Category: Writing

  • Making My Own Writing Work

    We started the conversation last night about my returning to work. It was an open ended, “let’s just start talking about this topic” kind of conversation. We were just sharing our thoughts a feelings, before we actually have to sit down and make a plan.

    The first fact of our situation, that we both agreed on, is that I am taking care of the kid while she is in remote school for the next three weeks, and for the Summer vacation as well. Come September, when the kid is back in school, like actually back in the school building, then that will be my first opportunity to work.

    And I need to work. We are getting by, which is good, but we are not getting ahead. I’ve talked about our debt before, and that is the albatross in our life. Until that’s put to rest, we can’t save in a meaningful way, or get a new place to live, or retirement, or the kid’s college. So… the second income is needed.

    Now, what will that work be? That’s the trick.

    I will clean up the old resume this Summer, and keep an eye out in the theatre and arts world to see if something shows up.

    Professionally writing fiction is about a ten-year journey, and I’m about year one into it. I say that because all the people I know who are published, it took them about ten years of writing, submitting, networking, and just persevering. And there is still no guarantee there.

    I like blogging, but that also isn’t a guarantee either. All the professional and unsolicited advice I have received has all told me the same thing; blog about something that you are passionate about, and that no one else does. My first response was, ME, but that seems narcissistic and counterproductive. After having created a list of topics I care about, the only one that popped out to me was to blog about the puppetry community in New York. That seemed to make sense to me.

    I mean, I have been working as a puppeteer on and off since 2006. I have friends in the community. I go and see puppet shows on my own accord. Then, I see that there aren’t a lot of people writing about puppets. Maybe it’s worth exploring.

    Either way… Albatross!

  • Looking for Writing Work

    I am down to the final three months before the kid is back in school, and I need to have a job. I will be honest, working from home would be ideal, but when push comes to shove, and if it’s a good job, then I will be willing to go where I am needed.

    The other thing is that I have been at the blog for 11 months now, and I do value the 4 of you, on average, who come by to check it out. It is a huge improvement over my daily average of .5 people when I started on July 20th. The goal was to write about what I was interested in, and try to craft it in a short, concise way, 250 words per post, that was entertaining, but also made a point. The fact that the blog grew, from 60 subscribers to 215 in less than a year, might not be earth shattering, but at least showed there was interest.

    The other goal was to work on the skills that would enable me to go forth and find employment as a writer. That one is all on me. I think my first desire was to be able to purchase a new computer from the earnings of writing, which is still an admirable objective. I would like to add if I could bring in about $500 a month, I would be over the moon happy.

    So, I stand at this crossroads. If I am serious that this is what I want to do, then I need to start putting in the work to make it happen, at least, more than I am doing right now.

    But, the lingering thought in the back of my head is, I have no idea how to get started… Who do I talk to? Do I need a resume? Writing samples? An introduction? What is the first step? I am here, but I want to get there… Just, how?

  • Sticking the Landing, And the Climax

    I have been kicking around this idea for novel for about two years in my head, but only in the last six months have I started to try to get some work on it done. Originally, I was not going to think too hard about the first draft, and just write the damn thing, and see what happens. (I had done this for the other two novels I have written, but let’s be honest here, that was 20 years ago, and they aren’t very good.) I got about three chapters into it, and then the thing petered out. I knew how I wanted it to start and the whole first act, and I knew what the second act would be, but the ending was still a little vague, and I wasn’t clear how I would connect the three acts. Then, I sucked it up, and did a rough outline of the book. It helped get the first and second act to work together, but the third is still unfocused, and all over the place.

    I found myself looking up at the ceiling last night, trying to get the thing to work in my mind. Maybe I should make it a bit of a literary parody of the type of protagonists that Roth, Ford, and Updike would have written? (You know, the overly sexual white guy who fails up.) It could be funny, but also a cheat to get an ending, as I would be, well, stealing one of theirs. Maybe I should stop working on it? Should I set it aside for a while, work on something else, and see if the absence will help me come up with an ending? Maybe doing this outlining work, thinking about the story is actually holding me back, as I am not actually writing it? Maybe I need to make the time and actually write it, and not this system of “pre-production” work of outlining… I don’t know.

    But getting it right, sticking the ending, when it comes to my writing, is not my strong suit. It seems like in all things, there should be some sort of exercise one could do, to work on this skill. I see lots of writing workshops on how to outline, or getting your idea out of your head on to paper, or how to stop talking and start writing. But I haven’t seen any type of workshop that’s “How to End Your Story Strong.”

    Just an idea.

  • Why I Still Blog, And Thanks Everyone

    I do feel that from time to time, I have to remind myself what it is that I am doing here. Yelling into the void, used to be what came to mind when I would post a blog. Back in July 2020, when I made a choice to focus and work harder on my writing, this blog was a great place to test out those muscles. The dark void faded away, and I started to see that creative endeavors, no matter how large or small, do serve a purpose, sometimes to an affect that doesn’t seem relevant for some time. After having kept this up for nine months, the one thing I can so for certain is that I can now keep my personal deadlines and goals when it comes to writing.

    The other thing I can say is that I now have over 200 followers! Back in July 2020, I had around 60, so gaining 140 followers in nine months, I take as a compliment. I am also sure the majority of these new followers are not Russian bots. Being that this is a blog which, subject wise, is all over the place, and doesn’t seem to be much more than I guy sharing opinions and trying to learn how to write better, I would like to say thank you for taking the time to read.

    Spasiba!

  • Thoughts on the Philip Roth Biography

    I don’t know if you have heard, but there is a new biography on Philip Roth called, “Philip Roth: The Biography” by Blake Bailey. It’s not the most original title, but not unlike a well worn club, it gets the job done. That having been said, I will read Bailey’s Roth biography, and I will also read his biography on John Cheever as well.

    Over the past couple of weeks, as this biography was about to be released to the public, the W. W. Norton & Company marketing department went into overdrive promoting this book, as they should. There was an article in The New York Times, one in The New Yorker by David Remnick no less, and even one on CBS Saturday Morning. I am sure there were more out there, but I stopped with three. They all did their job; made me want to get the biography, and to reread Roth’s work.

    I did notice that all three of these stories on the Roth biography had the same through-line; Roth didn’t want a biography written about him. In one form or another, each piece detailed Roth’s troubled relationship with past biographers, and his tendency to lash out, through unpublished books, defending his reputation after he felt attacked. And, that somehow, either through Roth reaching the end of his life, or by Blake Bailey’s ability to mine the information out of Roth, this biography came to be. And all of that might be completely true. Or a narrative created by the marketing department to increase sales.

    But, then I had this wacky thought that, what if this was Roth’s plan all along? Such as, he denied that most of his work was auto-biographical, but it turns out it was auto-biographical. Roth sure didn’t like the book his ex-wife wrote about him, which painted him as a misogynist. This led Roth to write one of the unpublished manuscripts where he attacked and attacked her, which in the end, sort of confirmed his ex-wife’s book. So, what if Roth created a narrative of “not wanting” a biography, while at the same time leading the biographer to “water?” Wouldn’t that give Roth the final say?

    I will add this; Philip Roth did write a memoir (Patrimony: A True Story) so if he wanted to tell his own story, he could have. In fact, he tried twice, but was persuaded, and it sounds correctly, not to publish. Also, choosing a biographer for your life while you are still alive, does come off as sounding subjective, especially after you had already fired one biographer. Finally, Roth was the best storyteller in the room, so why would he let someone else tell his most important story?

    Just a thought. I mean, I will still buy the book.