to be whipped by wind and stung by ocean spray? Maybe the lifeboats secured just above the promenade drummed up a measure of existential unease, or perhaps, we’d only feel safe if we were in control of any kind of liquid when water surrounded us so thoroughly—like, in a pool, or a hot tub, preferably with a cocktail in hand. More likely, there are simply enough distractions on a cruise ship this size, that a deck with a shuffleboard and very little else didn’t warrant enough attention.

But I every chance I had, I’d walk through the Deck Four promenade, or settle into one of the chairs and watch the water. There’s just something visceral about being able to feel the raw force of the ocean, not dissimilar to walking a city street in a snowstorm, or being in the path of a cold gust upon an uphill hike. One understands immediately what it means to be mortal—something not to be taken for granted.

Speaking of being grateful, I am one of the fortunate ones who have benefited from a Writing Excuses Retreat scholarship this year, and so embarked on an adventure I might have never chosen for myself. Time is malleable even without being right next to a blackhole, and once landed back home, I struggled to process that only a mere week had passed. I’ve learned so much—thanks to the generosity of the instructors, and to the unreserved kindness of my cruise-mates.

Without any doubt, I arrived home a better writer than when I’d left.

View from Deck 4 External Promenade

One of the things that has nibbled away at my mind lately: how much credence we still give to “ideas” without giving weight to the craft (and process) of maturing them to fruition. “Where do you get your ideas from?” seems a common question posed towards successful writers and creatives. A past life working in and consulting for tech start-ups means I gravitate towards a particular stance; I still believe that ideas alone are not enough, and that one has to develop an idea to understand its likelihood of succeeding. There exists techniques for testing ideas in their infancy, but that probably deserves its own deep dive for another day—I digress.

I’m just confounded by how there seems to be comparative little discussion about how developing ideas is a skill, not a talent. If it’s a skill, it can be learned and improved upon; we don’t have to wait for a lightbulb moment. A former colleague recommended James Webb Young’s A Technique for Producing Ideas to me many years ago. While its focus is on creativity in the context of advertising, the methods proposed in such a concise, practical book have stayed with me for life.

I’d recently chatted with a writer friend (whom I admire very much) about what happens when we get stuck trying to come up with “new” ideas. But because of this book, I have little fear of rehashing concepts I might have already written, precisely because old ideas can seem new when remixed in other contexts—within worlds that have different stakes, or with characters that face different emotional challenges—where I can continually navigate using my curiosity as a compass. I suppose because I see my writing journey as an ever-evolving craft, I’ve long accepted that I can only justifiably iterate on past versions on myself.

And lo, some writerly news!

• The excerpt from my novel “Modern-Day Dragons” won the second runner-up in the Mo Siewcharran Prize and I am still stunned! Entering my story for the prize had been a last minute decision, so I never expected to make the longlist (then the shortlist). Being eventually placed in the top three has been an truly unexpected surprise. Congratulations to winners Tina and Andrea, and to the other talented longlistees! Many thanks to Hodderscape, Nielsen BookData and the wonderful John Seaton for their generosity and kind support.

• I’m excited that my contributions to two different Air and Nothingness Press projects this year are now available in print!

  • All the stories in Fathoms in the Earth are retellings of archetypal characters from Shakespeare’s The Tempest in a new worlds and contexts. My story A Book of Architecture and Other Music follows CLBN, a cyborg who sings to rubble in order to rebuild his beloved city destroyed by war.

  • Inter Librarian Loan is the latest instalment from The Librarian canon—but plot twist! It’s not just a set of brand new stories. In this collection, authors who have written for the anthologies so far were invited to write fan-fiction or divergences of each other’s works. My story This God’s Request is Off the Menu is based on Maria Schrater’s Build Your Own Library: A Solo RPG Journal Adventure which originally appeared in the Card Catalogue. It contains some cheeky political commentary, but mostly it’s a rollicking little Librarian & Satchel adventure—determined by dice.

Rabbit-hole shaped distractions

• I’m not sure I’d really enjoy scented ink because it’s a sure way for me to get a headache, but as a pen nerd who has once experimented with natural perfumery, this particular thread on the Fountain Pen Network on whether or not one should mix essential oils with ink is utterly fascinating.

• If you ever need an exact match of an RGB or hex colour to DMC embroidery floss, you now can(!) with this excellent resource.

• The Disappearance of an Internet Domain, or the end of the .io country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) because the United Kingdom has ceded sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. (This might be goodbye, *.io 😭💔)

May your journeys be smooth-sailing on open seas.