Not Yet

Saturday afternoon, during a drive home from somewhere, my kids played a game with me to see if they could pick a topic I have not yet written about.

Here is an excerpt of how it went:

Animals I wrote a story early in my writing life that featured a talking deer, but I never really liked how it turned out, so it is now in mothballs. I do have a story in my “ideas” folder that features two dogs and a cat working together for a common goal, and I have been looking for an excuse to begin work on it. Verdict: I got the point on this one. Demons “The Demon You Know.” Already published. Verdict: Easy point for me. First Love Well…I don’t know if you could call it love, but the main character from my young adult Metzgerhund universe, Billy Mecklenburg, definitely experiences—uh…infatuation towards a girl in his youth group. Of course, it could be argued that he feels emotions bordering love later on in the novel…a novel which, by the way, I haven’t quite finished writing. Verdict: The kids let me have the point on that one, anyway. Cowboys They got me on this one. I’ve never written anything from this genre. I’m not ruling it out, but I’m also not going out of my way to artificially manufacture one, either. Verdict: my kids rock!

This game turned out to be a bigger benefit than simply breaking up a monotonous drive. I’m certain that, if we were to play it again, I might hear some topic or setting from my kids that could very well spark a new story idea. It’s not like I need yet another method for generating ideas, but I like new ideas, so there will be a rematch.

Beardedid

As is ice hockey tradition, players begin growing their playoff beards when their team starts its first Stanley cup playoff series.

As is a ritual for many of ice hockey’s fans, we let our beards grow for as long as our team is still in contention for the Cup.

I began growing my beard at about the same time my team, the Washington Capitals, played game one of their first round series.

Everyone who knows I’m a Capitals fan believed it was just me following the ritual.

The truth: I had just dedicated myself to completing two flash fiction stories and one novella length young adult story.

My completion date kept getting pushed back because I insisted on watching all the games instead of writing and editing.

Bummer of all bummers, the Capitals were eliminated from the playoffs this past Monday night.

My beard is still in place.

Why?

It’s starting to itch in the increasingly warmer weather. And, it’s ugly as hell.

Why, indeed.

I’ve been too busy writing to shave.

The irony cracks me up.

The Short Of It

A periodic change of perspective and/or direction is almost always a good thing for an artist of any medium, so I have decided to pause on the longer stories and concentrate on completing two of my flash fiction stories and get them out the submission door.

The first is a story I wrote over a year ago, about a girl who unfortunately got exactly what she asked for. I didn’t like the first version of it well enough, so I put it back on the shelf until I wanted to expend the brainpower to create a new direction and tone. That time has obviously come.

The second is a story about honesty…or, lack thereof…and what that ‘lack thereof’ can cost you. This story has never even been seen my critiquers, so I’m curious to see how it will be received.

After these two stories are done, it’s back to my longer pieces.

Until I decide another change of perspective and/or direction is in order again.

Which I might, at some point, evoke on purpose. I’ve got plenty of flash fiction story ideas to choose from.

Stuffism

I’ve been having a difficult time concentrating on my writing during certain recent evenings because of the Stanley Cup playoffs…in particular, the Capitals / Rangers series. The series is tied up at two games apiece, with the next game scheduled for this coming Friday.

Good. That gives me an extra day of writing with no distractions.

In theory. There are other games on Thursday’s schedule.

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I discovered earlier tonight that my imagination takes on an entirely different ‘tone’ during my late night walks with my digital audio recorder when my flashlight’s battery dies just as I’m reaching the darkest part of the path.

Maybe, a horror story is in my writing future…

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Commute album of the day: Spiral Architect – “A Sceptic’s Universe”
One of the best discussions I’ve ever heard concerning this band and this album was when somebody asked why the musicians had to do so much showing off on their respective instruments. The reply was classic in its simplicity and honesty: “Because they can.” Although, to me, this album wasn’t so much about the musicians showing off, but about how they came together and perfected the craft of showing off as a single entity to make a great overall sound. Today was the first time I’ve spun this disc in several years, so it was almost like hearing it for the very first time…except, this time, I already knew which parts to crank louder and which parts to play air bass to. I’m sure my fellow commuters enjoyed the spectacle.

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I’m finding myself inching back towards my science fiction projects.

To prepare for the upcoming world building one of my stories in particular requires, I’ve been reading every theory I can find on the concept of temporal dimensions. Is Time linear only? Does Time exist in higher dimensions just like Space does?

