Archive for the ‘writing’ Category

Yep, right about the time I’m finally getting out of debt, I’ve decided to return to school and complete my degree. I’ve decided that I’m not going to continue with my computer science degree, but instead get a creative writing degree. My goal is to get an MFA. I’m honestly not certain this will help with my writing necessarily. I do believe it will help with my personal growth. It feels like an empty spot in my life, like something I started but never finished. I’ve decided to pursue a degree with a traditional university that offers online classes. My criteria required the focus of study be on creative writing–not technical or business related writing. I’ve had years of corporate culture. I don’t need to learn any more about it than I all ready know. I’ll likely attend Southern New Hampshire University, specifically because they have a low residency MFA and the residencies are in a beautiful part of the country. So there’s that. I’m sending in all my paperwork this weekend. I’ll just have to see where this little journey takes me. Hopefully, somewhere fulfilling.

I’m moving back to North Arlington at the first of April. That’s right, I’ll be right down the street from the Cowboy’s Stadium and just a few minutes away from my kiddo. Other personal things of note: I’ve been following a high raw diet and losing a few pounds and feeling great. Additionally, I’ve started the couch to 5k in an attempt to get myself back to regularly running.

Writing-wise, I’m still reading a lot, but mostly short stories now. I think I’ve learned enough about screenwriting now to know I pretty much need to be in Hollywood to make a successful go at it. I know there are plenty of people who write from Ohio and other non-LA places, but it’s something I’d rather do correctly. I’ll keep reading scripts and studying good movies, but won’t go for being an actual screenwriter until I’m free to move to Cali.

So that means I’m back to writing short stories. I’m actually excited about this. I think studying the structure of screenplays has taught me how to recognize structure. I can now actually analyze other short stories and see their structure. It’s typically much simpler in short stories.

My next post will likely come in April with notes on my progress. I’ll also get back to submitting my work to short story markets.

The Answer Man written and directed by John Hindman

Just some quick thoughts on ‘Answer Man’.

My take on the theme: If you want answers, you better be honest with yourself first.

A lot of this story is about the relationships of sons to their fathers. The sub plot with the alcoholic bookstore owner revolves around his issues with his alcoholic father. Arlan, the main character, is not dealing with his father’s death. Alex, the son of Arlan’s love interest is not dealing well with his father’s disappearance.

So we have feelings of anger and resentment toward the father, feelings of loss, and feelings of uncertainty. So growth comes from resolution with the father.

Atonement with the father is one of the steps in Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, or what I sometimes reference as the Monomyth.

This film is a good example of how a section of the Monomyth can serve as a story’s theme or centerpiece.

The following is a pretty good definition from Wikipedia:

“In this step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power. This is the center point of the journey. All the previous steps have been moving in to this place, all that follow will move out from it. Although this step is most frequently symbolized by an encounter with a male entity, it does not have to be a male; just someone or something with incredible power”

Two of the fathers in this story are absent, but we do see one of these figures. They hardly seem like god-like, powerful beings, but this is one of the things I often like to point out about character: to the men and boy in this story, the fathers are just that. They are powerful.

Alren Faber’s dead father has the power to keep Arlen from “life”. He holds the power of life and death in his hands. Even though this is a father who is off screen we get a sense that this man was a huge influence in Arlen’s life. Enough that Arlen feels the need to preserve so much of his father’s memories [which is something the father in the story was losing to Alzheimer’s]. So here we see the Mythopotic power of a father who can put life on hold. When this story begins, this is how we find Arlen–attempting to connect with God [another father figure], but bitter at life for interrupting.

Kris’s father has gifted his son with a type of enslavement: alcoholism. This is a much more reflective relationship, in that the same issues the father faces the son faces. This comes out clearly in Kris’s questions to Arlen–is there such a thing as free will or are we predestined? In other words, “Am I destined the follow my father’s path? Is there no other way out? Or is this my life? Can I make my own choices and find my own rewards?” Kris’s issues with his father are the centerpoint of his journey. Unlike Alex or Arlen, Kris is dealing with his issues in the moment, and in a strange way looks to Arlen as an almost father figure. However, he finds disappointment in both fathers, until Arlen redeams himself in the end by doing a huge book signing at Kris’s store and probably saving Kris’s business.

