The Novel is Dead, Long live the novel [boring writing crap]
Posted by mcummings
For those of you not interested in Yet Another Post About Writing (YAPAW), now’s the time to sod off.
Hey, you’re still there. Shweet! So, unless you happen to follow the Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres of books, and happen to follow the blogs of authors in those genres, you’ve missed out on a crap storm (technical term, don’t worry) of posts in reaction to overanxious (and frankly inconsiderate) fans. The little storm all started when George R. R. Martin publicly responded to agitated fans that no, he didn’t know when Dances with Dragons (next in his popular series of Fire and Ice books) would be out. Further, he defended his right to have a life while he worked on the novel, to try and earn a living, and attempted to demystify the writing process, all in one bout of return fire.
Then the cascades begin, the least of which is actually this post you’re reading right now. Just about every author who’s blog I follow had a “hell ya!” post backing up what Martin had to say. Frankly, though, I think Pat Rothfuss should get some credit for the comic strip post he put together to cover his response (at least in part).
Its always reassuring seeing the folks that do this “for real” expressing the same concerns about finishing a book, being able to write, and balancing real life that you feel while trying your hand at it. In my own situation, though, (and its all about me – its my blog, ergo my right), its more of a
Le Novel est mort, vive le Novel!
(My french sucks, but hopefully that reads “The novel is dead, long live the novel!”)
Yep, I’m tapping in the tombstone on my little novel writing project. Writing short stories the last few weeks has helped me to realize what a good idea that is. Why? Because with short stories I can get away with not plotting, not outlining or giving things a lot of forethought, and there’s no harm done. But after our weeks of battling plague around the house, and my not physically being able to write, when I turn back to the work in progress what I find is daunting. Not because of size or scope, but because of the realization that I have no idea where it was going, where it was ending, or what was happening in between. I could quite literally open up an editor, add a last page, and write the words “And they lived happily ever after” and not be able to tell the difference between that and a “natural” ending for this work.
I am suspecting that one of the reasons I had so much trouble outlining this story when I started was because even then the idea wasn’t well developed or thought out. I was so anxious to dive in and start writing something that I didn’t give it an opportunity to be something. I killed it at birth then kept it on life support and adrenaline..
But that quote up there has a second half, and you’d do well to remember it. The original quote, “The King is dead, long live the King!” was used in the transition between royalty – the old King has passed away, let’s welcome the new King [Sidebar: as a child, that quote never made sense to me because I was too single minded. If the King was dead, how could he live long?]. In other words, just because I’m shelving one novel project doesn’t mean I’m turning my back on the whole creative process. For starters, there’s those short stories I’ve started that I’d like to wrap up. Then there’s the whole fact that I enjoy writing, its sexy and exciting to put words on paper (or screen) that can invoke images and emotions, that can make the heart race and the adrenaline pump. Words!! On paper! And they can do crap like that? Hell ya, I’m not stopping. Because if reading a few words can do that, imagine what a whole novel of them could do!
So if you’ve read this far, you’re either a friend of mine (family counts 
), someone who finds another struggling writer reassuring, or a coworker looking for fodder for the office gossip. Last group, out of the pool please. Other two groups – let me give this oh-so-sagely advise as I get ready to run errands with our youngest. (why sagely? Because we’re out of Thyme! HAH! Made that up all by my lonesome. I’m even funnier in real life, too. Am so.) We all have dreams. For most of us, what we’re doing now isn’t what we want to be doing with out lives forever, its what we need to do with them to pay the bills, keep the roof over our heads, make ends meet, etc. But there’s something out there you’d rather be doing, something that has your passion. Right here, right now, for me, its writing. I encourage you not to lose sight of that goal. Like my writing, you may find yourself starting over a thousand times until you can actually reach your goal and call it a victory. The point isn’t how long it takes, or how much blood and sweat it takes. The point is you should never lose sight of your dream, and you must keep struggling to reach it, even when it seems like the world and your own psyche are completely against you.
You can make it. How do I know? Because I believe I can make it. And folks, if I can make it, anyone can. Promise.
Another week begins
Posted by mcummings
Ah, the joys of a Monday morning. I’ve been up for an hour and a half now, but have yet to reach the point in a Monday where I begin grunting. All in all, today closes a somewhat lackluster weekend, with a tedious and painful week on the horizon ahead.