The spinning sensation in my mind has been an interesting experience.

Tunes from the Silver Screen

I recently got into a conversation about favorite movies based on or in the world of music.

As expected, the usual suspects were mentioned. “This is Spinal Tap” for the rockers, “The Bodyguard” for the mainstreamers, “The Sound of Music” for the lovers of the classics…

You get where this is going.

My list was quite a bit different.

Crossroads I never gave the blues much thought until I saw this movie in the theater way back in the mid 80s, but I walked back to my truck with a better appreciation of the craft and the aspect of life that it came from. The ‘deal with the devil’ scene, and the subsequent ‘contest,’ still play in my head to this day. Watch the Cuttin’ Heads scene Drumline I played in a percussion line as a marimba player for five years, and percussion does run in my family, so it is no surprise that I liked this movie. How the ending came about and how it played out were also of no surprise, but it was still fun to watch—and listen to. Watch the drum line showdown scene My next selection is simply a series of clips from the movie Jackass 2, accompanied by a CKY song I really like. Listen to the tune, laugh at the insanity The flick Disaster Movie, in my opinion, more than lived up to its title in an unfortunate way, but the Chipmunk concert cracks me up every time I see it. Chipmunks in concert

If anyone has some favorite music movie scenes to share, I’d like to check them out.

Indulgation

I’ve spent some of my writing time the past two days on a particular science fiction story.

The characters have been screaming for deeper personalities and more interactions with each other, so I indulged all of them.

The story’s physics (most of it being theoretical to begin with) has been screaming for more exploration, so I indulged it as well.

I realized something today: all of these indulgences are taking the story in a more complex and disparate direction than I first intended.

I also realized I’ve been spending way too much energy treating this new direction as a problem, as an extra burden.

I figured out why: my eyes were on the clock and on the calendar.

Wrong places to be.

I turned my eyes instead towards the expansion my mind has been tasked towards in its consideration of theoretical issues I’ve not before considered…towards the lessons I’ve been learning about character interactions.

Towards the lessons I’ve been learning about writing.

I’ve decided to indulge myself for a while, as well.

Someone Else’s Playground

I’d like to start making periodic mentions of what books I’m reading. Much like how I treat my music discoveries, I will not review these books in the traditional way, but will instead talk about what I have gotten out of them that applies to how I perform the craft of writing.

My current reading selection: “Star Trek – Department of Temporal Investigations – Watching the Clock” by Christopher L. Bennett.

I chose this book because I’ve had a recent surging interest in temporal issues.

Explains why I’ve gone back to working on my time travel story.

Except, this book got me to think about an entirely different issue.

The one thing about writing in an established Universe, especially one that has been in our eyes and minds since the late 60s, is that there is so much material to draw from. And that’s exactly what Bennett did. He even referenced episodes and characters that only true Star Trek geeks would recognize.

I can imagine Bennett had a ‘kid in the candy store’-esque time putting this story together.

Would I have as much fun in his shoes?

I decided that was a question worth asking myself: would I really want to write a story that takes place on someone else’s playground?

The first response that came to mind: “No.” And for good reason, as far as I was concerned. A major contributor towards the fun I have as a writer is making up everything in my worlds, so the mere suggestion of directing my characters down pre-established social / political / technological / ideological / spiritual corridors threatened to take away some of the reason why I like writing. I’ve enjoyed creating things since I was a kid. Why stop now?

But, instead of just closing the case right then and there, I told myself to look at the argument from the opposite side. To walk to the other side of the playground, as it were. Having that much material to draw from translates into having that many more writers who came before you. All of them, at some point, placed their hands on the Star Trek Universe and nudged it in a different direction. It occurred to me: to be noticed in such a crowd and from within such a vast body of work, your story better be memorable. In short: to break through in this (or any other established—and popular!) Universe, you’d better up your game.

The light went on. This would be an excellent challenge for some writers.

It might even be a good one for me.

One of these days.

Not yet, though. I still want to create my own worlds. I’m still having a great time in my very own playground.

Then, another light went on. It doesn’t matter whose Universe I tell my story in; with the number of books and other stories that now reside on physical shelves and in databases, and with that number growing every day, I still need to up my game to get noticed and to become memorable.

Should be a good challenge, regardless of whose playground I find myself in.