Posts filed under ‘OBSERVATIONS & OPINIONS’
THE STRUGGLE TO GET IT WRITE: A NEW SERIES
Is that a clever use of the homophone, or what?
In this new series, I hope to engage writers who follow my blog or anyone else who has an interest in the art of writing, about questions and problems I’m having about my writing and observations I have made in my reading of work by successful writers.
Recently, I’ve run into some new kind of block. It’s not writer’s block; to be honest I don’t know what the hell kind of block it is. Leave it to me to be on the forefront of a new problem for writers. But I’m having a real problem getting my butt to sit down and write. Story ideas, no problem there. I’m constantly taking notes on what my bizarre brain produces, but that’s about as far as it gets.
I’ll discuss some specific problems and some writing insights in the pieces that follow, and if any of you out there can lend advice, I’m all ears.
A NEW GENRE
While reading the May, 19 issue of Time over breakfast this morning, I came across an article which proved quite exciting for me. The article discussed movies released or soon to be such as Godzilla, Into the Storm and Snowpiercer.
In discussing these movies, a new genre was mentioned, at least new to me, cli-fi. This is a story of science fiction or fantasy dealing with a climate or environmental factor.
My novel, The Beast Awaits, which I sure you are all getting sick of hearing about, is about stem cell research gone bad leading to global warming. Is that a fit or what?
I plan to start working on a new query letter and will share it with you soon to see what you think.
THE WORDS THEY ARE A CHANGIN’
We writers deal with words, and lately I’ve noticed a trend which was brought to the forefront of my brain by an advertisement I recently saw in a Philadelphia newspaper. More on that later. The trend of which I speak is to substitute a word for another word that has been working just fine.
Here we go with my observations.
You rarely these days buy a used car. More and more cars these days, especially the high-end types are ‘preowned’. It makes it sound as if someone was kind enough to break-in the car for you. It wasn’t really used, just owned. Now it’s ready for you. In my writing there will never be a preowned car, only those of the used variety.
Another word that has made it into daily use ad nauseam is hydrate. What is wrong in taking a drink when you are thirsty?
In my mind, if you need to be hydrated you must be dehydrated. To remedy dehydration once involved needles finding veins attached to tubes attached to hanging bags of fluid. The characters in my writing, when thirsty, will take a drink.
Finally, what really got me going on this subject was the ad I mentioned earlier telling of the procedures offered by an Aesthetic Physician. I guess the term ‘plastic surgeon’ is not fancy enough, which is a field, at times, already boarders on the absurd. Granted, the discipline is essential in many instances helping those with battle injuries or victims of accidents lead more fulfilling lives, people with disfiguring injuries that need reconstruction. But this is a branch of medicine which increasingly plays off our vanity. To grow old is a sign of weakness, a disease to be cured by the Aesthetic Physician. To my knowledge, there is only one method to truly prevent aging and I’m sure you know what it is. The characters in my writing will never go close to an Aesthetic Physician.
Or maybe they will, to change their identity after a deed of mayhem or horror.
WHAT IF ALL ACTIVISTS HAD THEIR WAY?
What if all activists, all those that are sure their vision of how things should be would make the world a better place, had their desires made reality? I find nothing wrong with people having strong feelings about the way things should be done and how, who believe if only society would listen to them, the world would be a better place.
Here is where I may get into trouble.
The problem I have with many activists, please note that I did not say all it’s ‘save my ass time’, is that their narrow-mindedness and unwillingness to listen to reason, at times, or do their homework. In some instances some have already won, but do they know it? I’ll get to this latter, in a rather nebulous manner, in a future project.
Here’s one example about not listening to reason, I can think of more. I can recall listening to an NPR show where a guest was discussing the latest methods in farming to improve crop production when a young woman called. She thought all farming should return to the way it once was, a more natural process with nothing artificial. The guest understood her viewpoint but said that if that was done, with the amount those methods would cause yields to diminish, that people would starve. Nothing would deter her in her opinion no matter what the guest said. She just went on saying how things should be more natural. Tell me, in this instance, who was right?
I’ll now talk about what started me on this train of thought.
I’m now in the process of a major rewrite of my novel, Sweet Depression, hoping to God that someday you will have a chance to read it. At the same time I’m also toying with the plot for a sequel. Now I know the accepted rule is not to write a sequel until the first book in the series is published, but at times it’s difficult to control the production of my brain, the direction my mind chooses to take. I just take notes and hope something worthwhile results. That is the reason this piece came into being. In the sequel to Sweet Depression activists have their way. Guess whether the results are beneficial or have a horrible conclusion.
I’m not the first to come up with a plot centered on activists. I suggest you read Michael Crichton’s novel, State of Fear, to see how an excellent writer handles the subject.
LOLITA by VLADIMIR NABOKOV
Some time ago I decided to straighten up my study, a Herculean endeavor to be sure. The picture I’m using for my blog was taken after that effort.
While accomplishing this, I came across books I did not know I possessed, some classics, some not so classic. These books were given to me some time ago. I never pass a chance to own a book, especially a free one.
One of these finds was a paperback copy of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. My copy was published in 1959 with the price of 50 cents. This is truly a classic of the last century, and I just finished reading it.
Surprisingly, it’s quite funny with a tongue-in-cheek humor throughout. The language is exceedingly mild especially compared to today’s literature. It’s the subject matter which stops you in your tracks, making you uncomfortable at times. The author has done a fine job in accomplishing this atmosphere.
He has a gift for entering the mind of the character and defining his high level of perversion. Although perverted, along the way you begin to feel some sympathy for the character for he fully understands what he is doing and, towards the end of the novel, is aware of what he has done to his ward’s life.
