May 11, 2008 @ 11:36 am
Hey peeps, sorry I haven’t written very much here lately, particularly on the subject of writing. This journal has changed a lot over the years, and during that time it seems I’ve become less inclined to talk about all the behind-the-scenes action. Now that I’m working on a novel, I find I’m even more aware of what I want to talk about on this journal, and what I don’t want to talk about.
It’s not so much about keeping anything on the q.t., or any bullshite about a magician not wanting to reveal his secrets. It’s just that I feel some things are not really worth mentioning, whereas others are best kept to one’s self. Part of it is boredom. Let’s face it, it’s boring to watch someone writing a novel. I’m sorry, but it’s true. I’m having a blast, but I don’t expect others to sit and watch and marvel at what I’m doing. This is really about the end result. Watching a behind-the-scenes special on the making of a movie might be interesting, but there’s nothing entertaining about watching a guy sitting at his computer, getting up occasionally to put on a pot of coffee. Although I use to like my trusty word-meter, it eventually fell by the wayside. It went from in-progress metrics to my only post the final word count of completed stories, to not being used at all. I just don’t care anymore, and since I’ve never received a single complaint about its absence, I’m guessing no one else misses it either.
Likewise, I tend not to talk about the stories I’m currently working on, problems with plot, or pacing, or character motivation. I don’t want to spoil the story before people get a chance to read it, and while I’ve seen some writers get around that by being extremely vague — Today I had a problem with Character A, but then I thought about it for awhile and fixed it —I find that even less interesting. I understand what those writers are trying to do, but again it’s not something I’m interested in.
Having said that, I don’t want this journal to be a place where I don’t talk about writing, because my personal life isn’t that interesting, and quite frankly people are coming here because they know me as a writer, and to not talk about writing would be kind of dumb. On the other hand, I don’t want this place to be like some other writers’ websites that serve only to sell books. I definitely want to use this website to promote my work, but I don’t want to feel like I’m hawking steak knives or Amway products.
I think part of my malaise comes from the fact that in terms of my small press horror pursuits I really peaked with my story in Cemetery Dance. That’s really about the best a guy can do in this day and age in terms of publishing short horror fiction. There are other markets I’m still trying to crack, but that was definitely the big one, and now I find myself kind of bored with the entire small press scene. I still like writing short stories, and will continue to sell them wherever I can, but I’m more focused on novels right now, and I have no intention of publishing one with a small press (not until I’ve exhausted all other options, anyway).
I suppose the key is to balance all of these topics on my journal and, hopefully, give visitors the kind of experience that they want to have on a regular basis. I think even if I’m talking less about the business side of things, or rejections, or word-counts, I can still make this an entertaining place.
Speaking of things tangentially related to writing, Kat and I were supposed to go to Toronto yesterday to have Greek with some of my fellow Canadian writer peeps, but plans fell through and we ended up having Greek in Peterborough (good but not the same as having it on the Danforth) and then went to see Iron Man, which was as great as everyone has been saying (be sure to wait until the end of the credits).
Now I’m off to put together our new barbecue and lawnmower. Ahh, the life of the writer as a new homeowner.
What a coincidence! I saw IRON MAN last night, too!
I hear what you’re saying about the blog. The rule that I think still fits is to write the kind of blog you’d like to read from a writer. Be mindful, of course, that the blog is essentially a tool for you to increase your readership, but also be willing to explore anything you think might make the blog interesting to someone reading. You know what you think works, so just do that. You can always tinker later.
I try to keep my blog updated on a schedule because that works for me, and it ensures I’ll write something. I’m the first to admit that sometimes the entries aren’t the most entertaining, but those rough days help motivate me to give thought to some issues I might not have given the proper consideration to before. Frankly, I’m surprised I’ve kept the blog running this long and am still finding new things to talk about. As I said before, though, I’m interested in reading the things I’m writing about, and none of them involve my non-creative life.
I also think you give short-shrift to everything other than CD. As recognizable as the mag is, it isn’t the end-all of markets to appear in. I was quite frankly surprised at the response the magazine gets from the genre fans I’ve mentioned it to: most don’t regard it too highly. I can’t say that completely surprises me either: I recognize very few of the names in its pages. It’s still a feather in your cap to get in there, but it seems to me the really big name authors have their work appearing elsewhere. This isn’t to diminish your accomplishment, of course, only to say there’s more life left in a short story career after Cemetery Dance. Besides, what’s that they say? “Let’s see you do it again?”
Ha, that’s pretty funny about IRON MAN. Great minds, I guess.
You’re totally right about the blog, too. When I think about what I want to do with it, I look at other writers I admire. Some don’t have blogs at all, mostly because they’re too busy writing, and those that do, like Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill, tend to keep things fairly light. They don’t weight in on issues like POD vs. traditional publisher or whether or not some magazines editors are prejudice against female sf writers, etc. I’m sure they have thoughts and opinions on these things, but they don’t tend to discuss them publicly.
My blog used to be quite ranty, not in a negative way (at least I don’t think it was), but these days I tend to post only about things that amuse me, or when I’ve sold a new story, or when I’ve got one coming out.
As for CD, I guess I put it on a pedestal because they pay well and they have published some pretty big name authors like Stephen King, Poppy Z. Brite and Charles L. Grant. Not sure what other markets you’re talking about that are publishing the big guys (and gals) except for the really big mags like PLAYBOY and THE NEW YORKER. I’m still trying to crack those guys, too, but I figure it’ll take some time. :)
I’d like to see you in the first tier markets as well. Keep charging.
I’m trying. :)