Mad At Last Night Ben

Blog No. 170

            Ever since I wanted to write (even before I did anything about it) there was always a long list of stories I planned to finish. Some of them were going to be comics, or films, or both, then books, stories, novels, or television shows. Sometimes it wavered between several. The point being, I had (and still have) a bunch of stories I want to write. Magically (through the art of hard work and tons of support) I have written some of those stories. Some of them have even turned out well. It’s amazing what a little work and consistency can do. Currently my list of projects (currents and forthcoming) is short. While I want to get to everything eventually, I have to be practical. I have four projects I want to finish this year (if not more, but probably less). Two of those I am currently working on and feel like I should do some kind of an update thing. (If for no other reason than to keep myself accountable).

I Miss Writing

Blog No. 160

The collection, No Light Tomorrow, is finally at the printers. After months of hard work, it is out of my hands and (though there were expected hiccups) the sample copy is on the way (or here by the time you read this) and everything is on track for a release event. By the way, unless something drastic happens, the release party will be January 9^th though the place is too be determined. We’ll make some serious announcements when a few more things are settled. Also, keep an eye out for poster plastered around the city, a facebook event, sky writing, carrier pigeons, and, if he got our lists, invitations delivered by Santa.

A Blister in an Odd Place

Blog No. 148

The other day I woke up with a blister running around the back of my right heel. It runs in a relatively straight line, about a quarter inch thick, and it hurts when I walk. I’m sitting at my computer right now, so it’s not really an issue, besides, after a couple days the process (whatever it may be) has started to eliminate it (or shrink or whatever happens to blisters when you don’t pop them). I’m not a stranger to blisters. As a youth playing hockey (often using the hand-me-downs of two older brothers) I would start each season with a vast collection in many interesting spots, but never on the back of me heel (that I can remember). How my parents managed three boys in hockey at the same time, I’ll never know, but the blisters, I know very well.

Leaving things behind

Blog No. 130

I love the format of a short story. There is artistry in writing a really good story that fits in a small space, but feels larger than it is. All of my humble beginnings in reading and writing began with short stories, even the genre I am most drawn to, SciFi if you haven’t guessed, was proliferated through the short stories published in the magazines in the 40s and 50s (and even earlier). I’ve written about it before, so I won’t go into too much depth, but I think, even with novels being the major way to make a living as a writer, I will still find time to write short stories for the rest of my life. It’s the same with this blog, almost. I have no idea what the future of this blog, or the format that it currently is in, will be.

Writing Retreat II

Blog No. 129

Last week I was fresh off the writing retreat and intended to write about it for the blog, but something came over me and I thought I was an artist or something, and I wrote whatever I did instead. Maybe it was the retreat itself, inspiring me to think of myself as a writer, but I think it was something else.

Last year, around this time, I was contacted by Christian’s wife. His birthday was coming up and he had spoken to her about the ideas we had come up with for taking a writer’s retreat. She thought it would be a good idea to set one up behind his back for his birthday. We did some collaboration over facebook, found a suitable place, and she made the arrangements. It turned out to be a great surprise and a swell time was had by all. There was some conflict when masking the plans, but all that is behind us and not worth going over. It turned out to be a fun, productive, weekend filled with writing, reading, lakeside fun, and a fierce game of monopoly. Everyone left with a decent word count (some higher than others) but it was an inspirational and exciting event that we looked forward to doing again the following year.

Editing is Hard

Blog No. 123

One of the major parts of my writing day is looking at other people’s stories and giving them an edit. Often I’ll catch a couple of typos, notice some structural weak spots and grammar mistakes, and make a bunch of suggestions on how I think the story could be improved. The things I notice jump off the page (fresh from the pile of new story elements I learned about) and if the story is well written, I can be done a couple thousand words in half an hour (extrapolate for longer stores, chapters etc). Sometimes there is a lot more to point out and the task becomes an arduous task filled with long winded explanations and edits based on assumptions and what I know about the author, but usually things go smoothly. If I can avoid supplanting the writer’s voice with my own, I find I add something to the story, helping the author and learning something about my own writing in the process.

The Three Ways to Read

Blog No. 121

When I was a child, my parents read to me nightly. I was surrounded by books, got books as presents, and went to the library regularly. Despite their best efforts, I wasn’t much of a reader. I had to read a book in the summers and school usually had a book report or two that I would muddle through, but it wasn’t until high school that I started to read on my own. It was then that I found the type of books that resonated with me. Sci-Fi, mostly Philip K. Dick and his contemporaries, amazed me. I started devouring books at a speed that, while tame next to avid readers, felt lightning quick, jumping from one book to the next. I fell in love with short storied during that time. The ideas were forefront and I would get hit over the head with them rapidly, three to twenty pages at a time. I entered the first stage of reading and was transported. It was around that time that I started playing with writing my own stories too. 

Story Qualifiers

Blog No. 120

What are the things within a story that allow it to be categorized? Sometimes the answer is obvious. A horror story is scary, a sci-fi story has amazing technology, fantasy has a lot of walking. More often than not, there is way more to it. Every genre has many sub genres, plenty of books cross the strict categorical boundaries, the writing and style play a part, along with how others perceive the author. I spent many years working at Chapters, shelving books. I mostly spent my time in fiction, sorting the types so I could take piles of book (literal armloads) to the corresponding shelves. For a long time sorting was easy. If there was a picture of a dragon, it went into fantasy, spaceships went to sci-fi, ghosts, vampires and blood went to horror, and half naked dudes went to romance. There were always exceptions, but it was very easy and straight forward. Then things started to change.

Second Draft

Blog No. 116

I feel like I’m still fairly new to writing. I suppose that’s all relative. Lately I’ve been spending more time with writers who have more experience than I do. It seems, compared to them, I am but a spring chicken. I have been working on writing for a while, and I have gleaned some insights. I’m not one to write a lot of how-to or writing guides on this blog, but I’m in the middle of the second draft of the collection and some thoughts have come to mind, specifically about second drafts. Strangely, I feel that my place in writing (as in the skill and act) is sort of like a second draft. I started by just writing. I had ideas for stories and I sat down and wrote them in a way that made sense to me (and seemed fairly entertaining). Later, through perseverance and growth (and by steeling the knowledge of others) I started to find the faults in my writing. Since then I’ve been working to eliminate them, at the cost of my voice. It’s an important step, though a bland one.

Blogy, Blog, Blog.

Blog No. 114

It’s been three weeks into the new year and I’m finding that old habits die hard. For some things, like this blog, that’s good. I don’t have a ton to write about, but here I am writing it. For working on the second draft of the edits, and restarting the novel, that’s bad. I can say that I have gotten some done, but it’s at the iffy level of writing how I ended the year. Really, that’s not too bad. A chunk of my time (both then and now) gets eaten up with editing, posting, correspondences, facebook, twitter, ello, and other social media promotion, Zine layout, meetings with other groups, physical social attendances, and so on. It can get busy, and it does get in the way, but without that stuff, I’d be writing in a vacuum with no growth, feedback, or clear method for publication. Though, last year at this time, I was in the thick of it (it being writing). I was going out to cafes in the cold evenings after work, writing for a few hours, then going home to get to the logistical stuff. It didn’t last, but it started.