WRITING MY NOVELLA: OBSERVATIONS, NOTES AND WHAT I'VE LEARNED

I learned many things about the book writing process, namely it should have taken me less time.

I just submitted my completed manuscript for the FIGHT CARD novella 'Union of the Snakes' to Paul Bishop for editing. It will be out later this year (perhaps Fall) and I will keep everyone updated with details regarding its release. That said, I want to share eighteen observations that I made about my writing process, specifically for this project.

1. It should have taken me less time. Far less time.

2. The reason why it may have taken me so long is that I'm an awesome procrastinator. I've elevated the pastime to an Olympic-level sport.

3. YouTube, Facebook and whatever cheesy reality show that happened to be on television was my chief antagonist during the novella writing process. If I actually liked Twitter, THAT would be my enemy, too.

4. Working at a newspaper all day doesn't help the creative process. Many nights, I came home devoid of the will to put theoretical pen to paper.

5. You can conceive, write and complete a novella on weekends in a chain coffee shop. Yes, I'm THAT guy.

6. I've come to respect my fellow writers who knock out their e-books - one after another - and make it look effortless. I bow to you all.

7. If you can pardon the cliche, I just tried to write the book that I, myself, would want to read.

8. The more I write, the absolute less I read. In fact, I try not to read much of anything while I'm writing. Quite simply, I don't want another scribe's voice in my head.

9. UNION OF THE SNAKES was written entirely in the cloud. Sure, a local copy was saved on my main laptop, but whenever I switched computers, it was waiting for me, no matter where I was. My primary service was SKYDRIVE with a backup on Google Drive and Dropbox. On days when I didn't feel like lugging out the laptop, the writing was done using the same services on my iPad and a GREAT app called IA Writer.

The one, the only Fred MacMurray

10. Nothing gets me in the mood to write more than an old film noir. If Bogie's in it, all the better. If it's Fred MacMurray, I'm in Nirvana.

11. To prepare for this FIGHT CARD novella, I must've watched about 100 film-noirs, neo-noirs and just your all-around basic hard-boiled crime classics -- all on a loop. Truth be told, I got something from each and every one of them.

12. Sometimes I found research to be a fun and necessary distraction. My story is set in various locales in 1954 - namely Hollywood and Chicago - so I really wanted to ensure that I had a strong sense of historical context.

13. Thank God, I don't outline. The journey would have been way less fun if I really knew where it was all going.

14. Music, above all, really is a chief muse of mine. Especially music of the era I'm writing. Jazz, jump blues and onion ballads really fed this beast.A Spotify playlist for 'Union of the Snakes' was my main inspiration.

15. As someone who has embraced to hard-boiled/noir genre, I've come to love first person narrative. In fact, I have a newfound respect for it.

16. I'll be honest... Every now and then, tense tripped me up if I wasn't on my toes. I found my character saying things he couldn't possibly say.

17. As I was writing, I came to the realization that if you're not matriculating on more than one form of social media, you might as well be placing stamps on a hand-written query letter. The pimping of your book comes long before you write 'THE END.'

18. Hemingway was right: "The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day … you will never be stuck."

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ARE BLOGS DEAD? THEY JUST MAY BE...

Greetings one and all.

As you may have noticed, I haven't updated Bukowski's Basement for quite some time. Between being harried at the day job and gathering thoughts and research for my upcoming Fight Card novella 'Union of the Snakes,’ things have been getting dusty round these parts. For that I apologize.

Funny enough, the daily traffic here has maintained a steady level of visitors (261,000+ page views). Reason? I can only assume there's a healthy selection of posts to keep new visitors busy and old ones entertained. Well that and I suppose good ‘ol fashioned search engine optimization where a few standout posts have been ranked high by Google.

That particular fact has brought me to an interesting question to ponder: Some time ago, I was having a conversation with a writer colleague online. We were chatting about maintaining blogs to which I was told, "Blogs are dead..."

At the time, the statement didn’t register but ever since, the more I thought about it, the more I discovered there may have been something to it.

