Getting Ready to Fire Up the Press

Time to take a long and welcome stretch and then consider what the New Year will bring.

This year, for me, I anticipate many changes, but what goals might I set for myself in terms of writing?

As a collaborative writer I’m approaching something rather exciting at Pan Historia.  One of my collaborative ‘novels’ is coming to an end.  We are in the process of planning a conclusion and tying up all the loose ends.  Ideally it can then be read just like any other novel with a beginning, middle, and end.  I would like to also propose to my fellow writers at The Midnight People that we edit and then publish the work.  One of the really exciting developments of the computer and internet age is the greater freedom that writers have to get published.  Of course the Vanity Press has existed as long as the printing press, but nowadays self-publishing with all the trimmings of self-promotion and marketing is now a real possibility.  I anticipate a fairly small audience for our fantasy novel, but I think it would be a great thing to hold the real life paperback version of our collaborative work in our hands.  The sense of accomplishment alone would be worth it, even if we don’t entirely recoup the costs of the project.

In addition to a print version of the completed The Midnight People I hope to extend the publishing option to all of Pan Historia.  A number of years ago we put together a compilation book that we named the Pan Historia Birthday Book.  I had planned for a new one every year but sadly that was more work than I could manage, but I think it’s time for another. It sounds to me, reading what I have just wrote, that I really plan to enter the world of publishing, albeit in my small and quirky way.  Pan Press here I come!

Which leads me to my own solo literary effort: it’s time to get serious about my novel.  My New Year’s resolution will involve dusting off my research, and then writing at least a page a day.  If I can write a page of blog every day… well you get the picture.  I won’t wait a week to start, I’ll start today.  There is nothing like grabbing the moment and not letting good intentions get away.  I finally realized, in a blinding moment of revelation, what the block was to the novel and that was that I had character, no problem, but I hadn’t really decided what the damn plot was.  So I will work on a rough outline and try and hammer out the story arc.

Wish me luck.

Writing Unique People

What makes one character unique from another? It has to be more than job, looks, or slang in their speech. In order to really create a truly unique individual with a distinctive ‘flavor’ all their own you have to get down deep into the emotional heart of them. Too often I see writers make the error of just relying on an external description of their character to carry off personality but really what we look like physically is not predicated by character except in the minor detail. It’s more likely to be found in the crow’s feet, the way we style (or don’t) style our hair, and how we wear our clothes.

I could probably write a whole thesis on the way people dress. There is tendency for those members of society who care about their appearance to suggest that people that are unkempt, dirty, or slobby don’t care what people think of them. This couldn’t be farther from the truth in most cases. The unkempt is just as much a ‘fashion’ statement as the well-groomed. Very often the individual is screaming out a political message or maybe just an antisocial “fuck you” at the world. Remember being a teenager and all you could think about was getting laid? There is no such thing as a complete lack of self-awareness in the average human being. Baggy unattractive clothes are often attempts to hide self-perceived flaws from the world: chubby, unfashionable proportions or breasts even.

Many writers will turn to describing ‘flashing sparkling green eyes’ or other such physical attributes common to romantic thinking, but more important than eye color is where the gaze falls. Do they meet your eyes when they look at you or do they glance away in shyness or discomfort? When we look at the human face there really is no such thing as twinkling eyes or a ‘cold’ look, yet the entire expression can seem to imply such, but there are a lot more choices out there too: weary, tired, haggard, bags under the eyes, dull eyes, dust on the eyelashes.

I am not suggesting, however, and this is important, that we clutter up our narrative with tons of description. Over describing your character leaves the reader with little to do and still doesn’t reveal their true distinctiveness. Description should be used like seasoning – in moderation unless you’re making curry. Throw in a comment about the stray few strands of hair in front of the eyes that annoy the observer and don’t seem to bother the owner and you’re giving us a little taste of that person’s character and mood. Mannerisms or nervous ticks can be useful but, again, should not be overused and not everyone has one. We do all have a way of moving that is distinctive. Is your character jerky like a puppet on strings or do they move with the ease of a trained dancer?