If you don’t mind the discomfort, I recommend you give this novel a try. Don’t be put off by the book’s reputation or age. It is an excellent read.
THE BEAST AWAITS, AN UPDATE, SORT OF
Still sucking up library WiFi.
In reference to the last piece, The Beast Awaits, a novel I often refer to is written and already made the rounds to agents with a 100% rate of rejection, so far.
I had one publisher show interest in publishing the novel but, upon doing my homework, found they did not have a good reputation, so I declined.
You have to watch your ass, no one else will.
OUT OF THE LOOP
I’ve been out of the loop for a while, but the loop seems to have survived.
The reason for my exit was my router. I began having trouble with the internet and thought the reason was one of the millions of hackers who are more cleaver than security for anything these days. Come to find out my router was too old to pick up the new and improved single from my internet company.
Side note. I don’t want to name the company but will give a complex hint. The name of the company rhymes with the mathematical term used to express ‘never ending’.
I called the company and told they would send me a new and improved router.
The day it was due to arrived passed so I called again. After being on hold for 15 minutes I was told the they could not track the package and the router was out of stock. This did not help my paranoia there was some kind of plot for I could not think of how they could hope to track a package that contained an item that was out of stock.
Enough of my personal problems. This episode taught me something vital.
By the way, I am still without a router and now in the public library using WiFi so all the world is looking over my shoulder hacking the hell out of this conversation. Wait a minute, that’s good. Welcome to my blog, hackers.
Back to what I learned from this episode. For a writer, for anyone today the internet is a useful tool, and essential tool we take for granted.
Back in my much younger days I was on the road to becoming a famous poet. That road reached a dead end but I still plug along. To submit your work it all had to be done through the mail. I spent hours in front of my typewriter pouring out my words in erasable typewriter paper, and sending my efforts out along with a SASE. How times have changed.
So until my router shows up, I’ve rejoined the loop for better or for worse.
AND SO IT GOES KURT VONNEGUT: A LIFE by CHARLES SHIELDS
If you’ve read Slaughterhouse – Five: A Children’s Crusade and enjoyed the hell out of it as I did, you owe it to yourself to read this biography and get to know the man behind the work. Reading about Vonnegut’s life and his journey on the rocky road to fame gives you a background into the birth of his novels and will encourage you to read more. I plan to seek out Breakfast of Champions and Cat’s Cradle to my to-read list. One event described in the book that deeply affected Vonnegut’s family life was the death of his brother-in-law in 1958 and I have a vivid memory of that tragic accident for I visited the site shortly after it happened. A train bound for New York was about to cross the Newark-Bayonne Bridge over the Newark Bay. The bridge was open for a passing barge, and as the train approached to open bridge the engineer suffered a heart attack. The fireman tried to stop the train but couldn’t. Two engines and three passenger cars plunged into the bay with the loss of 47 lives. I still recall pictures published in Life magazine taken while the cars were being raised from the water with bodies hanging from the windows. Published photos were more graphic back then. Perhaps it was the next day when, after school, I walked to the local library annex, one of my favorite places. I was eleven. The library was a short distance from school and it feels like kids had more freedom then, even in a rough town like Newark you were able to wander on your own. After settling in, my sister found me and said my family was outside in our car and that I should come along. They were heading for the train wreck. As were approached the bridge there were cars parked all along the road. Coming upon the scene I remember one car still dangling from the track and partially in the water. Everything else was still submerged. Sorry for the digression. Vonnegut’s brother-in-law’s wife, the writer’s sister, died the same day and Vonnegut wound up supporting their four sons. I took a little detour with the above memory, but once again, this is a biography worth reading.
LOOKING OVER YOUR SHOULDER
Even though I now own a tablet and laptop I still lack, in my total acceptance of technology, a device most of society deems ‘life essential’. I have yet to adopt the cell phone.
I constantly hear references to Bluetooth. This sounds to me like the name of a character the late great Soupy Sales would have created. My younger readers will need to reference their grandparents about the meaning of this, I am sure. Bluetooth is the stimulus for this article.
In the March 31st edition of Time magazine I ran across an article ‘Nowhere To Hide’ concerning Bluetooth technology and the cell phone.
One aspect developed concerns museums and involves providing information sent to you while you gaze at a piece of art. This I think would be helpful. The article goes on to discuss how, while in a department or grocery store, and trying to decide what to buy you’re sent coupons via your phone for the product you are contemplating.
The question I pose is this: Where does the benefit stop and manipulation begin?
Some might ask, “What the hell does this have to do with writing?”
Writers track the changes in society through their work, changes that are so ingrained in our daily life that we no longer give them a second thought. We also attempt to predict future trends good or bad, consider George Orwell.
All of the above comes from my observations along with a healthy dose of resisting change. That’s my cross to bear. I was recently thinking of the late nineteenth century, what I would have been like if I had lived during the birth of the telephone and electric lighting. Would I be the last one, alone, reading by candle light?
VISIONS OF GERARD BY JACK KEROUAC
If you’ve never read anything by Kerouac do yourself a favor – begin with On the Road and work your way through his works.
I’ve read a few of his books, but that was some time ago. I’ve now reentered Kerouac’s world with Visions of Gerard. It’s the first book in his series, The Duluoz Legend, and I guess I’m now along for the ride. The series is fourteen books long with Dr. Sax as the next in line and I’m lucky enough to own a copy I bought years ago.
But first, back to Visions of Gerard. This short novel is on long stream of thought with a story line of the narrator’s brother’s death woven in. I’m not an authority, but I don’t think there is anyone currently using this technique.
To be in the mind of Jack Kerouac would be as if you were the silver ball in a pinball machine. You know you’re on the move but not sure of the destination.
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