There is an excellent new podcast episode with Ian Rankin and Count Binface where the (extraterrestrial) interviewer asked the question about how we process information in an age where so many previously reliable news sources are biased. How do we keep ourselves thinking? Rankin replied that he thought that writing fiction enabled authors to plant thoughts in readers’ heads without trying to appear to be an expert on the matter or preaching to them.
I found this comment exciting because, in many ways, this is why I chose to write Human Software rather than continuing along some consultancy path in IT. IT consultants have to sell themselves by selling new and interesting ideas that promise their clients gains. Having seen the dubious gains of productivity consulting from both sides of the equation, I couldn’t in all honesty or good faith sell ideas to people when I know they don’t work. Perhaps, though, I could sell them a book which allowed them to think critically about their working world, though?
Therefore as I edge towards publication, I am starting to worry less about how my first novel is perceived and I’m getting more excited about what happens after publication. About what happens next?
The Shitty First Novel
I’ve been writing blogs for a few years, worked as a freelance journalist a couple of decades ago, and did okay at school in my English and English Literature O and A/O Levels. I also wrote some bad poetry as short-form fiction in my late twenties. However, I’m not an accomplished writer—not yet. The way you get better at writing is by writing. Therefore, I should accept that my first novel probably isn’t going to be very good, but thanks to the wonders of the modern world, I can still publish it and garner feedback.
Perhaps therefore the job of the writing is purely to beget more writing and better writing? Edging closer to a truth that I am always searching for.
Anne Lamott talks about the Shitty First Draft in her book Bird by Bird. Perhaps I’ve written the Shitty First Novel. It’s a statement that I need to make in order to support a statement.
Human Software could be seen as a stepping stone to the next thought. Many of the characters I’ve created, including the protagonists, Beth and Chrissie, are people you will, I hope, recognise in the working world around you. They are deeply flawed individuals, but their hearts are in the right place. They are well-meaning most of the time and yet find themselves trapped in situations which could and do have disastrous consequences. One of our antagonists is a likeable but ultimately useless manager. If you think he might seem familiar, I urge you to read The Gervais Principle.
I’ve just sent the final large edit off to my editor. The edits won’t be complete for the end of July, and so I won’t be launching the book in August while everyone is on holiday, so unfortunately you’ll need to wait until September to get your hands on Human Software. Hopefully, the little extra wait will be worth it.