I think hearing about the process of an author’s work will be pretty cool. It will be interesting to learn what happens behind the scenes when they’re writing, and all the hard work that goes into the books. Also, oh my gosh a secret project!!! I can’t wait! You are so awesome Soman! :)
I love the finished product as much I'd like the work behind it.
It's true that AI has seeped in so much that true artists are being left behind, but I don't think AI can create the way the human mind does nor will it be the topmost quality.
I love. love. love process: My forthcoming picture book is about embracing process and practice, and not product and perfection! I'm also inspired by process. Two exhibitions I've seen in recent years — “Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory,” a display of 90+ never-before-exhibited objects from some 400 boxes of Morrison’s manuscript drafts, speeches, correspondence, photographs and other ephemera and "The Road to Busytown: Richard Scarry’s Life in Fairfield County," an exhibit of rare family photographs, original illustrations and sketches from Scarry's 17 years in Westport and Ridgefield, Connecticut — e.g., really moved me to think about my own process (and documentation of that process).
Wow, both of those sound amazing. I think the recent ethos was not to keep much of anything, since it was all digital and it wasn't like the old days where we had so much on paper. But we need to change that, otherwise it'll all get overwhelmed by the robots.
i was listening to a writing podcast yesterday and they were trying to answer the "voice" question and brought up the van gogh museum in amsterdam... that they take you from his early influences, mimicking other artists' styles and POV, until his own unique style emerged. i love to know where it all started and evolved!
and pooja: have you been to the NYPL treasures exhibit? i know it's constantly rotating, but they have AMAZING drafts from toni and langston hughes and beethoven and kerouac, etc, it's just incredible so see how it all began!! :D
Hi Hallie! I gained a newfound appreciation for Van Gogh after visiting the museum in Amsterdam. (They also tell the story about his mental health in a way that I found both respectful and refreshing.)
I have been subscribed to your Substack for a LONG time, but this is my first time commenting. I am a huge fan of yours (as a 19 year old who fell in love with the School for Good and Evil series in elementary). I met you once at the North Texas Teen Book Festival last year and I literally cried from joy HAHA. Just wanted to say I am so excited for the secret project, I saw your instagram post with Victoria Aveyard!!
Also, as a first-gen daughter of immigrants who currently attends an Ivy League... the pressure is definitely still around. Stress culture is insane, but thank you for opening up to us readers about your process and who you really are. You are my favorite author!! (Plus, I honestly think SGE was the first glimmer of lgbtq themes in children/YA novels -- unsure if it was intentional but the gender swapping and Agatha/Sophie kissing changed my life LOL and it probably contributed to me realizing I was bisexual. So thank you)
I absolutely agree that people are starting to invest as heavily into the Process as the Content. It also just adds humanity to the work and makes the work so much more impressive than it already was. For example, everyone loved Arcane, and after I watched the documentary about making it- Arcane: Bridging the Rift- I loved it even more. Parasocially, I am so proud of the creatives for pouring their blood and soul into their work, and knowing how much of a success the final product was, makes every gripping, stressful moment worth it (and I am just a viewer! I can’t imagine what the actual creatives were feeling!)
I think as artists, we're also learning to appreciate the creative process more since the threat is there to take it away from us. In the long run, it's only going to enhance our humanity.
Eeeee I'm so excited about your secret project!! I can't wait to hear more. And I think you're spot on, but I admit that I'm naturally a bit of a chatterbox and oversharer so I sort of welcome the wide-opening of the process doors. Interesting to think about it in this way. And we're both 90s kids, so a Dexter's Lab frame was a perfect way to start my day :D
I always care about hearing artists’ process, and maybe that’s because I’m an artist myself! But ultimately, I always care about the art itself too. It’s the culmination of the hard work and that means the world to me as a reader. Can’t wait for the surprise reveal!
Brilliant and ironic that the robots will lead us to expose our humanity. But you're darn tootin' The Art of Making Art ain’t AI. Thank you, as always, for framing it with such clarity, nuance, and a feeling that's entirely your own. You’re more than onto something, I’m gripped and staying tuned.
I like any content you make Soman so I'm especially honored to see your thought process behind the scenes. As a kid I've always been a little bit of behind the scenes nerd I watched special features on DVD for when they sometimes talk about how this Disney movie usually the ( 50s came to be) . For a long time Walt Disney was my hero until I realized how much of his films where already IPs because fairytale. I know Karl Lethfigured did a lot for Channel which honestly Channel needs another resurgence but he said some proven misgonstic takes on women and let's not forget Coco Chanel was a Nazi. They both where revolutionary for their time but they also where human with deep biases that plague the world today. I like seeing behind the scenes of art and food ( I love food that built America TV program) because it makes the artistic skills feel less gated to onlookers. Now you can watch Broadway singers in the recording booth. Now you can see artists are dive not because they are inherently gifted but because they trained. So thank you Soman
I think hearing an author's process is just as meaningful and exciting as the finished work. Like I get to see what stays, what goes, how difficult, what it means and it gives more meaning as I read the finished product.
i don't think not trusting the work is new. (see also: a decades of instagram filters, photoshopped photos in magazines, SFX and CGI, etc.)
photos are no longer admissible in court. even "recorded" phone calls can no longer be "evidence" because of AI.