I don’t necessarily recommend the character sheet or the detailed character biography before you start writing, but if it works for you, by all means, use it as a tool. In my case I just try to imagine my character visually and then as I see the ‘play’ unfold I ‘see’ what they are doing and I try and capture the little quirks and visual clues. I like my character to surprise me with what they might do next so I don’t care to pin them down with a character biography that is more than just a quick sketch. I can fill in the details as they come to life and they tell me who they are.

How a character performs tasks is much more telling then what they look like. Are they quick and sloppy, or quick and brilliant, slow but methodical, clumsy but inspired? Don’t tell us, show us. Does Bobby Schwartz type with two fingers or did he somewhere learn to type? Does he punch the keys emphatically or do his fingers brush softly over the keys? Does he often use the backspace keys to correct his errors? Is he looking at the keyboard or does he stare fixed at the monitor? In the case of Bobby Schwartz, one of my characters, I know he spills a lot of stuff on his keyboard because he eats while programming, and that means he has a box of old sticky keyboards (he doesn’t throw anything away) and a few new ones in boxes, or recycled ones stacked on his cluttered shelves so that he doesn’t lose time working if the keys start to stick.

In the case of Bobby he is partially inspired by me, partially by programmers I have known, but also he’s a mix of other people I have known. I also tend to eat and drink when I’m working at the computer but I have learned not to spill too much on the keyboard, I have a little brush for cleaning the dust bunnies out of it, and I never have a back up keyboard so disaster means I’ll have to lose a couple of hours in all probability to go get another keyboard from the local Staples.

More on Collaborative Writing

Sometimes a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do…

In one of my most recent collaborative posts I wrote something for my character that under ordinary circumstances I would never write. In a somewhat romantic scene between my rather chivalrous historical character John Clum (a very interesting man!) I had him mention the lovely ‘violet’ eyes of the heroine (a purely fictional Madame with the proverbial heart of gold). Now the reason I wouldn’t normally do this is a) most people don’t have violet eyes (except Liz Taylor) and b) I feel it’s verging on bad writing – ie: “I gazed into her large liquid orbs like pools of…” You get the point.

So, I hear you all chime, why did you do it?

I did it for my writing partner. Writing with someone in a collaborative fiction project should not be all about the quality of the writing all of the time – not if you’re doing this as a social recreational thing. See I adore my writing partner in that novel, Tombstone, at Pan Historia. She’s been a great friend for years now. We’ve never met in person but online we share a great history of fun and collaboration. I wrote about her violet eyes because she would enjoy the reference and the deferment to her creative fantasy life. She wants violet eyes! She gets violet eyes! It’s her fantasy too, damnit. I wrote it to give her pleasure.

I might be fantasizing about writing the great American novel one day, but she’s getting a kick out of being a beautiful woman with a shadowy past, violet eyes, and a heart of gold back in the Wild Wild West. And why the hell not? Let’s face it. I get a kick out of role-playing Wyatt Earp in the same role-play collaborative novel. So sometimes it’s really good to remember this is not always about serious writing and ART. It’s about fun too.

And as the man said: “if it ain’t fun, don’t do it”.

Wyatt’s First Blog Post

Reposted from Blogger stardate Oct 30, 2008

Ok, I’ve decided to try this blogging thing. You might think, consider my writing credentials, that I’m getting into this whole blogging business a bit late – you know I didn’t put the cart before the horse, or even the cart after the horse but not I’m running way behind feeling a bit verklempt. Don’t ask me if I spelled that right. The point is that I am late in the game and we all know that usually means you missed the bus.

However… and this is a big however… on the off chance that I did not miss the bus and am, in fact, still driving the bus, even though it might be adorned with big day glo daisies and bumper stickers for political campaigns about thirty years old, I am here, and I am blogging.

So – what can I fictional character blog about? Actually I’m not entirely fictional and so this blog will be a smoothie style blend of what I do at my community site, www.panhistoria.com, my writing, and any other odd and assorted random topic that enters into my mind (like a sieve). I might even delve into politics (as I’m off-site as it were, for me). At this point I have no idea if I can be an erudite blogger or an entertaining blogger, but I’m hoping I can be an addictive blogger: “I have no idea why I log on every day to read Wyatt’s blog but it’s like crack, man, I just can’t stop myself”.

Now I’m going to go adorn my blog with all the obligatory bells, whistles, and wigdets. Be back with more stunning thoughts later.