8 Questions for... Cole Haddon
Spotlight on 5AM StoryTalk
Novelist, screenwriter, and journalist, Cole Haddon’s debut novel PSALMS FOR THE END OF THE WORLD is out now from Headline Books. He writes 5AM StoryTalk, and also drinks a lot of coffee.
1. Why Substack?
It was a practical decision for me. I’m a ferociously prolific writer, so I found pitching arts articles to papers and magazines with which I had relationships incredibly tedious and the time that took just felt like a distraction from the actual writing that primarily drives me. The process was too slow, I guess you’d say. I wanted immediate gratification. It’s probably worth noting that I’m a full-time screenwriter and novelist. That takes up most of my creative energy, but that doesn’t mean everything I write always fulfils me the way I want it to - which is what I was after with these essays and articles I was developing. To have space where I could discuss art and life through an art lens on my own terms – from my very specific, weird POV – according to my own timeline. And perhaps build up a community around that. Most importantly, a space where I could justify the extra time I spent writing and away from my family by adding to my income in some way. This was too good of an opportunity for me to pass up.
2. How long did it take you to find your groove?
I’m an old hand at this at this point. I’ve been a professional writer for twenty years, so I know how to self-manage and write according to a schedule - and I came into this with a strong idea about what I was going to do here. So, I wouldn’t say much time at all. Working out how readers like to consume words here was a bit more challenging. How often to publish before people tuned you out, how to stagger shorter and longer articles to avoid reader fatigue – these sorts of things took seven or eight months to really work out.
3. How has it changed you?
I’m not sure if “change” is the right word. But it has helped me grow as an artist in unexpected ways. One of the challenges of a life in the arts is how most of that life is spent doing a thing rather than explaining it in detail. My Substack 5AM StoryTalk is entirely focused on storytelling in all its forms. Primarily, this means for the screen and page, including comic books, but I often write about music and fine art, as well. This means I have to somehow convey what I understand about these forms in ways that feel practical and maybe even meaningful to readers even though I may never have done articulated as much beforehand. Consequently, each article or essay is both a challenge and discovery about whatever I’m talking about and how I see and understand art. To top that off, I have these epically long conversations with other artists often working at much higher levels of their game than I am. Sometimes these people are friends, sometimes they’re just people whose work I admire. And together, we discuss subjects we haven’t had to put words to before. I think that act, of putting into words what we’ve learned, our personal creative philosophies, giving shape to our craft in some way, has been hugely edifying for me. I’m told it often is for my subjects, too.
4. What mistakes have you made?
I’m not sure I have made any that I’m aware of yet, at least not any of consequence. 5AM StoryTalk is a passion project for me, so there are course corrections along the way, to make sure the time I’m putting into it is reaching readers in the most effective way, in a way that also services their needs so this isn’t wholly a vanity project, but I find the whole process fairly straight-forward. Again, I’m an old hat at this at this point. I’m just trying to have fun.
5. To pay or not to pay?
As I mentioned, I’m a professional writer and have been for some time. I believe Substack is a platform for people at many different stages of their careers, but, for me, I have to measure the time I spend on a thing by looking at two factors: passion/compulsion and time I could spend doing other things that add value to my life. What I mean is, while my experience on Substack is incredibly satisfying to me, I could spend that time writing another book or maybe a spec script, things that would otherwise also fulfil me and likely improve my whole family’s ability to do the things we love to do together – such as getting out into nature, travel, theater and culture in general, obnoxious amusement parks with my kids. This is just another way of saying, it was necessary from the start for me to turn this into a venture that did have some financial reward. But while this is true, what is also true is that I keep the vast majority of my Substack free for “the dreamers” as I refer to aspiring and emerging writers. I was one myself once, after all. Not everyone can afford to pay for a Substack, certainly if they’re pursuing a life in the arts, and I want to make sure they can get as much as possible from what I’m sharing, too – while not pretending that what I do, my art, isn’t without value.
6. What artistic and technical choices have you made?
Artistically speaking, I decided early on to only publish articles and essays about art that I care about regardless of how others react to my eclectic tastes and promiscuousness when it comes to mediums. I’d probably be better served branding better, I mean. You know, only writing about screenwriting, or only writing about fiction, etcetera. But that’s not what I’m here for.
Regarding technical choices, I discovered I have to impose a publishing schedule on what I do at 5AM StoryTalk, or I’ll simply spend too much time here. I get excited about an idea and can’t stop myself. So, regimented publishing is best for me.
7. What’s been the effect on your writing?
Only positive. Screenwriting and prose fiction have very erratic demands on my time. I can get very out of shape in one while focusing on the other. More and more, too much outlining time can mean no writing-writing for a couple of months at a time. 5AM StoryTalk means I never stop constructing sentences that matter to me, which is great for my creative muscles and probably even better for my mental health.
8. In it for the long haul?
I don’t think anyone can make that promise. Not with corporations’ tendency to change financial incentives once they trap artists, or the possibility of other, more appropriate platforms for filmmaking types emerging. I mean, Substack doesn’t even have a film/TV (screen) category. These art forms are the most powerful transmitters of culture in the entire world and Substack doesn’t think they warrant a category. That’s not only concerning, but a little insulting to me, to be honest. But all this said, I have no intention of going anywhere unless I’m forced to. I’m just enjoying myself and the community I’m building here far too much.
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Thank you so much for letting me join your 8 Questions series, Eleanor. I enjoyed answering the questions!
"5AM StoryTalk means I never stop constructing sentences that matter to me, which is great for my creative muscles." I found this a compelling way of describing creative practice.