Today I made fun of Victorian England for about 500 words before getting bored.
After the noontime seance (a disastrous affair: the medium is perhaps too fond of opium), I conversed with a gentleman from the marginal but attractive town of Beaconsfield. His name, I gather, is Jack Coppleston, a man of no particular qualifications, but disposed to laughter and comical flatulence, of which I shall say no more. Mr Coppleston’s obsessive preoccupation with “whatever it is that the Austro-Hungarians are up to” was evident, unsettling and most entertaining, at arm’s length. He is, by his own candid admission, only an amateur philologist, but has, through some perverse logic all his own, arrived at a dubious conclusion: the word “Austria”, he says, is etymologically related to the more beautiful word “astral” — which, to Mr Coppleston, only suggests that the Austrian spirit prefers to think of itself in celestial rather than earthly terms. This upsets and stimulates him, a double-movement in keeping with the latest findings of science.
“The Bavarians! The Illuminated Ones! Sinking their rotting teeth into the flesh of good international standing!”
“Is Bavaria in Austria?”
“And Bavarian beer is no good. No good at all. A thirsty drunk wouldn’t touch it. Which leads me to think that the Bavarians have no thirst and no drunkards. Only scoundrels.”
Mr Coppleston and I walked along the Arcades. He is not fond of the Austrian Bavaria, but his antagonism runs deeper, like the surprisingly deep pockets of water along the edge of the Danube when rain has fallen and the fish are well. We overheard many fragments of human commerce, intellectual and financial.
“No, sir, but my cousin knows one, the best, can tell your future from a second’s glance at the tip of your brow!”
“I don’t know how I feel about the Antarctic and neither do you. A bit of humility will serve us well.”
“A shame about that Crystal Palace.”
“In America the Irish would overwhelm you.”
“Oh, I don’t think we need to worry about a war on that kind of scale. Who would fight it?”
“See, there’s Fat Jack strolling with a true gentleman at last!”
“The market drives itself, of course, but I only wonder...”
“And,” Mr Coppleston was saying, almost to himself, “If it’s not the Astral Bavarians — and you know the word ‘Bavaria’ comes from the Latin word for ‘salivation‘ — it’s the, what do you call them? The Darwinians!”
“You pay no credence to that cult, then,” I did my part by contributing.
“The Cult of the Damned! Charles Damnwin! Charles Looking-at-Birds! Charles Coming-to-Stupid-Conclusions! He knew nothing. And that Huxley knows nothing. Nothing about anything, and incapable even of saying what he doesn’t know about the nothing that is his unknowing!”
“An eloquent condemnation.”
“Peter and Oscar were kissing for the daguerreotype!” a boy’s voice rang out.
Amid the ensuing commotion, Mr Coppleston and I sat at a little restaurant with an esplanade. We watched an ignorant but probably good-natured near-savage of ambiguous racial character helping a more dignified lady dressed in white out of her carriage. The humble creature even stooped (the natural position of any domestic, Mr Coppleston observed as the act unfolded) to rescue the lady’s handkerchief from its gentle flight towards the grime of London ground.
“See now? That, there, is a thing correctly humanized,” Mr Coppleston said finally, as the lady and her servant walked toward the boulevard. “Perhaps closer to astral heights than any Bavarian.”
“I say, didn’t that lady seem familiar to you?” The words were not mine, but those of a young man sitting, most mysteriously, beside us. We had not heard or seen him approach.
What are you writing this drizzly month?
In some other thread I believe that a number of people were talking about never sharing your ideas until they were finished. I don't care, personally, but it's a philosophy I've seen afoot.
Nothing against that hilarious little excerpt, I quite enjoyed it.
Right now I'm drafting this story about stealing things, objectification and anthropomorphism called Posession. It's still very rough.
Today the plan is to write some music for some contests.
I'm always happy to talk about what I'm working on, but I have heard people say they never do it. Baffles me!
Some people have a belief that if they talk about the thing they're writing, all the punch will be drained away. Sort of like when you take someone's photograph and steal their soul.
I meant more like the guy who asks, "Should I write this story about rape? Will it offend anyone?"
I will share a bare bones premise with those I trust but not details. Sometimes if you talk about an idea too much, it kills the magic. Its like raping a kangaroo.
Is that what it's like?
He's the expert.
That's something you can't take away from him.
No matter how how the authorities try.
You can't have a thread without Danny bringing Rape into it!
As for me:
- A story for Bust Down The Door and Eat All The Chickens
- Psychosis story (Yeah, it is being written!)
- Novel.
The kangaroo lied, it was a willing participant, it was a rape fantasy. I tied his feet together and played with his pouch.
Right - the deepest circle is the one for betrayers, right?
Okay enough kangaroo rape you perverts, I was acquitted. The black glove didn't fit.
I am writing my piece for my battle with Mick, a story about obsession and working on Psychology papers. Oh yeah and a column for litreactor. I don't spread myself too thin, nope...
Well, I was serious. But I Googled it - it is.
Danny does seem to love his rape.
I am writing several short stories that are in varying states of completion. There's my Alzheimers story for the antho, which is 99% finished and needs mailing in this week. Then there's a hardboiled noir story that is maybe halfway done, a psychadelic comedy-noir story (yeah) that I am stuck on, an epistolary style horror story that is still largely just notes, and then a couple of other literary style ones that I am slowly chipping away at.
