Writing and Witchcraft

I think that, by and large, writers are a superstitious bunch. We rely on inspiration at lot and it’s a whimsical force which often fails us. We go for walks to find it, as if it’s a wood sprite hiding in a forest. On the other side of things, we fear the dreaded demon known as writer’s block. We guard against it with carefully curated routines and pages of planning. Perhaps using four kinds of highlighter and committing to three hours of reading a day will keep the demon at bay? We can but hope.

Publishing, like any art-based industry, is as murky and hard to divine as the future. Success in it requires skill, but also luck. Even if you check those trade magazines as fervently as some consult their tarot cards, there’s no sure way to know how to reach success. Sometimes it can feel as though you have very little control over the world your book is trying to find a place in. 

Superstition and faith are what happens when people feel out of control. Some pray to God for help, or cross their fingers for luck, sending out query letters as part of a near-religious routine. Others attempt to make their own luck, through networking, acquiring qualifications…and practicing magic. 

I like to think of myself as a rational person. You may disagree after that last paragraph. But I believe in science, vaccines, global warming and I’m not completely sold on the afterlife. Yet at this very moment I have a cup of coffee at my elbow liberally sprinkled with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. For luck. Over my desk is a chunk of pyrite (good fortune) and another of quartz (aids concentration). I’ve been known to pray for inspiration. 

Somehow I’ve managed to square these eccentricities away with being a rational person. Don’t ask me how. It’s a delicate balance but I make it work. Mostly by not thinking about it too hard.

I’ve self-published several novels about witchcraft of different kinds. Whether or not you believe that crystals can channel inspiration your way, it’s a fact that my interest in witchcraft has been itself, an inspiration to me. So I suppose it might seem odd that the book I’m about to talk about, isn’t about witches at all. On the surface.

Stranded, my first novel to be published traditionally, is about a botanist taking part in a social experiment. Eight strangers left on a Scottish island for a year to form their own community. My protagonist, Maddy, has a lot in common with those persecuted as witches in Essex, the county of my birth. Maddy is a healer, knowledgeable in herb lore but lacking in standing and social skills. A person doomed to be ostracized. A witch, without any of my crystals and beliefs, but a witch nonetheless. 

For the duration of the novel, Maddy is trapped in a no-win situation. Damned if she stays quiet, vilified if she dares speak up. Removed from the protections of law and order, she begins to understand what it really means to be a powerless outsider. Which is at the heart of witchcraft’s history.

Magic is a tool of the marginalised and the oppressed. A way to enact justice when traditional law fails. A way to protect yourself from harm you have no physical defence against. It is, in many ways, the same as a traditional faith in God. When the chips are down, everyone needs something to believe in. Something to rely on when we’re all alone. For Maddy, this thing is at times the island itself. Or her own knowledge of plants, her gut instincts. At the height of the novel, it becomes something else entirely, taking on a life of its own.

I think one of the reasons Stranded was accepted for publication (aside from the many, many candles I burned for the cause) was this message in particular. That the instinct to believe is part of human nature. Whether it’s in lucky socks, witchcraft or science you don’t really understand. It’s something that many witches and pagans already know. But through Maddy it’s a more mainstream experience. 

In the end, we all have very little control over how our writing is received. Will your manuscript be seen by the right person, in the right mood at the right time? Maybe. Can you control any of that? Maybe not. My good fortune notwithstanding, the jury’s out on whether witchcraft will get you published. I know right? Shocking. 

But, while I sit and sip my spiced coffee, I can say with certainty that it does ‘work’. After each rejection, in the midst of the darkest nights of the soul, it helps to have something to believe in. Something so beautiful and inspiring it keeps you going and helps you find your voice. In that way witchcraft works for me. It’s not a magic wishing well that gives instant career success, but it’s a source of comfort, inspiration and focus. I think everyone needs that. Even if yours isn’t witchcraft but rather, needlework, gardening, tours of medieval ruins or what have you. If you love it, it will keep you going and influence your work in new and interesting ways every time you go back to it. 

So at the end of the day, even if my crystals are just minerals, they are at least beautiful. And this coffee tastes great, witchcraft or not. 

Twitter : @SGoodAuthor

IG : sarah_goodwin_author

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Sarah Goodwin has been a practicing witch for sixteen years. Her debut novel Stranded is available to pre-order in ebook, paperback and audiobook from all well-known retailers. It will be released on 16/09/2021

STRANDED

Eight strangers.
One island.
A secret you’d kill to keep.

When eight people arrive on the beautiful but remote Buidseach Island, they are ready for the challenge of a lifetime: to live alone for one year.

Eighteen months later, a woman is found in an isolated fishing village. She’s desperate to explain what happened to her: how the group fractured and friends became enemies; how they did what they must to survive until the boat came to collect them; how things turned deadly when the boat didn’t come…

But first Maddy must come to terms with the devastating secret that left them stranded, and her own role in the events that saw eight arrive and only three leave.

A gripping, twisty page-turner about secrets, lies and survival at all costs. Perfect for fans of The Castaways, The Sanitorium and One by One.

BUY HERE

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Writing