Alex doesn’t get a lot of screen time, but his father is probably one of the most powerful. Alex’s father has managed to freeze time. Alex struggles to understand simple things like days of the week and months, because he’s not been told the truth about his absent father.

One could complain that a lot of these transformational threads aren’t resolved and could claim that they should have been in the film. However, Alex and Kris serve as support characters who do an accurate job of reflecting Arlen’s problems. Generally, in this type of story, it’s assumed that if the main character has resolved his issues, that the others will be resolved as well. Technically, not every character in the story needs a complete resolution. It’s perfectly acceptable that a reflection character continue to have their own problems, as long as they’ve helped the character going through the transformational arch actually transform.

Oh, and overall I really enjoyed this movie. I’d love to get a copy of the screenplay, but haven’t found it yet.

[It should be noted that most of this is derived from work done by Michael Hauge's Screenwriting for Hollywood]. The character types and goals are his, the patterns are something I derived. The patterns are flexible and shouldn’t be considered an exhaustive resource.

The following are the most common external goals:

EG.A) Hero’s goal is to win a competition.
EG.B) Hero’s goal is to win a love.
EG.C) Hero’s goal is stop a disaster.
EG.D) Hero’s goal is to retrieve an item.
EG.E) Hero’s goal is to escape a place.
EG.F) Hero’s goal is to escape a person.

The following are the most common internal goal endpoints:

IG.A) Hero stands up for her authentic self.
IG.B) Hero risks connection with another person.
IG.C) Hero stands up for a principle.

The following are the primary characters

Hero
Antagonist
Lover
Support

EG.A) In the story where the hero’s goal is to win a competition, the antagonist is often the hero’s competition. The lover often has a relation with both the hero and the antagonist, but is in support of the hero. The support character is often a mentor who is a veteran of the competition.

EG.B) In the story where the hero’s goal is to win the love of a person, the antagonist is often a rival for that love and is typically better suited to be the object of affection’s counterpart. The lover is promised to the antagonist in some way, but desire’s the hero’s true essence. The support is typically a friend or equal who encourages the hero to pursue the love interest.

EG.C) In the story where the hero’s goal is to stop a disaster, the antagonist is often behind the disaster or wants it to occur for her own goals. The lover’s interests’ are deeply rooted in the outcome of the disaster and she faces the greatest jeopardy. The support character could easily be a secondary hero in this structure or a mentor.

EG.D) In the story where the hero’s goal is to retrieve an item, the antagonist has the item or also wants to retrieve the item. The lover is deeply connected to the item. The support character often knows the ways to retrieve the item.

EG.E) In the story where the hero’s goal is to escape a place, the antagonist is the captor. The lover is the destination and person most longed for by the hero. The support character often knows means of escape.

EG.F) In the story where the hero’s goal is to escape a person, the antagonist is the captor. The love interest is the healer and often plays the duel role of support. The support is often a reflection to the hero, showing how life away from the captor should be.

IG.A) In the story where the ending theme is ‘standing up for your authentic self’, the hero typically feels inadequate for some reason. The antagonist typically sees this inadequacy and flaunts it. The lover loves the authentic self of the hero. The support pushes for the hero to be her authentic self.

IG.B) In the story where the ending theme is ‘Hero risks connection with another person’, the hero has often suffered some great loss. The antagonist will threaten greater loss and remind the character of his past. The lover will work to uncover the wound and heal the hero. The support represents the good that comes from connecting.

IG.C) In the story where the ending theme is ‘Hero stands up for principle’, the hero often has a strong belief they are unwilling to compromise. The antagonist tries to break that principle down. The lover tests that principle and likely discovers a change in herself. The support could likely be a betrayer and show the failed principle.

This is the start of a mind map I’m working on. Its purpose is to help me make sure I’ve covered all the things I feel are important to get a complete story covered. This is a little too verbose for something like a short story, but would be ideal for a shorter novel or screenplay.

It’s not finished yet. One of my goals is to build in the various relationships between one node and another. For example, how does the character’s force of antagonism interact with the character’s fatal flaw? Eventually, I should have a long list of questions to help get the ball rolling. The end goal would be to have some sort of report that resembles a story.

It’s the day before Thanksgiving. I should be getting ready to go to the day job where I’m fighting with my antique operating system to load a stupid service pack so I can get magic application development.

What have I been doing with myself lately?