(see also: james frey's latest being written by AI. if it's true, and acknowledged, WhyTH did it even get published???? makes me SICK.)
i also think people have alllllways been interested in the creation process.
see also: the most popular posts i ever make are time-lapse painting videos. (which i've moved to patreon because of meta stealing all art and photos to illegally feed their AI machines, which no one asked for, blatantly robbing all artists and authors of their copyrights along the way....)
so i'm here for the process.
my middle grade novel query was pitched "for those who, like me, love the director's commentary more than the work itself."
(it's also why i hate streaming vs. owning the disc. I'M JUST HERE FOR THE BONUS FEATURES!)
i'm also the disney nerd who can name all the renaissance of animation in chronological order not because of the trailers, but because i have a library full of "the art of pocahontas," "the art of the hunchback of notre dame," tarzan, mulan, etc etc because i like to see the concept art and how the artists arrived at the final product.
it's why i studied faerie tales for decades: to see where the tales began across centuries and cultures before being disney-fied and retold for the masses.
so there's my eighty current soapboxes all to say YES TO THE NEW WORK! huzzah and drop it, soman!! we're READY!!! eeeeee!!!!!!!!!!
hopesfully it'll help tide us over for YW.
& does this mean you no longer HATE it when people ask you about your writing process? :)
It's not that I hate it, I just usually don't know what to say. It all feels very magical and hard to explain. BUT I think letting people in on it little by little will also give me experience talking about it. This diary has already been a big window into my process. But more to come as I unveil parts of YW... And your MG novel sounds awesome!
and soooo curious what the secret project is! :D (if i knew what it was i could get in line!!! hahaha.)
and thank you: i LOVE it. and my young beta readers loved it, too. just gotta make it real so i can thank them all in the acknowledgements...! ;) my agent said she'll be spending the summer "poking" editors and checking in... so happy thoughts and fingers crossed and prayers and manifesting and all the things that do no good to speed up the publishing process..... ;) <3
but yay for letting people in to how the art got made. :)
I think hearing about the process of an author’s work will be pretty cool. It will be interesting to learn what happens behind the scenes when they’re writing, and all the hard work that goes into the books. Also, oh my gosh a secret project!!! I can’t wait! You are so awesome Soman! :)
Stay tuned... :))
I love the finished product as much I'd like the work behind it.
It's true that AI has seeped in so much that true artists are being left behind, but I don't think AI can create the way the human mind does nor will it be the topmost quality.
Agreed. But we need to be able to document this!
Thank you for letting us all in!
You're so welcome!
I love. love. love process: My forthcoming picture book is about embracing process and practice, and not product and perfection! I'm also inspired by process. Two exhibitions I've seen in recent years — “Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory,” a display of 90+ never-before-exhibited objects from some 400 boxes of Morrison’s manuscript drafts, speeches, correspondence, photographs and other ephemera and "The Road to Busytown: Richard Scarry’s Life in Fairfield County," an exhibit of rare family photographs, original illustrations and sketches from Scarry's 17 years in Westport and Ridgefield, Connecticut — e.g., really moved me to think about my own process (and documentation of that process).
Wow, both of those sound amazing. I think the recent ethos was not to keep much of anything, since it was all digital and it wasn't like the old days where we had so much on paper. But we need to change that, otherwise it'll all get overwhelmed by the robots.
i was listening to a writing podcast yesterday and they were trying to answer the "voice" question and brought up the van gogh museum in amsterdam... that they take you from his early influences, mimicking other artists' styles and POV, until his own unique style emerged. i love to know where it all started and evolved!
and pooja: have you been to the NYPL treasures exhibit? i know it's constantly rotating, but they have AMAZING drafts from toni and langston hughes and beethoven and kerouac, etc, it's just incredible so see how it all began!! :D
Hi Hallie! I gained a newfound appreciation for Van Gogh after visiting the museum in Amsterdam. (They also tell the story about his mental health in a way that I found both respectful and refreshing.)
i’ll get there someday!!! glad it was as great as i’ve heard!! 😄🎨🧡
I have been subscribed to your Substack for a LONG time, but this is my first time commenting. I am a huge fan of yours (as a 19 year old who fell in love with the School for Good and Evil series in elementary). I met you once at the North Texas Teen Book Festival last year and I literally cried from joy HAHA. Just wanted to say I am so excited for the secret project, I saw your instagram post with Victoria Aveyard!!
Also, as a first-gen daughter of immigrants who currently attends an Ivy League... the pressure is definitely still around. Stress culture is insane, but thank you for opening up to us readers about your process and who you really are. You are my favorite author!! (Plus, I honestly think SGE was the first glimmer of lgbtq themes in children/YA novels -- unsure if it was intentional but the gender swapping and Agatha/Sophie kissing changed my life LOL and it probably contributed to me realizing I was bisexual. So thank you)
I absolutely agree that people are starting to invest as heavily into the Process as the Content. It also just adds humanity to the work and makes the work so much more impressive than it already was. For example, everyone loved Arcane, and after I watched the documentary about making it- Arcane: Bridging the Rift- I loved it even more. Parasocially, I am so proud of the creatives for pouring their blood and soul into their work, and knowing how much of a success the final product was, makes every gripping, stressful moment worth it (and I am just a viewer! I can’t imagine what the actual creatives were feeling!)
