I been so busy with working on my novels that I have been thinking of closing up shop here. I haven’t the time and what little I have I have to husband carefully. I have reached an age that forces me to maximize resources. My last entry was in February for God’s sake and garnered zero comments. So no one will miss me. Well, maybe a few furtive souls who happen on my blog by accident, then shy away as they note the inactivity.
I have not even installed a counter, because I didn’t want to know how many didn’t visit me. But then I started the site largely for myself, didn’t promote it or invested time in calling attention to it. I use it as a dumping ground for random thoughts, produced by the backwash of some intense effort I needed a break from. Even in the midst of a writing jag, part way through some novel, pressure builds for extraneous thoughts to accumulate at the periphery that have to be bled off. This blog is a repository of such. And then there are times between projects, that the lull produces a desire and need to write, then again this is a good place to unload.
I’m lucky for writing comes easy to me. Once my main character is established, he and I set off on a journey together, neither quite knowing where we’ll end up. Sometimes there are negotiations, diplomacy, and other times, when it is plain, brute force. At the very least a tug-of-war, where he and I fight for control. Yet, I must give my heroes credit for their contribution to all my works, and that’s why I went public, to get recognition for their own selves not just to harvest glory for my self as the author.
There is, or must be, a machine in my head that spin out tale after tale, and it is always a surprise what I find and end up with. I have 15 books, or 16, and there would be many more if I didn’t have to constantly interrupt the flow to polish something that I had written into a publishable form for outside consumption. I’m interested in the mainline plot, not about grammar and punctuation. It’s the progression of ideas and events that I find fascinating. When I write I gallop, not looking back until I have reached the end, then revisit and fix the fallen pieces or round out the fragments. But its the speed of the first run-through that’s exciting, when things get nailed down. The second pass is intriguing to fine tune and balance things out. But from then on, the anal fixation of editing and rewriting quickly becomes a chore.
Oops. Straying off topic again. I started with trying to decide whether to shut down... or...?
Friday, July 1, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Writing without borders...
It’s been long enough. Nothing added since before New Years. If I were a farmer, I could say I’m letting the ground lay fallow to replenish itself. How would that work exactly? If words were left alone, would they spontaneously self replicate? Congeal into ideas, become a self-aware message? No of course not! How bizarre. Words don’t have DNA or RNA, they’re immune to evolutionary selection pressures. Well not quite. Go, rustle up some words, gather them into a book, and send it off to an agent or a publisher. You will run into selection quick enough, called market pressures. The literary highway is strewn with discarded and disowned works. (Thank goodness, for there are many poor, substandard works out there; you wonder how they ever made it… especially as your own hasn’t, yet.)
So, I’ve been busy, buzzy, bizzi. Believe it or not, I finished two novels since the last time. Some things called Where Arrows Fly and Chance Encounters. Well, not exactly finished, got through 1st and 2nd drafts. That’s when the creative impetus dies and work has to take over. Have to finish for finishing’s sake. The stories are good, it was fun working them to see where they would take me. As always I never quite know where I’ll end up, I let the story decide. What I insist on is a plausible, logical unfolding.
So now I’m looking for the next project. I’ve been thinking of a book, just the general parameters. But I’m looking at it as a product rather than a process. Would it not be something if we would have to label each work with constituent ingredients, like on the grocery shelves. Just think of it, you could flip the book to the back and read off cholesterol, carbohydrates, fats and fiber content. Let’s see if we can break it down.
First of all calories: how rich and plush is the story line in total? This is important, for this is what really puts on the extra pounds. Then of course, fat content, how much grease is there between the lines to make it a smooth reading? And then, how much of that is trans fats, overblown imagery, unpalatable writing fetishes that get out of control. Cholesterol: literary elements that plug up the progression of the plot, distracted sideways looks that contribute little to the forward progress. Sodium, intended to enhance the taste, but if overused, can actually ruin it. Potassium, I don’t even know what that means; is it good or bad for you and why? Carbohydrates: is the story too saccharine? You have seen it, too full of self-adulation, prettied up, too ornamented, overcompensating for hidden flaws. Proteins; a strong story line, the meat and bones of the thing, the engine that drives the bus to take the reader to the next level. We must not forget fiber; character development, be consistent, let them be true to themselves, it’s the thing that allows readers to digest the work safely.
