I got my email today from Writer’s Digest, informing me that I was not among the finalists for the short story competition. I would have been pleasantly surprised if I had been. The story I wrote was put together pretty quickly, and I didn’t have time for an outside editor to look at it. There are changes I’m going to make to the story, and I will get someone else to look it over. I’m considering trying to submit it to Clarkesworld, but they’ve closed submissions for now. They were flooded with “stories” cranked out using things like ChatGPT. If nothing else, I’ll post the story here.
I’ve submitted a short story to the Writer’s Digest Annual Short Story Competition. It was something I wrote over the past week, and I probably rushed it. But all I have to lose is the entry fee, and it’s a start. The top 10 stories get published in Writer’s Digest, and that’s the main draw for me. Several of the top positions get prize money, and first overall gets a trip to their annual writer’s conference in New York and an opportunity to pitch work to editors and publishers.
Once I know the outcome, and if I’m not among those selected to be published, then I’ll post a copy of the story here. It’s a science fiction story, and set nominally in my Unimanse fictional universe. It was also an experiment: I chained together a series of drabbles (100-word microfiction stories) to form a larger story. It was fun trying to make it work, keep the plot focused, and make each 100-word section a story of its own.
I haven’t posted much because I haven’t been doing much. We had a death in the family (my father, after a long illness), so that and the holidays aren’t doing much to inspire creativity right now. However, I’m not worried. This too shall pass, and I know I will be back at it.
There’s not much to write about at the moment. Between a family health thing and family in town for Christmas, there are other things to focus on. Be well. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Merry Kwanzaa, Merry Festivus, Happy Solstice, and happy holidays for the other festivities and celebrations I’ve overlooked.
I am experiencing some ambivalence when it comes to social media, although most of that is about Twitter. I use a few different platforms, for different purposes, and I am trying out a pair of newer ones.
What and Why
I currently use most of the common social media platforms. Facebook is mainly about friends and family, keeping up with what they are doing or thinking. LinkedIn is about professional connections, and keeping up with that community. Instagram is a weird mix of friends, family, and various celebrities or other notable personalities. I visit each of them once per day. On Instagram, once I’ve “caught up”, I don’t keep scrolling. I did for a time, and it was easy to lose a lot of time to that. No more.
Then there’s Twitter, Mastodon, and Post. The latter two I’m experimenting with, seeing if I use them differently than I did with Twitter. Twitter is, for me, an oddball. There’s no way to keep up with each and every tweet from the people I follow. I’ve reduced the number of accounts I follow there over the years, but even then, I usually didn’t read everything. It wasn’t hard for a thousand or more tweets to pile up in a 24-hour period, and that’s with me following maybe 50 people.
Twitter The Outlier
I wasn’t sure about Twitter when I first joined in 2009. It was already 3 years old by that point, and appeared to be gaining traction. It was when social media was becoming more of ‘a thing’, and there was an expectation in some circles that you should be part of it. I followed a lot of different people and organizations, all of whom I was interested in, or sometimes connected with, in some way. But it didn’t take long to get buried in tweets. I would check once a day, and there were thousands of unread tweets. This was before promotions and recommendations started to appear on the site.
For the next few years, I would stop using Twitter for months at a time, or even for more than a year. Then I would come back, pay attention for a few weeks or months, then just sort-of “wander off”. I removed more and more of the accounts I followed to try to get the volume of tweets down, but it was relentless/ There were just enough accounts that I wanted to follow, and many are fairly prolific posters.
To Stay Or Go
I have been considering deleting my Twitter accounts for some time now, long before the Elon Musk Imploding Disaster Show arrived on the scene. And leaving isn’t really about the dumpster fire fueled with thermite that Twitter appears to be devolving into. Twitter was a mess before that, it’s just managed to get worse. I, fortunately, had been spared that, in part because I used TweetDeck, which doesn’t show ads, promoted or recommended tweets, or following suggestions. I rarely posted anything. What I did tweet was apparently uninteresting, so I wasn’t subject to the trolls that roam the Twitter landscape.
But I also found that I had little or no engagement from Twitter and my modest number of followers. I generally tweeted a link to my most recent blog posts, as I do on other social media sites. The number of visits to my blogs that were courtesy of Twitter were generally zero. I would get some from Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. But almost nothing from Twitter.