I think as artists, we're also learning to appreciate the creative process more since the threat is there to take it away from us. In the long run, it's only going to enhance our humanity.
Eeeee I'm so excited about your secret project!! I can't wait to hear more. And I think you're spot on, but I admit that I'm naturally a bit of a chatterbox and oversharer so I sort of welcome the wide-opening of the process doors. Interesting to think about it in this way. And we're both 90s kids, so a Dexter's Lab frame was a perfect way to start my day :D
I was the opposite of an oversharer, but then this Diary happened... :))
deeedeeeee!!! bahahahha. dexter forever.
YEP!!! And all the other 90s characters voiced by Christine Cavanagh. I would die for Chuckie Finster and Babe the pig.
I always care about hearing artists’ process, and maybe that’s because I’m an artist myself! But ultimately, I always care about the art itself too. It’s the culmination of the hard work and that means the world to me as a reader. Can’t wait for the surprise reveal!
I like seeing the progress!! If the author only gives one big reveal once it's finished, it kinda makes me wish they did a sneak peak or two!!!
Brilliant and ironic that the robots will lead us to expose our humanity. But you're darn tootin' The Art of Making Art ain’t AI. Thank you, as always, for framing it with such clarity, nuance, and a feeling that's entirely your own. You’re more than onto something, I’m gripped and staying tuned.
I like any content you make Soman so I'm especially honored to see your thought process behind the scenes. As a kid I've always been a little bit of behind the scenes nerd I watched special features on DVD for when they sometimes talk about how this Disney movie usually the ( 50s came to be) . For a long time Walt Disney was my hero until I realized how much of his films where already IPs because fairytale. I know Karl Lethfigured did a lot for Channel which honestly Channel needs another resurgence but he said some proven misgonstic takes on women and let's not forget Coco Chanel was a Nazi. They both where revolutionary for their time but they also where human with deep biases that plague the world today. I like seeing behind the scenes of art and food ( I love food that built America TV program) because it makes the artistic skills feel less gated to onlookers. Now you can watch Broadway singers in the recording booth. Now you can see artists are dive not because they are inherently gifted but because they trained. So thank you Soman
I think hearing an author's process is just as meaningful and exciting as the finished work. Like I get to see what stays, what goes, how difficult, what it means and it gives more meaning as I read the finished product.
I can't wait to see your new secret project!!
Stay tuned... :)
i don't think not trusting the work is new. (see also: a decades of instagram filters, photoshopped photos in magazines, SFX and CGI, etc.)
photos are no longer admissible in court. even "recorded" phone calls can no longer be "evidence" because of AI.
(see also: james frey's latest being written by AI. if it's true, and acknowledged, WhyTH did it even get published???? makes me SICK.)
i also think people have alllllways been interested in the creation process.
see also: the most popular posts i ever make are time-lapse painting videos. (which i've moved to patreon because of meta stealing all art and photos to illegally feed their AI machines, which no one asked for, blatantly robbing all artists and authors of their copyrights along the way....)
so i'm here for the process.
my middle grade novel query was pitched "for those who, like me, love the director's commentary more than the work itself."
(it's also why i hate streaming vs. owning the disc. I'M JUST HERE FOR THE BONUS FEATURES!)
i'm also the disney nerd who can name all the renaissance of animation in chronological order not because of the trailers, but because i have a library full of "the art of pocahontas," "the art of the hunchback of notre dame," tarzan, mulan, etc etc because i like to see the concept art and how the artists arrived at the final product.
it's why i studied faerie tales for decades: to see where the tales began across centuries and cultures before being disney-fied and retold for the masses.
so there's my eighty current soapboxes all to say YES TO THE NEW WORK! huzzah and drop it, soman!! we're READY!!! eeeeee!!!!!!!!!!
hopesfully it'll help tide us over for YW.
& does this mean you no longer HATE it when people ask you about your writing process? :)
It's not that I hate it, I just usually don't know what to say. It all feels very magical and hard to explain. BUT I think letting people in on it little by little will also give me experience talking about it. This diary has already been a big window into my process. But more to come as I unveil parts of YW... And your MG novel sounds awesome!
we are so proud of you!!! :D
and soooo curious what the secret project is! :D (if i knew what it was i could get in line!!! hahaha.)
and thank you: i LOVE it. and my young beta readers loved it, too. just gotta make it real so i can thank them all in the acknowledgements...! ;) my agent said she'll be spending the summer "poking" editors and checking in... so happy thoughts and fingers crossed and prayers and manifesting and all the things that do no good to speed up the publishing process..... ;) <3
but yay for letting people in to how the art got made. :)