Strange Clown Rules 🤡

You can't steal each others faces

I used to think all clowns looked the same—white makeup, exaggerated mouth, something vaguely unsettling around the eyes. Then I found out professional clowns copyright their faces.

This seems excessive, considering the last clown I saw, people were actively looking away.

(Granted, this was at a rodeo... Grim doesn’t even begin to cover it.)

But there’s something undeniably delightful about how clown faces have been historically recorded. It’s called The Clown Egg Register.

Basically, if you’re a serious clown (boom-boom), you paint your unique face onto a chicken egg, which is then stored away in an official collection. It’s a way of claiming your identity and ensuring that no other clown can legally copy your lewk.

The thing about clown eggs, though, is that once you’ve got one, you’re stuck with it. No rebrands. No switching it up. That’s your face—forever.

And ironically? Books feel less permanent than clown eggs.

That's something I always want to say to debut authors:

Your first book is one of many you’ll write. It’s not your only book. It’s not the best thing you’ll ever create. It’s just egg number one in your basket.

A clown gets one face but you as a writer, get as many as you want.

Sure, you might have different acts throughout your career—different themes, different styles—but you’re not locked into one thing. That’s the beauty of writing: you evolve.

Because as a clown at a rodeo demonstrates, creativity without evolution is when things fall flat.

And if you’re just starting out, you have so much ahead of you. (Even if you feel old.) Writing isn’t gymnastics; you don’t peak at sixteen. You get better with time.

So if you’ve got a book coming out this year, don’t get too precious about it. It’s just the beginning…

Me, elsewhere

• I’m running a free ‘Help! I have to talk about my book’ 5-day challenge for debut authors, starting Monday — sign up here

• I’ll be talking to THE Irma Gold about her new book SHIFT on Wednesday 6pm at Readings Carlton (Vic). If you’re a Secrets from the Green Room podcast fan, this is your chance to see Irma in the wild! And if you’re not *yet* a fan, you will be by the end. Bookings here.

You should try

To avoid aimless scrolling, I’ve put the Procreate drawing app on my phone. Every time I reach to surf the internet, I open the app instead. I don’t always have a great idea, but I’m getting better at faces… (not necessarily the ones in this email)

Bye for now,

Katherine