Plus I have two WIP novellas that may or may not ever see completion. One I've been pondering and working on for a long time and am fairly confident about, a kind of transgressive affair. The other is just a pile of notes and a broken draft that was originally going to be something for the psychosis antho but didn't work out. I want to bring it back from the dead though.
What's this I hear about some people starting a story and then (shock horror) finishing it? What's all that about? The Alzheimers story I am sure about. All the others are completely up in the air. Maybe they'll get finished, maybe not. I hope so.
I'm currently working on deciding which of my novels to start working on. Which probably won't happen until after midterms next week.
Besides that, I'm just writing my normal short pieces. In fact, I wrote a (surprisingly) good short story today called Standards. It's on my blog, in case anyone's interested.
But since no one probably is, let's get back to my novels. I've got:
The Solutionist (The Grand Architects I)- A dystopian sci-fi about a secret organization with advanced techhology and incredible powers that attempt to fix a broken world and end up nearly destroying it. (A very short rough excerpt of this is on my blog.)
Sync- A post-apocalyptic sci-fi about a group of humans-turned-androids out to take the down the oppressive regimes that were created in the wake of said apocalypse. (Also have several excerpts of this one.)
Birds of Prey- Another dystopian story about a near future world where a rigid caste structure has taken over in a global government and the lone woman out to take it down by doing what that very government taught her to do: kill.
So, lots of choices. Lots of choices.
Where on Earth do I begin?
In the honor of February - I'm trying to figure out a story that revolves around Groundhog Day (well, not really, but kind of). It's based on my neighbor Bob, who once said he saw a possum on our street, which means Spring is coming. So for a few months now I've been kicking around this idea of how the idea of the possum pisses off the main character, a native Pennsylvanian, who subscribes to the groundhog mythology.
It's a goofy idea - but I needed some sort of vehicle about two people doing really awful things to one another in a series of escalating one-ups. But I hadn't really figured out what the main friction between the two characters would be.
This morning I figured out the motivations, the secrets & the real friction that's going to set off this neighborly war. The rodents play an extremely small part in actuality, with the exception of the title and a few lines & scenes that will come up.
An exciting morning/early afternoon! I'd been kicking this around for a while but been too lazy to do the necessary excersises. Once I do a little work on the other main character and some of the secondary characters, I'm ready to get moving on a draft and let the imagination run wild! Woohhooooo!
@Wickedvoodoo - "a psychadelic comedy-noir story (yeah)"
I'm intrigued...
A new flash fiction story for Chester. IF I can get off the internet for an hour.
Battle story after battle story.
I'm working on organizing all my ideas as at least a 300 or 400 word outline, a short story about a cheating wife which really close to done, a novel about assassins, a memoir about my dad, and thinking about trying to organize a collaborative novel in which everyone writes one chapter/section.
"Battle story after battle story."
Amen.
Picked up my novel once again.
And a love story involving an arsonist, a fireman and a severe case of cotard syndrome.
Other than that, I've started the shredding of my first novel in swedish.
I wasn't quite happy with it.
How do you guys feel about recycling your old ideas?
If you've written a story that didn't turn out that great, but there's some great passages and stuff in it, do you re-use it, if it fits into a new story?
Or do you always start on a clean slate?
I definitely save things and re-use.
@Something...you can always plagiarize yourself. It ain't no crime.
On the other hand, you can plagiarize yourself and then sue yourself and make a lot of money.
I'd just file bankruptcy and screw myself over.
Plagarizing and stealing from yourself is perfectly acceptable. Sometimes you write some good stuff and surround it by not-so-good-stuff for whatever reason. I've done it with song writing all the time - I'll have a chorus or verse or chord progression I really like but there's something about the song in general that doesn't seem to be working. I've taken bits from them a few years later and applied it to something else.
What I haven't thought of, was filing a lawsuit against myself and getting rich. LitR - a place where 9 bucks a month can get you invaluable legal advice. Fuckin' A!
I agree with the idea of not talking about things you're working on. My reasons are four-fold. If that's even a word:
1) Talking about an unfinished project uses up the energy that you should be allocating to actually finishing the project. Instead of talking about it, just finish it. Kinda harsh, but it's a very easy trap to fall into, mostly because of point 2...
2) Talking to people about projects fufills our desire for instant gratification. Instead of finishing a piece, having someone read it and then getting the reward of, "Wow, I really liked that", we get an instantaneous, "Wow, that sounds really cool". The praise we wouldv'e gotten if the person read the cool story has already been recieved for something that's not even finished. So, why bother finishing?
3) People can be destroyers and not even know it. If we don't get that above mentioned, "Wow, that sounds really cool", it could derail any excitement we have about the work. We start second guessing ourselves and the project could completly fall apart. That's why, if you do talk about unfinished work, make sure it's only with a select group of people or someone you trust with you artistic soul. Writing is a baring of one's self and that self is very fragile. Talking about unfinished work just opens that soul up for damaging.
4) Lastly, I don't know anybody who is good at pitching unfinished work. Nobody. The reason is, it isn't finished! You have an idea about what the shape is, but you haven't finished the journey yet, so how can you possibly talk about it with any confidence.
Sorry if this comes off like ranting in the "What Are You Working On" thread, but I think it's an interesting topic. And no disrespect to those who do. Maybe you all have stronger sensabilities than I do!
I'm more of a slash and burn kind of guy. I'll delete the parts that suck and rewrite the/a story around the cool parts.
Flannery O'Connor said you have to kill your favorite parts of a story to let it evolve.
But dammit, it's tough.
Flannery also raised peacocks.