Look, the great thing about blogging is that there'll always be a need for interesting, thought-provoking, informational or humorous content. Bearing this in mind, however, it’s a no-brainer (to me at least) that casual bloggers an the dawn of 2013 don't present their content the same way anymore.

There’s been an evolution.

CONVERGENCE

Back in 2008 when I started Bukowski's Basement, it was the perfect home for a YouTube video I wanted my readers to see or an aggregation to a particular news story or blog post that I found compelling.

Then convergence happened shortly after.

Again, over the past few years, I noticed a shift in blogging patterns from many of my writer friends as well as myself. Funny thing, I don’t think many of us were aware the tide was turning.

I'm about to say something blasphemous so get ready: Whether we like it or not, our online visibility is now fueled by social networks. That's the bottom line. WE ARE WHAT WE POST. You could have the best blog content this side of NPR but it wouldn't make a difference because people will judge you by your Twitter feed or Facebook wall. Those two social networks, behind Google search, are the primary turnpikes to your blog content.

Our blogging visibility online is now fueled by social networks.

Are you that person who posts funny cat memes on Facebook or tweets your every waking thought while stuck in traffic? During the election, were you a politico propaganda machine? You get where I’m going...

Through our updates and tweets, we become and cultivate a brand whether we like it or not and, as writers, it’s important to maintain a level of exposure and engagement that will ultimately drive traffic to our blogs as well as give a hint to readers what we’re all about.

It’s simple math. Need more proof? As long as everyone on the planet has a smartphone in their pocket, they're taking their online lives with them. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. That fact that I've connected with so many writers on social networks allows me to follow their musings so much more than I would I were still poking around their sites on blog news readers. What’s more, I’m finding we're using these said social networks - Twitter, Facebook or even Google Plus - to share the tidbits we'd be normally putting on our blogs in years past. Someone who does this brilliantly is Paul Bishop of the stupendous pulp crime fiction blog Bish’s Beat.

Again, it's all about convergence.

It’s no shock that Facebook and Twitter are the top-tier networks. Second-tier upstarts like Pinterest, tumblr, Instagram all can feed into a top-tier network cleanly. In addition, Google Plus and YouTube are joined at the hip and do a respectable job knocking on each other’s door. So what am I getting at? It’s easier than ever to build a visible platform as a writer on a social network so when we DO have content (#FridayFlash etc), readers may be more apt to visit your page.

EVOLUTION AFTER DECLINE?

Before you think this is some half-cocked Jerry Maguire food-poisoning memo, I'm not saying that writers shouldn't have blogs. Absolutely not. There's always be a need for a self-promotional home base to pimp a sample chapter of a new work, essay, book or film review, poem or even a weekly flash fiction piece. This is where I still think blogs shine - when we, as content creators, have premium material to share.

But let's face it, keeping up with blog reading has become a chore for most and it's much easier to peruse a Facebook news feed or twitter scroll than to muddle through a Google news reader backed up with weeks of unread blog posts. So, yes, in the traditional sense, blogs may be on the ropes.

Social Media Influence may have said it best:

"Last month we looked at growth trends for each of the big social media publishing channels, namely, Facebook, Twitter and blogs. Not all of you agreed with our conclusion: that blogging is an activity that, at best, is leveling off. At worst, it’s an activity in decline. The New York Times is now jumping on this discussion meme, declaring that today’s twentysomethings no longer blog, a further sign that fewer people can find the time."

They go on:

"...Former bloggers said they were too busy to write lengthy posts and were uninspired by a lack of readers. Others said they had no interest in creating a blog because social networking did a good enough job keeping them in touch with friends and family."

Boom! Waning writer momentum coupled with new (and easier) consumption methods are drastically changing the blogging landscape.

Noticing, even The New York Times has weighed in:

"Blogs went largely unchallenged until Facebook reshaped consumer behavior with its all-purpose hub for posting everything social. Twitter, which allows messages of no longer than 140 characters, also contributed to the upheaval."

... No longer did Internet users need a blog to connect with the world. They could instead post quick updates to complain about the weather, link to articles that infuriated them, comment on news events, share photos or promote some cause — all the things a blog was intended to do."

So as writers, what do we do now that blogs are not as popular as they once were?

