Labour, Life, Literature

Is motivation real? And meaningful stories I have yet to share and explore

Motivation is a Lie

Today is one of those days when I don’t have a particular topic that’s waiting to burst out of me and onto the screen. These days have thankfully been rarer since I cut back to writing one article per week, but they still happen and must be handled appropriately.

If I took just one of these inspiration-less days off, I doubt you’d ever hear from me again. That’s ADHD and motivation for you: as soon as you break a pattern, it takes tremendous effort to reassemble it.

Part of my journey recently has been coming to terms with the simple truth that motivation is a lie. If you wait for the perfect moment to do something, you’ll never do it. But if you want to do something and you make room to try it, you’ll find yourself well underway before you know it.

I recently watched an episode of Adventuring Academy on DropoutTV with Brennan Lee Mulligan in conversation with Jacob Wysocki, and was fascinated by Brennan’s take on this topic: that he’s more interested in the output of an artist’s average, even suboptimal days than in their perfect ones. But I think that makes a lot of sense in the context of making space for yourself to put the work in, rather than waiting for a perfect moment that will never come.

And the clichés certainly agree: practice makes perfect, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, et cetera. Another part of my recent journey has been taking more of these to heart, which is tough when I’ve spent my life thinking of them as inane and self-evident.

Anyway; I think one thing that’s holding me back from being excited about new topics is the sheer amount of stories currently taking up space in the back of my mind, politely waiting for their turn in the spotlight. So I thought I’d trot a few out today, if you’ll indulge me – and please let me know if any catch your interest!

Art by MK Cooper // Bearded_Artist_Studios

Those to be Continued

First off, I’d be remiss not to briefly mention the series I’ve begun discussing in-depth and still fully intend to return to. (Though part of me knows it would be most responsible to re-read them first.) Also note that nothing today is all-inclusive – I may forget a story or two.

Terra Ignota remains a mesmerizing, utterly unique work even as I approach a year since having finished it. I've written about a few of its most fascinating aspects – particularly the opposing philosophies of Sniper and J.E.D.D. MASON – but there remains so much reflection upon power, love, duty and our identity as a species left to explore. Not to mention my feelings about how the author depicts gender and class, or that one scene with Dominic that will haunt me all my days.

Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere, centered around The Stormlight Archive and Mistborn, has for a long time been more to me than a series of novels or even a complex story. It is a world come alive, filled with both entertainment and lessons about mental health and storytelling. Whether it's gods and planes of existence or dealing with SAD, I'll be coming back to Sanderson and I'll continue recommending these excellent books.

Like all its brethren in this section, The Hyperion Cantos has a special place in my heart for its unique, mind-bending story and the lessons it imparted to me. I wrote about three of the pilgrims' stories – Father Lenar Hoyt's exploration of faith through the cruciform, Sol Weintraub's task of sacrificing his de-aging daughter and The Consul's FTL relationship and anticolonial struggle – soon after my re-read this year, and would like to complete the set in one form or another. And even that's just the beginning of all that's happening in the series.

The Masquerade and The Locked Tomb are never far from the forefront of my mind, and could always show up again despite how much I’ve already written about them. Either way, rest assured that either series’ fourth book will bring me back screaming. (Of course, the same is all true for A Song of Ice and Fire – but I’ve learned my lesson about hope on that front after fifteen years.)

Cover for Jorge Luis Borges' The Library of Babel, art by Érik Desmazières

Those I’ve Touched On

In a strange way, these are the ones that seem to weigh the most on me; the fact that I've brought them up and never returned feeling like a label of inadequacy. Actually thinking about it though, I think the explanations lean more towards either 1) it's been too long and the ideas aren't as fresh or 2) I've yet to find a topic for which they offer the perfect example.

A few months ago I was baptized into Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Tyrant Philosophers series and haven't fully been the same since – the interquel novella recently came out and book four is only a few months away, so rest assured I'll be sharing about those soon enough. I also wrote briefly about Tchaikovsky's Children of Time back in the earliest days of this blog, and certainly need to write more about it – luckily book four, Children of Strife, arrives exactly one month after Pretenders to the Throne of God, so I'll have an excuse to get re-reading. (I've said it before and I'll say it again, Tchaikovsky is just as machine-like as Sanderson of late.) He's also got more books I love (Cage of Souls, Alien Clay, Ogres) and which I have yet to read (Shroud, Doors of Eden, Shadows of the Apt etc.) so expect lots more about him in the future.

I'm happy that I recently got a chance to return to Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings, but this series still deserves a lot more. The interplay of the different magic systems, the depth of characters like Verity, the way Hobb weaves mystery and politics together with traditional fantasy... but most of all, the sheer depth of emotion in Fitz's life and journey, his relationships with the Fool, Nighteyes, Molly, Burrich and Bee. It hurts because it mattered, right?

Teixcalaan and The Serpent Gates exist side-by-side in my mind for being strange, queer, women-focused duologies in simultaneously vast but all-too-narrow universes. Both are also probably worth talking about in conversation with other texts, but I definitely need to revisit Teixcalaan before I attempt to speak about it with any authority.

And you know what, you can repeat every bit of praise I've given so far about Megan Whalen Turner's The Queen's Thief series. I really need to start re-reading.

The Queen's Thief covers by Joel Tippie, image by Kristen B.

Those Breaking New Ground

My greatest crime over the almost two years of writing this blog is that I've mentioned N.K. Jemisin's name in only three articles and have never examined her works in-depth. Doubly so because her Broken Earth trilogy played a major role in my getting back into reading four years ago. That series absolutely deserves a spotlight, as does her Great Cities duology. Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms should also be in conversation with The Divine Cities and Critical Role, as I discussed last week. Again, re-reading stands in my way.

Speaking of my re-discovery of reading, The Dresden Files played a massive role in reminding me of the value of light but thrilling books. Book 18 arrives in January; oh boy. I also had a great time with the author's Codex Alera and The Aeronaut's Windlass, both of which certainly have fun parallels to discuss.

On a similar urban fantasy note – I didn't mention that The Dresden Files was urban fantasy, did I? Well, now you know – Caimh McDonnell's The Stranger Times series continues to blow my socks off with every release, the latest being Ring the Bells from October of this year. It's impossible to undersell how much comedy adds to these books, as I've previously discussed regarding KJ Parker's work.

Last but furthest from least for today, Fonda Lee's The Green Bone Saga. The Godfather with Mistborn-like magic and A Song of Ice and Fire-like tragedy. The story even sees gay and female characters slowly come to the forefront, despite starting as macho as you'd expect. Another one, like Hobb's, that has me feeling a lot of emotions just thinking about it.

Kaul Shae from The Green Bone Saga, art by mbenskydesigns

Adieu

Okay, did this turn into a recommendations list? Sure, but it also turned into my new ideas list, so let's call it even. Read these books, if ya like! Or don't, just don't doomscroll. It's killing us, I tells ya.

Thanks for reading and until next time <3