Finally ‘found’ half an hour to read this (how ridiculous is that), and it’s just beautiful. I hope you don’t mind me saying - as a friend, NOT a fucking critic - that you’ve always been so good at form and structure (and funny) that I’m sometimes too dazzled to acknowledge the *you* of it all. Obviously, it was there all along (duh), but it’s lovely to turn up to something where you get equal billing and we get to join you as you figure stuff out. It’s a generous piece of writing, *that’s* what this is :-)
Perhaps it isn't appropriate to comment on such an intricate and intimate piece of writing, and if so, I do apologize. But wow. I really can't express in words how much I enjoyed this post.
I didn't expect to read it to the end. So often essays of this length devolve into drivel and navel gazing and often the only solution is to skim and skip over the surface trying to distinguish the insipid from the insightful. But there was no need to skim here.
Your comments on notetaking, your narration of the creative sparks that unfolded from that hotel room in Paris onward, and your weaving of various sources and historical facts in your descriptions and analysis, not to mention your evocative and skilled deployment of language, elevated this piece and made it hum with electricity.
I started following you after discovering the Lovecraft Investigations -- a brilliant series and a masterclass in modern storytelling. And I am delighted to have found your substack. This piece -- along with several others you have written -- have resonated with me deeply.
I am in awe of your technique and skill and I wanted to let you know -- as if it needed to be said -- that I am glad to be a subscriber and I thank you kindly for sharing some of your journey, past and present, with us. So much so that I have upgraid to paid.
I apologize if I sound like a love sick teenager or sycophantic fan, but it feels so rare for someone of your calibre and with your creativity to provide this kind of insight into their process, and their history. Perhaps part of this piece have been varnished and polished to a high gleam, perhaps that is inevitable in public discourse, but for me this felt honest and sincere and hopeful. And I am grateful that you took the time to publish it.
Thanks so much!! It did start off just being a piece about notebooks and then it seems to have gone off the rails. But I like where it went, and I’m pleased you were happy to go with it.
I am certainly a sucker for posts about notebooks and notetaking. I find myself seesawing between poles about the value of my notebooks. So your title definitely drew me in and I found your comments on the history of notebooks interesting.
But it was the first entry. Your description of Emerson Hyde and how he sprang to life in your notebook that had me hooked. I suppose that project has calcified and can't be resurrected but he sounds like a character I would love to read about. Or watch. Or listen. Haha. But as you say, perhaps some creations are at their peak at the moment of their conception, everything after is a compromise.
I've never been good with notebooks or journals, but this has inspired me to dig out a new notebook to, hopefully, help me work my way through all the changes that are coming down the pike at me right now. So thank you for that!
This post is also perfectly timed: Sunday is the day that Warren Ellis sends out his newsletter, but he's busy at the moment so today's is pretty short.
Finally ‘found’ half an hour to read this (how ridiculous is that), and it’s just beautiful. I hope you don’t mind me saying - as a friend, NOT a fucking critic - that you’ve always been so good at form and structure (and funny) that I’m sometimes too dazzled to acknowledge the *you* of it all. Obviously, it was there all along (duh), but it’s lovely to turn up to something where you get equal billing and we get to join you as you figure stuff out. It’s a generous piece of writing, *that’s* what this is :-)
This is a truly superb piece. Loved it, and have saved to read again.
Thank you!!
Perhaps it isn't appropriate to comment on such an intricate and intimate piece of writing, and if so, I do apologize. But wow. I really can't express in words how much I enjoyed this post.
I didn't expect to read it to the end. So often essays of this length devolve into drivel and navel gazing and often the only solution is to skim and skip over the surface trying to distinguish the insipid from the insightful. But there was no need to skim here.
Your comments on notetaking, your narration of the creative sparks that unfolded from that hotel room in Paris onward, and your weaving of various sources and historical facts in your descriptions and analysis, not to mention your evocative and skilled deployment of language, elevated this piece and made it hum with electricity.
I started following you after discovering the Lovecraft Investigations -- a brilliant series and a masterclass in modern storytelling. And I am delighted to have found your substack. This piece -- along with several others you have written -- have resonated with me deeply.
I am in awe of your technique and skill and I wanted to let you know -- as if it needed to be said -- that I am glad to be a subscriber and I thank you kindly for sharing some of your journey, past and present, with us. So much so that I have upgraid to paid.
I apologize if I sound like a love sick teenager or sycophantic fan, but it feels so rare for someone of your calibre and with your creativity to provide this kind of insight into their process, and their history. Perhaps part of this piece have been varnished and polished to a high gleam, perhaps that is inevitable in public discourse, but for me this felt honest and sincere and hopeful. And I am grateful that you took the time to publish it.
Thanks so much!! It did start off just being a piece about notebooks and then it seems to have gone off the rails. But I like where it went, and I’m pleased you were happy to go with it.
I am certainly a sucker for posts about notebooks and notetaking. I find myself seesawing between poles about the value of my notebooks. So your title definitely drew me in and I found your comments on the history of notebooks interesting.
But it was the first entry. Your description of Emerson Hyde and how he sprang to life in your notebook that had me hooked. I suppose that project has calcified and can't be resurrected but he sounds like a character I would love to read about. Or watch. Or listen. Haha. But as you say, perhaps some creations are at their peak at the moment of their conception, everything after is a compromise.
This was an absolutely lovely piece!
I've never been good with notebooks or journals, but this has inspired me to dig out a new notebook to, hopefully, help me work my way through all the changes that are coming down the pike at me right now. So thank you for that!
I'm here to second everything Joseph has written.
This post is also perfectly timed: Sunday is the day that Warren Ellis sends out his newsletter, but he's busy at the moment so today's is pretty short.
Good to have you back.
If Ellis has got time to dick about in his garden, he doesn’t know the meaning of the word busy!
That's fair. So long as *you're* the one who tells him