Implications and Inferences

I talk so often about writing, and improving writing, and motivating one's self to write, and blah blah blah, that I forget to take a minute to really reconnect with why I write. Why it's important to me to write.

Lately, for some unknown reason -- and one that I am not about to question -- I have been writing consistently, constantly, and (quite honestly) pretty damn well. Since February, I have done a complete edit of my 30-thousand-word novella and written the following pieces:

"You Could Be Happy" -- 3600 words; contemporary
(Untitled) -- 4100 words; near-future

I've also done a complete revision on "Westward Expansion" and "The Pod Village of San-Zhr" (which I was sad to receive a rejection for in the Library of Fantasy & Science Fiction "Liminality" anthology, until I realized that I don't think it's science fiction). So those will get a second round very soon.

I've also done a fair amount of work on a project I've been writing since last November with a writing partner. It's a Steampunk work that focuses on letters written between the two main characters from my short story "Westward Expansion." It's going quite well, and we're really delving into the nitty-gritty of the plot. I like it.

I also have about 11 pages written on a new, but slightly revised version of an old piece, story that is very plot-driven, which was a change for me. As well, I recently started an idea that started about 10 years ago after reading Stephen King's Gunslinger, which formulated, sputtered into life briefly, and then died. Now, though, nearly finished with The Drawing of the Three, the second book in the Dark Tower series, the idea came back to me.

Two things: 1) the stories are almost entirely unrelated, but the world in King's books bring to mind the sort of world I originally wanted to create for that first piece and just couldn't really find the story behind it. Now I think I have. 2) I think I've been influenced, if only slightly, by the very visceral writing of King's that sort of allows things to happen as they ought to. What does that mean? Well, in my case, I've written two stories (the previously-mentioned, "You Could Be Happy" and this new project) that have very blatant and necessary sex in them.

Previously, I felt that sex was something that didn't really fit in my work because it wasn't relevant to the piece. Some people have said otherwise in regards to a few stories; and I think I will have to go back and reexamine those works because of the new turn I've taken. Partly, too, though, I felt like sex was a bit of a "reader-grabber" simply for the fact that it was put in to get readers to say to their friends, "Oh my God, I just read this great book with awesome sex scenes in it." I never wanted that (and I still don't), but I recognize the place it has in other stories, and I recognize the place it has in these stories.

And that's what's important. Everything is relevant. Everything is given meaning by the act of writing it. And that is why I write. I feel like lately, with all of the things that are going on in my life, have gone on in the past year, and continue to inspire me, I am forced to make sense of things and give them meaning in the hopes that I can find some answers.

Although I think maybe I should just buy some chocolates and take my girlfriend out to dinner more often, so I can take care of the latent implications of writing sex into my stories.

Eureka!

In a moment of brilliance -- or perhaps just idiot savant-ness -- I figured out the integral flaw in my very first attempt at a novel. It's a project I've long thought was worthy of having been written but more than once person has pointed out error after error. It was never that I didn't think that the errors were un-fixable; I just didn't know how to do it.

At work last week, however, it dawned on me where the crux lay: the main character's passiveness needed to be changed to make him more active. Now, that might seem like a pretty easy thing to pick out when reading a draft -- and it was -- but like I said the problem wasn't in not knowing the flaw; it was knowing how to fix it.

I think the problem is pretty much resolved now, though, which makes me happy. The main character has really blossomed in my re-writes (and I'm only about 20 pages in, with an additional 10 or so pages of new material). Not only has he become more active in his own story, but his actions make him significantly more empathetic, which was a big issue for people in previous critiques.

As a side note, I took comments from a few people to heart and made what was essentially a Victorian-era pastiche piece (as an homage to Charles Dickens) into a Steampunk piece.

Now, in my defense, I feel like this change is worthwhile. Steampunk is a very broad genre, and I feel like this piece can be made into what some chidingly refer to as 'Li-fi' -- literary science fiction. I'm ok with it being that, because I think that it fits more in line with literary fiction, rather than entertainment fiction.

Giddy With Inspiration

Three years ago, when the Milwaukee Writers Workshop still had all of its groups on one day, I braved the novel critique with a project that was nearly seven years old (at least) and in its fourth or fifth iteration. It was a novel that was (perhaps still is) my former* wife's favorite piece. A colleague in the group, who I thoroughly respect for his critique and his writing skill, offered up the advice to turn what is essntially a pastiche of a Charles Dickens novel into a science fiction piece. At the time, I had no idea how that could be possible. 

Over the last two days, though, I think I've discovered how I can make that happen. I'm entrenched in the Steampunk genre now. I love it more now than I did when I first discovered it, than I did when I fully recognized its potential, and than I did when I read "The Difference Engine" for the first time. I enjoy the genre, and I enjoy its capabilities. Now, I believe I have truly discovered the root of the story that began as an attempt to write a Victorian novel. 

So, putting most other projects aside, I am going to revisit said project -- which I haven't looked at in nearly two years -- to try and hammer out this new direction. I have it in my head, and also on a ton of scraps in my bag at work, and I think I can really make something marvellous out of it. 

Also, in short story news, I completed a brand new story this week that's roughly 4200 words, and it's about cowboys, in the future, in a post-catastrophe America. It's fun. 

*I like to use the term former for my soon-to-be-ex-wife because it sounds better. It's like being the former president: the title is still there, because the importance of the position hasn't changed, but there's no real duties that lie therein. We're still friends, which is nice, so she's not really an "ex," just (as I say) former. 