That’s easy. Build a compelling presence across a few social media platforms. Engage with readers and writer friends alike. Retweet them. Engage friends on Facebook (that all helps with their own algorithm). Build a compelling profile akin to your work as a scribe. Become a respectable content creator (and sharer) that people look forward to seeing. You're a curator just as much as you are a writer.

Need an example? There isn't a writer currently that I think does this better than author Caleb J. Ross. The guy is simply everywhere and he makes sure that all roads lead to Rome – his more than impressive web page and yes, his own blog. He does a stupendous job of being visible on social networks so his blog can thrive. In short, he's easy to stalk.

Above all, it’s important to keep writing. Share your own links and your blog traffic shouldn't suffer too much.

So there it is... Are blogs dead? Maybe the way we initially thought them to be. They’re still there but nowadays, we must ensure that our visibility online cultivates the kind of traffic we want.

So with all this said, I'd love to hear and discuss other writer's opinions regarding their own blogging practices or how others are adapting on this emerging online landscape. Sound off below and feel free to share...

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WRITING QUOTES FROM WORKING SCRIBES

"The rules are all in a sixty-four-page pamphlet by Aristotle called Poetics. It was written almost three thousand years ago, but I promise you, if something is wrong with what you're writing, you've probably broken one of Aristotle's rules."

"You're allowed one fuck in PG-13. The rules are silly. Not all fucks are equal and not all cocksuckers are equal."

- Emmy-winning-, Golden-Globe- and WGA-award-winning writer Aaron Sorkin in Esquire.

"I got so good at writing to a budget, my brain was restricting myself. I'd write, 'It's a stormy night.' Then I'd cross out stormy. I'd write: 'It's a calm night.' Then I'd cross out night. It's noon. Because you know how much night costs. You know how much rain costs. Nothing comes free in movies."

- Writer-director Albert Brooks in Esquire

"I'll take the slightest opportunity to stop, like, 'Oh, look, a pigeon! Seriously I'm sure it sounds childish, but I need tunnel-vision to write and the only way to accomplish that is to eliminate all possible distractions."

- "Boardwalk Empire" creator and Emmy-winning writer of "The Sopranos" Terence Winter on battling impulses to procrastinate in Creative Screenwriting magazine. He cant listen to music and his face has to face a wall so he doesn't look out a window.

"Season Four is supposed to be the way down, not the way up. When Don cried in the one with the suitcase, I cried with him. I keep praying for this show to start sucking because it consistently reminds me of what a shitty writer I am. Those prayers have yet to be answered. I am Salieri."

- Damon Lindelof, co-creator of "Lost" about AMC's "Mad Men" in GQ.

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THE WRITER'S ROUNDTABLE (great video)

Being that it's award season, The Hollywood Reporter has begun posting their series of roundtable discussions with possible contenders.

Last month, they posted an one-hour discussion between screenwriters Aaron Sorkin ("The Social Network"), Simon Beaufoy ("127 Hours"), Michael Arndt ("Toy Story 3"), John Wells ("The Company Men"), Todd Phillips ("Due Date") and David Lindsay-Abaire ("Rabbit Hole"). Grab a drink and settle in because this powwow is pretty fantastic for any kind of writer...



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THE WRITER'S DILEMMA (#fridayflash)

The writer had nothing... Nada.

He lit a cigarette, sat down, scratched the back of his head and sought the inspiration that eluded him now for weeks. It was due. While he knew there were endless millions of possibilities, nothing came. Perhaps he was too tired. Or just plain lazy.

He thought of the brilliant people, the ones that made it look easy. Then he thought of those lucky ones who, while not brilliant, managed to string together enough words to entertain the masses.

He read a comic book and after dawdling on YouTube, felt even more useless.

He tried typing the first thing that came to him:

T-h-i-s- s-u-c-k-s a b-i-g v-e-i-n-y ...

The writer stopped because he was being foolish and knew if he didn't, he'd just keep typing nonsense like a savant. And then giggle like a moron to himself.