Well, the novel was fail. Total fail. Why didn’t I just finish the damn thing? Because, honestly, I don’t think anyone would want to read it. I think the subject was interesting. I think the setting was interesting, but the story I wanted to tell just wasn’t working.

First, I’m surrounded by distractions. I know that’s a lame excuse. People work through distractions all the time writing novels the size of Gone With the Wind on their Twitter accounts taking the train to and from Manhattan. I say, good for them. That’s not me. I need long stretches of time without interruptions. Maybe when I’m moved into my own place this won’t be such an issue and I can tackle longer works. I don’t know, I’ll have to just wait and see.

Second, I’ve been shifting more of my attention to screenwriting. Technically, I’m shifting more of my attention to writing romantic comedies.

Why romantic comedies? How could you possibly go from writing speculative fiction to writing romantic comedies? What the hell?

Well, here’s the deal. I had a sort of ‘coming to Cthulhu’ moment and realized something important. I have built my ego on being a speculative fiction author. Never mind the fact that I like to read and write in genres outside speculative fiction. Never mind that most of my fantasy reads more like thinly disguised attempts at bad literary fiction. And never mind the fact that I’m attempting to write a type of speculative fiction that even most speculative fiction readers don’t really like. In the end, I had to ask myself, what the hell am I trying to prove and to whom am I trying to prove it?

I’ve done some soul searching and some ego checking.

I really like romantic comedies. Actually, I really like fun, funny romantic stuff. I like romance. I like love stories. I want to see two wacky kids meet and find love in all their wackiness.

I also love big epic stories about people exploring new worlds, but when they do this stuff, I also want them to find love, redemption, beauty, and other useful virtues. So I still love speculative fiction, I just don’t think I love the kind of speculative fiction I’m writing. That’s messed up.

I’m not sure what put me down this path. Maybe it was an attempt to live up to some expectations from others or maybe it was me just going down a road blindly failing to realize it wasn’t the road I wanted to go down.

I’m also funny. In real life, I make people crack up all the time. It tends to be dry and sarcastic humor, but it’s something I’m good at. I’m not sure why I’ve fought this. I’ve fought putting humor into my fiction, I’ve fought putting myself into my fiction.

I’ve been on a quest to be honest with my fiction, but I haven’t been allowing “myself” to be a part of my fiction.

What’s the plan?

The plan is to focus more on screenwriting. Some of you who know me know I’ve had a flirting fascination with filmmaking for years. I started this fascination in the theatre and moved into various amateur attempts, but they never amounted to much.

Well, I’ve decided to stop fucking around with stuff that might get me where I want to be some day and just aim right for the target. I want to write and sell one of the best romantic comedy scripts ever. I want to write the next When Harry Met Sally. I want to write the next Working Girl, or Pretty Woman, or some other charming romance.

The plan is to keep reading every screenplay I can get my hands on. To keep watching every romantic comedy I can. The plan is to go into this thing with a clear idea of what the genre expects and find ways to both embrace that and subvert it. The plan is to allow me, the real me, to be a part of my fiction. I’ll have to show all my weak and vulnerable parts, but that’s ok. I think I can handle that now.

Does this mean I won’t write any more short stories? No, of course not. It also doesn’t mean I’m giving up on my ambitions of writing great speculative fiction. However, right now, at the place I’m at, I just can’t keep doing what I’m doing and loving what I do. I’m just not feeling the love for speculative fiction that I used to feel and instead of forcing the relationship to work we’re going to separate for a little while. We’ll still see each other from time to time, but it’s time to start seeing other genre’s and mediums.

So for the two people who occasionally check my blog, I hope this isn’t too much of a disappointment. Probably not, because you can count my publishing credits on your right hand, even if you’ve lost a few fingers. Not a big loss.

I still plan to remain somewhat active locally with the speculative fiction community. I have a lot of friends there. I’ll still continue reading slush, I’ll still attend NTSFW, but my focus for the time being is on screenwriting. Specifically, screenwriting for a whole new genre.

So I reinvent myself again. Not the first time. Won’t be the last.

I had a great weekend at the David Farland workshop. I learned a lot about the publishing industry that I didn’t know or understand before. I now feel armed with a few more tools.

This is not a class for beginners. We went over the process of writing, a little, but most of the material we covered had to do with making yourself a marketable writer. I have a few changes in mind for War Dogs of Mars. However, I managed to hit most of the high points David talked about. I have one big change to make, but otherwise, it’s good to go.