The only thing holding me back is that I have a few connections on Twitter that aren’t on other social media platforms, and I’d like to stay connected to them. I go back every week or so and check for notifications on Twitter. But otherwise, I’ve stopped using it again.
Stay, For Now
For the moment, I’m going to keep my personal and Vintrock Twitter accounts. Part of it is to retain the Twitter handles. Part of it is because maybe, perhaps, things might change again. For now that appears unlikely, but who knows. But I’ve got the accounts reasonably secure, I’ve removed a bunch of personal information from them, and it costs me nothing to let them sit. Whether I also stay on Mastodon and Post is a question mark, but I need to give both a lot more time before I decide what I do next. It’s too soon to make any decisions on them.
My “output” or writing production has slowed. Unfortunately, it’s not because I’ve hit some kind of roadblock in the story. It’s because of some personal things, specifically with my Dad, who is in hospital, and won’t be coming home. Needless to say, the focus is on family at the moment. The story, though, is getting into a more exciting part as we approach the final conflict and the resolution. I’m pretty sure I know how it’s going to turn out, but I can surprise even myself at times.
While I’ve already technically “won” NaNoWriMo 2022, the book itself isn’t done. I’ve crossed the 60,000 word threshold now. I’m working toward completing one of the other achievements, which is updating my writing progress every day for the month.
Ease Off The Throttle
I don’t expect to work on writing seven days a week. Like any task, breaks are a good thing. It keeps you fresh, and it helps you focus. Starting in December, I expect to focus on writing at least five days a week. The big lesson for me was understanding how productive I was (or wasn’t) going to be, and how much time do I need in a day for writing. I seem to be able to get a fair bit done in about an hour or two, hitting my personal goal of 2,000 words in a day.
Those words are, right now, first draft words. I’m working on getting the story told, knowing I have to go back and revise and revisit what I’ve created. The idea that I can create the “perfect” work on the first try is beyond optimistic. Moreso, since I’m still new to becoming a novelist. Writing itself isn’t hard for me. Writing well is where the challenge lies.
It’s Encouraging
This novel, so far, plus the one I drafted a few years ago, are proving to be encouraging. I enjoy the act of creation, whether it’s crafting a story, building a piece of software, or taking wood and making something. Building is part of who I am, not just what I do. Being able to build entire worlds is fun and a challenge.
I’m into the next section of the novel. One of the big events has now passed, but we’re building toward the finale. Sure, I’ve already planned generally how the story is going to end. But there’s an element of mystery, since I don’t know exactly how it will turn out. And the story has already morphed a bit from my initial vision. Here’s to the final few chapters!
(Warning this contains spoilers on Season 1 of Andor, proceed at your own risk)
Season 1 of Andor wrapped up on Wednesday, and I am almost speechless. The consistency and quality over 12 episodes was breathtaking. It’s interesting because it’s Star Wars, but not Star Wars in the conventional sense. It’s like Star Wars, but with a real edge. I am keeping fingers, toes, eyes and whatever else I can cross crossed because I hope they can maintain it into season 2. And I hope beyond hope they don’t use the second season to hype up more spin-offs they way they did with season 2 of The Mandalorian.
Amazing Material
The depth of the characters, the dialog, the pacing, the dialog (again), and THE DIALOG. Holy crap, it’s nice to see someone who can write high-quality dialog that is expository and exhilarating, and doesn’t leave you thinking “c’mon, just get to the point”. Luthen’s (Stellan Skarsgård)speech at the end of episode 11, and Maarva’s (Fiona Shaw) speech via hologram on Rix Road were both poignant, powerful, but still to the point. There was very little wasted dialog.
The dialog was further bolstered by the sets. Those that should be pristine were pristine. But not everything was neat and clean and orderly, and the disorderly or well-worn looked the part naturally. None of the settings felt contrived or fake. They looked and felt like real places that you could visit. You felt the depth and history for those sets that were old. Niamos (aka Space Florida) looked as it should, sorta-new but sorta-tired at the same time. Few resorts are as nice as the brochure, and this was no exception.
The acting for every single character was incredible. I didn’t see a single flat or phoned-in performance, and even the truly minor characters that had a few seconds of screen time felt real. But the main characters were each able to shine, even when you had groups of them together. Their energy and their performances seemed to feed off each other.