He decided to look to history for inspiration:

On this day in 1804 some little midget became emperor of France and interestingly, on the same day in 1961, some Cuban dude declared himself a Marxist-Leninist and led his country to Communism virtually overnight. There's a dual kind of story in there somewhere, right? Sure. But maybe someone smarter can write it, he thought.

What about a mystery? He figured those were easy enough. On this day in 1980, four American churchwomen were raped, murdered and buried in El Salvador. Scandalous. Turned out that five national guardsmen were later convicted of murder. Theplot thickens. That kind of book would sell millions and make him the next airport fiction rock star. Ah, but he knew deep down plot wasn't his strong suit.

What about that schmaltzy triumph of the spirit schlock? Works for guys like Mitch Albom, right? On this day in 1982, quacks at the University of Utah Medical Center performed the first implant of a permanent artificial heart in a human. The fella with the fake ticker even lived for 112 days. He heard the record scratch off in his brain. How could it be a 'triumph of the spirit' if the patient croaked? Back to the drawing board.

The writer soon had a breakthrough and figured he was overlooking the obvious -- violence, sex and drugs. A perfect trifecta of inspiration. He saw that on this day in 1993, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was finally killed by security forces in Medellin. Hmmmm. The source material was already there. That was the good part. But then his writer's brain got the best of him. If the damn idea was so good, there would've already been a movie or novel about it.

That's it. He was out. The tap was dry and the TV went on.

By the time he was finished kicking some twelve year-old's ass in "Splinter Cell" on Xbox Live, the writer was truly certain that whoever said "The ultimate inspiration was the deadline" never had a fucking novel to deliver.

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MY ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE (OR LACK THEROF)

Being that this is Oscar week and all my esteemed writing bud Absolutely*Kate asked many of her peeps to provide some sort of film-related content for her nifty showcase At the Bijou. Being that I'm a movie guy, I dusted off an old project of mine and wanted to give her an essay about its conception.

That said, here is an ever-so-brief taste of a much longer essay on her blog about my adventures in the screen trade and collaboration with my buddy and writing partner Eddie.

One night around two years ago, my buddy and sometimes guest poet Edoardo Mungiello (pictured, below) and I were sitting in my man cave pondering our creative lives. At the time, I’d say that both of us were pretty creatively unfulfilled and extremely disenchanted with what we were seeing on movie and TV screens. What’s more, we were both about to enter the world of fatherhood so our creative juices were flowing with a bunch of unbridled, kinetic energy.


We had always talked about writing a script. It’s what people say… “Hey, we should write something…” Yeah. Right. Easier said than done. It’s hard writing something by yourself, much less another moody scribe.

Not only does a writing team need similar sensibilities, but they have to be willing to bend with one another. There’s a huge give and take at hand when it comes to what you both like. And then there’s the frame of reference…

Visit At the Bijou for the rest as well as a sample of our script "Dull Hobo."

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AS WRITERS, WHERE DO WE GET OUR IDEAS?

All of us writers have a well we visit when we do our thing. Scribes like Raymond Carver, Jim Carroll and even Bukowski infused much of their own experiences into what they created.

Most mainstream authors, though, are plot-driven and may be compelled (even subconsciously) to perhaps "borrow" elements from different material. If you really wanna see how few plots there really are, check out The Writers Digest book "20 Master Plots and How to Use Them." Great book...

This brings me to something quite humorous I found online. James Cameron’s billion-dollar grossing "Avatar" just may be Disney’s "Pocahontas" in disguise.

For years, many screenwriters have been constructing their scripts to Joseph Campbell’s Heroes Journey, the mythic structure that has been utilized in many many Hollywood films. To illustrate, the underlying structure of Campbell’s teachings, check out the two staggering examples of what I mean after the jump.

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HOW E-BOOKS WILL CHANGE WRITING (AND READING)

I suspect we'll be seeing more and more of these kinds of stories.

Ten years ago, few imagined that by decade's end, people would be reading novels on cell phones. A lot has changed in the book world. The Kindle and other electronic reading devices have already started to make their mark, but they may begin to change the very words authors commit to posterity.

Check out this pretty detailed NPR (ick) piece and accompanying podcast which sheds light on this new landscape we're all about to experience.



To read the full piece click HERE.

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