So there you have it, the general outline of what I’m thinking. You could of course add the trace elements: vitamins, iron, zinc… the little things that round out the book, take the edges off sudden turns and twist, things that by themselves aren’t much but act as catalysts in combination with the more substantial fundamentals.
And given today’s health conscious climate we can’t ignore the negatives that detract: the germs and viruses, and lists of pathogens. Spelling issues are germ-like, they infest any work and lower its literary value. Viruses likewise infest, gobble up respect and weaken the entire being. Issues of grammar, incorrect punctuation fall into this class (if you see one, there are bound to be others around, so watch out) Opportunistic pathogens wreak havoc with readers’ enjoyment. These are things that lower the health of the whole book. They take over. Have you not read a book that’s so supercharged that nothing stands out of the unremitting excess. How many movies spring to mind, mindless action, one crisis after another. How about too much sex to destroy any romance? Too much glitz, evidence of poor inner life. And so on…the immune system soon overwhelmed.
The previous leads to the next consideration, medication? Change of life style? But let that be a subject unto itself on a future blog.
So, I’ve been busy, buzzy, bizzi. Believe it or not, I finished two novels since the last time. Some things called Where Arrows Fly and Chance Encounters. Well, not exactly finished, got through 1st and 2nd drafts. That’s when the creative impetus dies and work has to take over. Have to finish for finishing’s sake. The stories are good, it was fun working them to see where they would take me. As always I never quite know where I’ll end up, I let the story decide. What I insist on is a plausible, logical unfolding.
So now I’m looking for the next project. I’ve been thinking of a book, just the general parameters. But I’m looking at it as a product rather than a process. Would it not be something if we would have to label each work with constituent ingredients, like on the grocery shelves. Just think of it, you could flip the book to the back and read off cholesterol, carbohydrates, fats and fiber content. Let’s see if we can break it down.
First of all calories: how rich and plush is the story line in total? This is important, for this is what really puts on the extra pounds. Then of course, fat content, how much grease is there between the lines to make it a smooth reading? And then, how much of that is trans fats, overblown imagery, unpalatable writing fetishes that get out of control. Cholesterol: literary elements that plug up the progression of the plot, distracted sideways looks that contribute little to the forward progress. Sodium, intended to enhance the taste, but if overused, can actually ruin it. Potassium, I don’t even know what that means; is it good or bad for you and why? Carbohydrates: is the story too saccharine? You have seen it, too full of self-adulation, prettied up, too ornamented, overcompensating for hidden flaws. Proteins; a strong story line, the meat and bones of the thing, the engine that drives the bus to take the reader to the next level. We must not forget fiber; character development, be consistent, let them be true to themselves, it’s the thing that allows readers to digest the work safely.
So there you have it, the general outline of what I’m thinking. You could of course add the trace elements: vitamins, iron, zinc… the little things that round out the book, take the edges off sudden turns and twist, things that by themselves aren’t much but act as catalysts in combination with the more substantial fundamentals.
And given today’s health conscious climate we can’t ignore the negatives that detract: the germs and viruses, and lists of pathogens. Spelling issues are germ-like, they infest any work and lower its literary value. Viruses likewise infest, gobble up respect and weaken the entire being. Issues of grammar, incorrect punctuation fall into this class (if you see one, there are bound to be others around, so watch out) Opportunistic pathogens wreak havoc with readers’ enjoyment. These are things that lower the health of the whole book. They take over. Have you not read a book that’s so supercharged that nothing stands out of the unremitting excess. How many movies spring to mind, mindless action, one crisis after another. How about too much sex to destroy any romance? Too much glitz, evidence of poor inner life. And so on…the immune system soon overwhelmed.
The previous leads to the next consideration, medication? Change of life style? But let that be a subject unto itself on a future blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)