Monthly Archives: November 2015

The Mother of all Writing Crises: Disruptive Fiction

Introduction

Recently, I rode on Amtrak recreating Edgar Allan Poe’s last trip northward. (As covered in Saving Eddie.) Amtrak has a Writer’s Residency. However, I like writing when the mood strikes without conditions.

As discussed earlier, I enjoy using a steno pad when writing in the air or traveling by rail, This time was no exception. What came forth was an over a four thousand word work called tentatively Waverly. The title is a nod to Sir Walter Scott’s Waverly novels which includes Ivanhoe.

Two Types of Disruptive Fiction

This new story became a case of disruptive fiction of which there are two kinds.

The first type is a work that is so unique that it immediately catches your attention. Q by the Wu Ming Writers’ Collective is one possible example.

But the more interesting area is fiction that disrupts your writing schedule.

Questions Concerning Disruptive Fiction

The following are some of the questions that Waverly brought to the surface and their resolution to date:

  1. What do I do with it? It is too short to be part of a book. I don’t have a new short story collection planned to place it. It could easily grow into a series of related stories. (Which would be a first for me.) So right now it is my experiments folder. There is a strong possibility that it is never released.
  2. Do I want to publish this now? There is too much that I am already working on such as finishing up Missed Landing and second edition updates to Simply Business/IT and Transitions 1.  (Each with one new story.) So the earliest that this would be published is 2016.
  3. How do I classify it? Is it a simple story, a political fable, a fictionalized guidebook for the ruling elite, science fiction, or something else? Again, I am not sure yet. With rewrites, it could be expanded and go into many different directions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, even if you think things are settled with your writing schedule, ideas may unexpectedly spring forth that may need exploring. Sometimes I put things on the side and other times I switch and make this a primary focus. The latter path includes Saving Eddie, Killing Thoreau, Ghosts vs. Robots, and now Missed Landing.

But that is my story and I am sticking to it. Which will YOU choose when a creative idea wants to disrupt your writing life?

How I Wrote my Way out of Trouble with Missed Landing.

Recently, I completed the first draft of Missed Landing. But it did not always look so certain that I would get there. I knew that Missed Landing was a different type of book. So it was a higher bar to overcome.

Several months back, I was approaching my draft success metric of ten thousand words. The results were far from good. I was experiencing a new form of the writer’s shanks. The writing was okay but it was missing something. Some other writer may had kept  going.  But I stopped, reflected, and knew that drastic changes needed to be made. So what did I do?

  1. Brainstorming. I thought of what I wanted to include in the story. This included seven different aspects that were all used eventually.
  2. Writing from scratch. I kept the existing chapters and started to write them over completely. Once done, I took the best of the old and new content which made a stronger story.
  3. Change the time frame. Doing the work as historical fiction was hampering progress. Making it in the science fiction genre gave more flexibility and made plot possibilities unlimited and more likely to happen.
  4. Make it more emotional. Capturing more what the characters were feeling instead of only experiencing made it a more powerful and memorable book.
  5. Kept going and never lost faith in the process and myself. I never stopped believing that there was good story to tell and just kept pushing myself and the writing.

As a result of the above, I came out with a stronger more satisfactory book. Never give up expressing yourself. Inspiration is just around the corner.