I love the writer P.G. Wodehouse. Or, more exactly, I love his characters. Or rather, I love the characters’ voices. Wodehouse, like Douglas Adams, is best experienced in book form because the quirky, often hilarious voice really comes alive.
I love those voices so much that I created a homage to his Jeeves and Wooster duo in Neville and the Arabian Luncheon. (Neville himself has such a strong voice that I’m intimidated to return for a second book. I need to work my way up to that.)
I was exposed to Jeeves and Wooster at a formative age when visiting a British family who had the Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie television series on video tape from the UK. I then progressed to the Blandings Castle series (which also has television episodes now) and believe I have, without intention, married a modern version of Galahad Threepwood (the clever bachelor brother of Lord Emsworth who has the enviable ability to get friends out of metaphorical pickles [Creativity would have had a field day if I hadn’t specified what kind of pickles]).
To me, and many Wodehouse fans, when I think of Wodehouse, I think of Wooster and I think of Blandings. (I should also probably think of Psmith, but I’m still developing my liking for him.)
A couple of months ago I started listening to the first Blandings book which is called Something Fresh. In the foreword of it, Wodehouse mentions that he chose the name because he wanted to write something different to what he had previously written. Interesting, I thought.
I thought no more of it until I happened to listen to the short story that introduces Jeeves and Wooster (called “Jeeves Takes Charge” in the collection Carry On, Jeeves). I was stunned to hear a reference to Blandings and the Earl of Emsworth.
So how far, I wondered, into his production line of books did he come up with this iconic characters?
According to Wikipedia (if you have a better source for this, do share), Wodehouse had his first book published in 1902 (my keyboard had a spasm and wrote 119022. That publication date must belong to a different Wodehouse). 15 books later, in 1915, he published Something Fresh. “Jeeves Takes Charge” was published in 1916.
That means it took him almost 15 years to begin writing the books that I love him for. 15 years.
This reminds me of another fact that I have rattling around in my brain.
When you think of the Bee Gees, do you think of falsetto? That high pitched, iconic sound? The Bee Gees were formed in 1958. The first single to feature Barry Gibb’s falsetto was “Nights On Broadway” was came out…Any guesses? 1975.
Yep, over 15 years between starting out and hitting the thing that they would become known for.
What’s the point behind all these random facts?
When people make it big with their first published book or their first single or their first artistic showing, it makes news. People ooh and aah and the rest of us wonder what it takes to break out into the world with fully formed and popular ideas. And it likely makes us second guess what we’re trying to produce. Is it good enough? Is it going to define me? Do I want it to define me? Is it memorable? Do I only get one shot at this? How can I make my first (or latest) book the ultimate best thing I’ll produce?
You get the idea.
For me, I love collecting examples of people who produce a lot and over a long period of time and eventually produce something that stands out and helps them know what they need to do more of. That, to me, is much more attainable and also comforting. I don’t need to figure it out now. I just need to keep going. I just need to write things I love and share them with the world and each thing I make gives me a bigger chance of hitting success.
I wonder why that is… Maybe Creativity has a thought…
Well, for starters, you don’t want to hit it big with your first offering. Trust me, it gets all up in your head. You end up thinking: Why did people like it? How do I do that again? Am I a one-hit wonder? Is what I’m creating good enough? Should I be creating something else? What if no one likes what I’m making? How long can I leave Parmesan cheese out of the fridge? (Or is that just me? Do you know the answer?)
You should be wondering: What if pigs really could fly? What would that do to the pork industry? Would pig farms need giant nets to keep the pigs in? What would a pork wing taste like?
It takes time and practice to get a good creative flow and trust your Creativity. You need practice creating things with no one’s opinions in your head, so that when you finally do hear other people’s opinions about what you’re making they don’t impact you as much.
Creativity is like a muscle (imagine me super, super buff!) and needs plenty of exercise. The more you work with your Creativity, the stronger your Creativity becomes and the stronger your relationship with your Creativity becomes. And that means, you’re always ready to try knew things, to take existing projects in new directions, to take inspiration from different things and percolate on the matter, to dress up in Victorian dress and bonnet and go grocery shopping. (Again, just me?)
The more you let your Creativity create, the more you learn. As you learn, your skills strengthen and you gain courage to try new and outrageous projects. The more projects you work on, the more likely you are to hit something that people will like and remember. And ultimately, the more things you create that you love.
That’s the key, do things you love. Do plenty of them. Then send them out in the world and let them have a life of their own.
(But seriously, if you know about that Parmesan thing, let me know.)
That pretty much sums it up, except to say that I have never dressed up in a Victorian dress and bonnet to go grocery shopping. The fact that I don’t own a Victorian dress and bonnet is completely inconsequential.
“Let’s Stop Talking About Debut Novels and Start Talking About These,” copyright © 2024 by Jessica Baverstock. Image at the top of the blog from Pixabay/GDJ.