Friday was good, that I’ll say. I bummed around most of the day, not quite doing anything, which is good for the first day off of a weekend (compressed schedules, in case you aren’t familiar, get you one extra day off every other week at the price of one hour more every workday). When I picked up the girls from school, we swung by the house for the obligatory post-school day potty break, then the three of us (two older girls + me) drove up to Springfield to visit Kennedy’s. This was my first visit to the Kennedy’s since I started the vanpool back in September, so it was both exciting and a little disappointing. He had a few new things to gander at, but after almost six months away I’d hoped to find more. Kennedy was his usual self, revealing his softie side with the girls, but I realized as I was going through boxes that I wasn’t really interested in buying a mixed lot. Yes, he prices them fairly, and yes, they usually contain at least a few pleasant surprises. But do I really want 500+ Scott #583’s (I think Kenmore is including the cost of shipping, because that’s more than its worth typically on places like stamps2go) like my last box? No, not really. (I stopped counting them after a while in fact – how am I going to offload that many copies of a single common stamp from 1923?) I did score two used albums that had some juicy bits, I’ll admit, but ultimately it was the social aspect that made the trip worth it.
Then there was Saturday. Not much to say there, actually. In-laws visited in the background, but I got up and was working (real work) remotely by 6am, and didn’t actually finish work until 730 that night. Yep, that sums up the day, and why the weekend was less than relaxing – splitting your days off around a grueling marathon (paid-)work session cheapens and demeans the rest of the time you spend off.
Sunday was spent in part at the doctor’s for our oldest, and the rest of the day was somewhat of a wash. Which is depressing, in a way, since the girls are home from school all week for winter break. I’d have liked to do something with them to get them out, since I know by Wednesday Kim is going to be pulling hair as the kids will have used up all of their good behavior and have resorted to fashioning weapons for one on one melee in the living room, using couch cushions to define their arena, to ultimately determine who touched who first, or who took what from who.
And so wraps up the weekend. I hope to get some writing done this week. I have a few ideas to play with for that short story, and I did manage to print out the work in progress novel and have already identified areas where I need to expand (in the first page alone), so I don’t lack for things to occupy my free time 
Just in case its another week, hope your Monday goes well!
Nancy’s Blog: Becoming A Writer
Posted by mcummings
On Nancy's list, it's the second bullet that I struggle with the most - the conviction that what you're writing isn't trivial, mundane crap. Nancy Kress on Becoming A Writer. If you've never had the chance, I read her Beggar in Spain series when I was in High School - damn fine stuff. For someone that professes she isn't much of a techie or a geek, she's writes some sci-fi that's compelling. I'd rank her up there with Octavia Butler for all time favorites (so if you haven't read any Butler, you better get cracking).
More prattling [writing]
Posted by mcummings
On the upside, last night did see the completion of the first draft of my short story, working title “Voyage of the Damned.” I’m not satisfied with the ending, which should be no surprise since until I sat down to incorporate some edits there wasn’t even an ending to speak of. It currently weighs in at 7k words, which is a bit longer than I’d intended (convention is that it stops being a “short” story around 10k). I need to let this one sit for a little bit, fester, then redraft it again, letting my brain treat it as a new story so I can get in the right mode for ending it.
Ironically, its this same festering process (which has worked well for me in the past with short stories) that is biting me in terms of the novel project. I’ve written just shy of 50k words for it in the last two months, which is nice, but while I concede the story is not yet done, I’m feeling fluxomed on continuing it. I don’t want to go so far as to say I’m not in the mood for it – but at this time of day, I’m at a loss for a better word for it.
Perhaps the answer is staring me in the face – literally. While there is a plethora of differences between writing a short story and a novel, the mechanics are ultimately the same. I should give this thing the short story treatment, then – print it out, lift the heavy red pen of EDIT [sidebar: yeah, I really use a red pen, as an acknowledgement to all those High School papers that came back marked to high heavens, and because it just feels right to do edits in red], and hack away at the sucker and find the thread that I appear to have lost. I had set a timetable for the novel – wanted the first draft done by mid-March – but that timetable was of my own making. Early or late affects nothing in the real world.
Hmmm…I feel a conviction rise in my chest that is easy to come by at 4 in the morning (woke up an hour early and knew that if I tried to go back to sleep, I’d oversleep by at least an hour). By George, that’s what I’m going to do. Frell self-imposed artificial deadlines that had no meaning or basis in reality. Wow that feels good.
Running out of material…
Posted by mcummings
Well, material to procrastinate with, at least. Not really sure why I’m procrastinating, or what’s set me down this path in the first place. So far I’ve done some yard work; cleaned the infernal living room, aka the Den of the Devil’s Children (their our children in the sweet moments, no worries); worked on stamps; fiddled with the murmuring toilet of Doom (everything must have a horror film cliché title in this house – if you had to live here, you’d understand). I’ve even gotten sick twice in the last three weeks – not on purpose, to be sure, but between a stomach bug one week, and a chest/throat bug this week, they still count for something.
I have nothing left. No more reserves of materials from which to draw procrastination. So unless I can figure out what is fueling this desire to slack, I’m afraid I must shut down my email clients, chat client, heck, wifi connections, and console myself with the only thing left.
A 2/3 written novel and a short story in desperate need of its first redraft. Yeah. I need to buckle under and give those some attention.
Maybe my keyboard needs to dismantling and thoroughly dusted first…?