There was a single, brief space battle. And as short as it was, it felt special, it was exhilarating. I suspect its because we weren’t immersed in action, so it stands out. It’s uniqueness in the story makes it more dramatic, and it’s pacing and composition as a small story was incredible.
Not-so-Minor Characters
Syril Karn’s (Kyle Soller) arc in the story was incredible, not because it was so compelling necessarily, but because it was so well done. His narcissism having his rent-a-cop uniform tailored. Every scene where he is eating at his mother’s home is him eating a children’s cereal, never “grown up food”. His demeanour around Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) and his uncertainty when dealing with other people in general was so well portrayed. I was sure he was going to kiss her after rescuing her from the street battle, and was impressed the writers had the courage to stay away from that trope. Syril had just enough growth to be plausible, but wasn’t entirely transformed, which is a good thing. People don’t change as much as we think in a short period of time, so why would he?
Watching Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) switch between clean and coifed and grubby and ready for action was impressive. The first time, I wasn’t sure I was watching the same performer. Seeing a character that wavers between confident and tentative, from certain to uncertain, made that character more believable, more real, to me.
The droid B2EMO (voice by Dave Chapman) was made important, and had a personality. Watching the little guy reacting to Maarva’s death was truly emotional.
There are so many characters with limited time in the story, but that are still important to the story. You’d be hard pressed to remove any one of them and have the thing hang together. And every one of their performances left an impression. Kino Loy, Ruescott Melshi, Saw Guerrera. The list just goes on.
And Then There’s Cassian Andor
Diego Luna’s portrayal of Cassian Andor is simply spectacular. We can see someone who is still growing, still learning, becoming the character we eventually see in Rogue One. The man is an incredibly talented performer. He takes the amazing material at his disposal and creates a masterpiece on the screen.
The character’s strengths and flaws are there for us to see. Luna’s performance brings both the good and bad in Andor to the fore. And the storytellers never resort to cliche or stereotypes to get their tale told. It’s incredible.
Don’t Forget The Soundtrack
The music for the show is it’s own strength. The opening theme is the same melody, but a different performance each time. There are very few repeated musical cues, and none of the grand symphonic music from the rest of the Star Wars universe.
What’s equally impressive is the diversity of musical styles throughout the show. You have classical, synth, basic rock, and a host of other styles, sometimes all within one episode. I read an article (I’ve lost the link) that interviewed the composer, and he spent as much time making the music as they spent filming and editing. He spent hours on a piece that would only be heard for a few seconds in one case, but wanted to write the entire song to it felt complete. There is one song that they decided would be a “galactic hit”, so it appears in its original form, and in various forms including muzak throughout the rest of the show. Brilliance.
Hopes for Season Two
I have high hopes for season two. My wish is for them to put the same care and attention into it, and to avoid a sophomore slump. I hope beyond hope that Disney leaves them alone (and with Iger at the helm again, that may just happen). Don’t use it as a vehicle to push other products. Stick to the story.
If the producers, cast, and crew can make season two with the same stunning quality as season one, I will be thoroughly impressed. It can be hard to carry on something at that high level. At some point, there will be stumbles. That it never happened, at all, in 12 1-hour episodes is truly impressive. If they can repeat that in season two, then they deserve all the accolades possible.
There are many, many opinions on what is the “right” way to use technology when writing creatively. Some are deeply held, others are more flexible. There may be a divide when it comes to the age groups that different writers fall in, but even there, you’ll find exceptions (some vocal about it). I’m a technologist, so naturally my views are skewed by my experience, but I’m also in that gray area between “baby boomer” and “Gen X”, depending on where the line gets drawn. Frankly, I’ve never really identified with either all that strongly. But I won’t pretend that my age and experience don’t influence my preferences when it comes to the tools I use for writing.
Modernity vs. Nostalgia
I’ve noticed that there are a cohort of writers out there that swear by the more historically traditional tools of the trade: either pen and paper, or the venerable typewriter. Personally, I love typewriters, although at the moment I am without one. I have some vintage machines I’m hoping to acquire in the coming years. They are both marvels of art and engineering. And there are those that swear by them as their main writing tool. For them, there is some visceral connection between the words and the act of forging them on paper.
