What is Subtle Maneuvers?

From Mason Currey, author of the Daily Rituals books, a fortnightly newsletter on routines, rituals, and wriggling through a creative life.

The title comes from a letter Franz Kafka sent in 1912. He wrote:

Time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle maneuvers.

Anyone trying to pursue an ambitious creative project has probably felt this way from time to time. And reading about how other people have done it—how they made time and found strength for their creative work in the face of intractable daily obstacles—can be inspiring and comforting.

Hence this newsletter. Every other Monday, subscribers will get a glimpse into how writers, artists, and other inspired minds actually got it done (or didn’t get it done!).

Become a Subtle Patron!

Subtle Maneuvers is a reader-supported publication. All subscribers—both free and paid—get the same newsletter every other Monday. But paid subscribers also get:

The full archive of 120+ back issues

New issues are free for all, but the web versions are paywalled after a couple months. And there’s a lot of good stuff in the archive! Iris Murdoch, impostor syndrome, Edgar Allan Poe, Alice Neel, creative blocks and how to solve them, and much more.

The community Discord

The best part of writing this newsletter has been finding a community of like-minded readers online—many of us struggling with the same creative obstacles and frustrations. The subscriber-only Discord is an additional space where we can hang out and share progress, resources, advice, and complaints.

Future subscriber-only perks launching just as soon as I finish my book!

In particular, I’m thinking about relaunching the advice column in a more regular fashion and/or starting a virtual book club. And maybe a podcast? But I can’t do any of this until I finally finish my book project! I’m getting close, I swear: It’s now looking like I should have the final draft done by fall 2023.

My sincere gratitude for your support

Your subscription dollars help fund this newsletter—and keep new issues free for everyone—but they also give me the financial headroom to finish my current book properly, to think about future books or other long-term projects, and to just generally exist as an independent writer. I realize that this is an enormous privilege and I really am grateful—thank you!

You can also support my work by ordering one of my Daily Rituals books or sharing the newsletter with a friend!