Updates Feb. 2011

So here's the scoop. Since the beginning of the year, I have the following new pieces written:

"The Pariah of Langeford" -- 1100 words; pseudo fantasy
"Electric Golems" -- 4700 words; steampunk
"The Pageant Fire" -- 1700 words; contemporary
"The Horticenter" -- 900 words; futurist science fiction
"Annalisa (WT)" -- 3400 words; steampunk
"Thomas, Boy Wonder" -- unfinished steampunk

I have also been working diligently with a new writing partner on an extension of the "Westerward Expansion" story that unfortunately got rejected (by default) for the Clockwork Choas anthology, which I hope to see very soon in publication. The project is a series of letters, along with narrative, between the two main characters presented in the short story. I believe I'll be polishing the short work to be sent out as a stand-alone with the longer work to follow.

I also sent out "The Pod Village of San-Zhr," which is an older story, but one that I liked quite a lot. It went out to an anthology for stories of liminality. Needless to say, I am excited for that one.

Once polished and critiqued, I will be sending out "Annalisa," "Thomas, Boy Wonder," "Electric Golems," and "The Pariah of Langeford." I think they're all solid and with a good polish should prove to be good works. My hope is to get at least two pieces published this year, and I know that there are a few new publications to look forward to.

I'll also be trying out a bit of something new on the blog, but I'll need some help from my trusty readers: I would like to answer writing questions. I have one in the wings -- perhaps by Friday or Saturday -- and that should give some idea of what I'm talking about. Feel free to send me things. You can send it to boone@milwaukeewritersworkshop.com; just be sure to put something like "writing question" in the subject, so I know to mark it properly.

The Tension Mounts

Right now, somewhere in the world, my story "Westward Expansion" sits being considered for what will be my biggest publication to date (should it get accepted). It's been out for 98 days now and the editors have gone through two rounds of sending out rejections. As the old saying goes, "No news is good news." I'm excited, nervous, anxious, and scared as hell, because it will be a great step forward for me -- mostly because the story will be in print instead of online. So there's that.

In two weeks, I'll be hosting WriteHouse, which is like the little brother of WriteCamp, and I'm a little nervous about that, too, because I'm essentially doing the entire event by myself, with some help from the editor of UWM's undergrad publication (and she's been a doll about the whole thing with the help she's given). So it's a bit of a nerve-wracking thing to hope that it turns out well. But I'm satisfied that it will at least give more visibility to my little group.

Also, after five years of hemming and hawing about the idea, I've decided to go back to school to get my Master's. In what, I'm not entirely certain; it will most likely be either in Adult Education or Creative Writing, though I'm still not convinced that an MFA will really help me as much as something else would. We'll see. My only gut-twisting issue with this decision is that it will lead me out of state to get said Master's degree, and I haven't moved more than 20 miles from one place to another in nearly 15 years, so starting over -- while I've done it many times in my past -- is a change of monumental proportions, and it scares me.

So that's that. I'm eagerly preparing for NaNo, too, and that's exciting. And enjoying the last of Wisconsin's pleasant afternoon's at the coffee shop.

Music & Me

Lately I've been trying to inspire myself through music, and it's worked, though not in the most uplifting of ways. I tend to write relatively somber pieces (which most know if they've ever read my work), but I seem to be listening to a lot of very quiet, brooding, mood-dampening music. It's worked to produce some good work, though -- at least in my opinion.

I did recently finish a short story of 4700 words. It's another steampunk story, which I'm pretty pleased with. It falls a little more into the fantasy side of things, with a lot less history blended in. All-in-all, it's pretty solid, and I'm eager to get it polished and sent out as another submission for the year (though it will only make 4 this year).

I also finally found someone I'm very pleased to work with for the letter-writing project I tried to start about six months ago with someone else. It's a continuation of the "Westward Expansion" short story I completed back in January of this year. If things go well, it will at least be a novella comprised of both narrative and letters written between the two main characters of the previously-mentioned short story. I think it will be an interesting project regardless of its success, and it will be the first time I've really worked with someone long-term on a project, as I tend to write by myself (being that I'm kind of picky when it comes to my narratives).

WriteHouse is coming up soon -- second or third week of October -- and I think it's going to be great. I'll update as the event gets more formalized in date and time.

Successes & Failures

It's always surprising -- though not shocking -- how things come in droves when they do come, whether good or bad. So here are some updates -- both the good and the bad -- and don't worry, there's some writing-related bits at the end.

1. After a very long and packed Spring planning for WriteCamp, we were rewarded with a great turn-out for the event and an even better response to it this year than last. There will most certainly be a continuation of the event for years to come, which has been my hope since it's inception.

2. After six years of marriage, my wife asked me for a divorce, which I must say will be on the biggest changes in my life to date. It's been a year filled with family tragedies, and this will certainly be something more to add to my list of life experiences. Life gives us a lot of hurdles to jump over; this is but another of those, and I will prevail.

3. For those who don't follow me on Facebook or Twitter (and you should), I had another story published on 365 Tomorrows' website. It's my first Steampunk piece, and I'm very happy about it. It's probably one of my most polished and experimental pieces.

4. With the success of WriteCamp -- as mentioned above -- I've decided to turn The Milwaukee Writers Workshop into a full-fledged organization, and I'm in the process of incorporating it in order to apply for non-profit status. That way (I can hope), we'll have a much easier time next year and years to follow to get more and bigger sponsorships from folks for WriteCamp and other events we might hold.

It's always friends and family that help me through the ebbs and flows of my life, and I thoroughly appreciate their presence right now. While many things in my life seem wildly out of control, at least I am kept sane by the continued mental benefit of my writing. I'll write again soon -- I promise.