THE NOVELIST:
What it means to be a writer

Twitter is the ultimate initiative killer. Have you ever found yourself scrolling for longer than intended? Closing the app only to reopen it seconds later? In his debut novel, The Novelist, Jordan Castro explores the complexities of how social media affects the initiative of self-managed individuals.

With all the books I have read, I have never read one quite like this. Castro creates an immersive experience with this book, which lacks chapters. With only a snippet of three hours, the internal monologue of a struggling writer has no room for chapters, especially when the narrator has to check Twitter every two minutes.

The day begins as usual for the writer—waking up only to sit at the dining table and stare at a blank computer screen. He promises himself that he won’t check social media. At least, not until he’s written down some words. Even then, he manages to do everything except write. Coffee, a seemingly ordinary task, transforms into an exploration of the narrator’s struggle with drug addiction. Though this exploration gives the narrator ideas, it isn’t quite what he needs.

Each notification that pops onto his screen becomes a new distraction. Follow requests and posts from friends test the narrator’s ability to focus. He opens a new window every three minutes to check if there are any other notifications, just to close it and reopen it. The social media rabbit hole that drives the modern world. Just like us, the narrator gives in to Twitter, where he finds that one of his ‘friends’ posted something political. Although Twitter is the novel’s main antagonist, ironically, a post the narrator stumbles upon provides the inspiration he needs to finally write. He stumbles upon a rant about the two-faced nature of people in the writing industry—a creative way for Castro to critique the very industry that helped create this masterpiece.

It's not until the end of the book that the narrator fully steps away from his computer. After a day filled with non-stop screen time, he goes for a walk in the woods, completely technology-free. The novel is filled with dense descriptions until this point. The woods free both the reader and the narrator from the heaviness of the world—breathing without technology.

There is no lack of meta in this novel. A novel about an author struggling to write a novel written by someone who, at the time, had never published one. The chapter-less structure feels like a never-ending social media feed. Each page is another unbroken block of text, mirroring the endless scroll of a social media feed—relentless until the final page. Writers will see their struggles through the narrator. Having deadlines to work with even when there is nothing to write about and never feeling like what you put on the page is good enough. He even goes on to explain that sometimes writing is mimicking somebody else’s work.

Jordan Castro’s history as a poet makes the language in this story incredible. The natural flow of the story makes it a satisfying read. Although it can be difficult at times to differentiate the narrator from the author, that’s what makes the story believable. Castro’s writing is so immersive, so natural, that for once, you won’t feel the urge to check your notifications.