I get that, but I also know that I was about three times faster on an electric typewriter, and I’m faster again on a computer keyboard. I’ve been writing other work that way for so long that it’s my “connection”, but that’s me. It doesn’t mean I won’t try using a typewriter (once I get one) as an experiment. I suspect I won’t find it as productive, but I haven’t used one for writing in decades, so I could very well be wrong. If nothing else, it will be fun to give it a go.
Over time, I’ve experimented with a few different technological approaches to writing. I tried using a Freewrite Traveler, but found it a bit awkward and cumbersome both physically and from a workflow point of view. The bigger reason, though was I didn’t see the point of dragging another piece of technology around, since I already have a laptop (with an arguably better keyboard). I also experimented with a dedicated writing tool on iPad (Hanx Writer from Tom Hanks) coupled with a bluetooth keyboard that approximated the feel of a typewriter. It was fun, but it felt like it was slowing me down, that it wasn’t “keeping up” with my thoughts as I tried to get them down. I won’t pretend that I was looking at that objectively, that is a purely subjective feeling on my part.
Most of my writing over the past four decades has been done in either a simple text editor (before PC’s and word processors were a thing) or using a word processor, virtually all of it using Microsoft Word. I’ve used others (Framemaker, Pages, Google Docs, LibreOffice, a host of others on Unix, Mac, and Windows), but Word became the standard in most industries, so that’s what we used. For my creative writing, I began using Word, but in the past few years I’ve been using Scrivener. It suits the workflow that I’m comfortable with, and it provides me with some reasonably straightforward ways to organize and edit my work. It also allows me to collect notes, character outlines, external links for references, all in a single project.
My Workflow (for now)
During the past year, I’ve begun to develop my own personal workflow that seems to help me focus on my writing. I expect it will continue to evolve. My participation in NaNoWriMo 2022 helped focus and structure it more than I had in the past. Part of how I work was inspired by an article I read in Writer’s Digest, on some approaches to “winning” NaNoWriMo. It starts with the checklist I made, which are the “work items” I need to put in place to get writing.
This is in front of me on my desk, ready for me to refer to it to make sure I haven’t missed something in my rush to get writing. I use the Focus feature on my Apple devices to filter out distractions like the arrival of new email or text messages, or any news alerts. I have a tool (I’ll describe later) that helps me with some of the mechanical elements of crafting my story. I keep a web browser ready for any searches I might have to do, but other than that browser window, Scrivener, and my new tool, all my other apps and windows are hidden away. I remove all the other distractions so I can focus on the task at hand, writing.
Setting The Mood
Part of my writing environment is the music playlist that I’m using. I’ve created one specific to the story I’m working on. It’s a collection of songs (currently the soundtracks for both Blade Runner movies, Andor, The Martian, and The Expanse) meant to set the mood of the story. I’m hoping my current novel captures the kind of dystopian world seen in Blade Runner, The Expanse, and parts of Andor. A new novel will require a new playlist, since it will likely have a different vibe, a different feel.
A key for me when writing prose is that the music not include lyrics. I have no problem with them when I’m writing code, but when I’m writing words, I find the lyrics can be a distraction. Some of the songs in my current playlist do include vocals, and I think I’m learning to tune out the words and just listen to the music. I haven’t removed them from this playlist, but I’m leaning towards them being deleted from the playlist. They can be a bit jarring when they appear.
This Is Me, Maybe Not You
The approach I have taken will not work for everyone. Some of what I do might be useful for others. Other parts will seem ‘wrong’ to people. I will not claim that I’ve captured the “secret sauce” for being a productive and creative writer. Partly because I’m still new to this. Partly because I’m not representative of all writers. No one is. What works for some will not work for others. But sometimes we can learn from others, and take what works from them, and leave what doesn’t. My goal is to remain open-minded enough to try new things, to help me to not just be ‘productive’, but to enjoy the act of writing at the same time. This isn’t meant to be ‘work’, even if I’m hoping to make something of a career of it. Most of my main career wasn’t ‘work’ either.
So this is an evolving thing, and I expect to add, drop, and modify elements of it. Some will be about revisiting the technological components. Some will be about the processes, the procedures, the rituals, finding what works (for now) and doesn’t work (for now). I don’t want to become beholden to something for any particular reason, either.