I’m doing the final redraft of my “Dream Singer” story. I’m cutting down by at least 20%. That should put it in the right range for the first place I want to send it. I’m really proud of this story. I feel like this is the first one that has actually managed to meet my expectations. Basically, this is the kind of story I like to read.

I’m excited about this weekend. I’m spending it in the company of best-selling author David Farland. I’m attending one of his workshops. This one is called “Write that Novel!” which seems pretty much perfect for me. I have totally stalled on War Dogs of Mars’ progress.

This looks like a comprehensive course. I’m going in with my ears open and ready to learn.

I do feel the need to talk about something that relates to my writing and my personal journey as a person. First, I need to say that my personal journey as a human has been greatly enriched by writing. I’ve learned more and experienced more than I think I ever would have had I not made this attempt. Writing has made me more the person I want to be. I’m not complete yet, but I feel like I’m getting there.

Second, I feel like I’ve made some fantastic progress lately. Coming up with new material and putting in a form that actually reads like a story is working. The focus on the Transformational Character Arc has allowed me to write the type of stories I want.

Third, I’ve embraced a sort of writer’s faith. This is a trust you have to build in your process. I wrote a short story recently in one sitting without an outline. Admittedly, the story is a tad cliché, but the fact that I was able to crank out something 5k long without planning is a plus for me.

Fourth, I have come to love the revision process. I faced my fear of grammar and discovered it was a foolish one. Even now I am looking back on the path where that fear passed me by and I realize it was silly and unfounded. So now I dive into my line edits with a completely new attitude. I no longer fear the later stage line edits. In fact, they’ve been a joy.

So I should have “Dream Singer” revised soon and going out the door. Maybe this will be a professional sale? We’ll see.

Last night I spent the evening completing a short story that has turned into a novelette. I know I’ll have a problem marketing a novelette. I don’t believe I’ll need to redraft this story, but I might need to go through and attempt some serious cuts. However, even if I cut 10-20% of the story, there’s no chance I can get it down to 7.5k.

10-12k is a common story length for me. I’m not sure why most of my stories end up at this length. I also find I’ve been writing my novel in chunks like this as well. I marathon for a while and get about that much done and then have to walk away and do something else for a while. However, I don’t have much trouble composing a flash story.

One of the problems I have probably has to do with the fact that I don’t read a lot of short stories, but a lot of novelettes. Most of my favorite stories run long. The only way I know to fix this is with practice. I need to continue to write more short stories and I need to try to keep them as short as possible.

It feels good to finish a phase of the drafting process though. The second draft is often the hardest for me. Now I have something I can snip and cut away at. I have something I can look at on a line-by-line basis and make choices about. I feel better about the story structure in this one. The transformational character arc has helped to clear up my usually incoherent endings.

I’m starting my next story there. At the arc. At least my planning of the story. What is the one event that could hurt this character the most? What is the one event that will best illustrate to them that their survival system isn’t working? Because I think if I can write my story about one important character and that one important event, I think then I can get the story length down to 4-6k where I want it to be.

FENCON VI is drawing to a close. It’s been an interesting little con. I haven’t written as much as I wanted to while here, but have had a really good time meeting some new folks and spending some time talking with friends I don’t see nearly enough.

My hunger for writing flash is back. I think I might try to spend some time [after the novel is finished] working on a collection of flash stories set around some sort of theme. I’m not sure what that theme is, but it shouldn’t be too hard to come up with something.

There were some really great ideas on marketing tossed around in the flash panel. I’m thinking about putting some of these ideas to use here on the site. I know in the next year I want to put together an illustrated chapbook. I have an idea who I want to use as an artist.

Added later: Here’s a good way to make a nice single page chapbook. I think I might take one of my previously published flash stories and put it in this format with a nice external and internal illustration. I want to use it as a type of calling card, but I need to put a few things in place first.

Well, I’m going to take advantage of the two hours I have left in the room here and try to get more of the short story down, then I need to go say goodbye to everyone and try to spend some time with my kiddo before taking her back to her mother’s house.

OK, here’s my mini con report:

The panel on really bad movies, writing flash fiction, and the workshop on making armor patterns were made of awesome. I didn’t really attend much else. People keep telling me to get on the panels myself, but I don’t quite feel legit yet. I want my SFWA membership first.