Category: The Writing Life

I Wrote an Unprintable Novel! Now What?

Quan

Every now and then I go through my old archives to see if there are any unfinished ideas that I could mine for inspiration and/or new material. This process was how I got around to doing new material for THE SEIZURE webcomic and for its spinoff webcomic, WEEKEND HEROES. Recently I dug up an old novel manuscript I had written way back in 2002 which never saw print…and probably never will.

Why will it never see print, you may ask? Well, for one, the writing is EXTREMELY raw, and I have no motivation to polish it up. Also, I’m entrenched in my current projects like trying to find representation for these two manuscripts I just finished and writing their follow-ups.

But the main reason why I won’t pursue finding an agent or publisher for the novel is that I’m not too sure I want this book to represent me as a writer. You see, I was in a very dark place in my life when I wrote the story. I had just lost my job to corporate outsourcing, I nearly lost two relatives and a close friend to the attacks on 9/11, the music group and entertainment corporation I had been a part of for the past 2 years was on the verge of dissolving, and I had just been screwed over by an auto mechanic on car repairs. I was NOT a happy guy. At that time I had an idea for a story bouncing around my head because I saw Christopher Walken’s character portrayal in “Last Man Standing” and loved how he portrayed a remorseless thug. I wanted to write a story about that. I had visions of this badass old thug walking down the street with some Deliberately-paced death metal playing behind him. He’d swoop into a city, do some dirt and leave. Kind of like Jack Reacher, except this dude has no morals whatsoever (but he does like dogs). I was also into John Malkovich’s criminal mastermind characters, and I came up with the idea of what if these two guys were pitted against each other? And that was the genesis of my unpublished crime novel BAD MEETS EVIL. While prewriting I heard of some writers debating on whether you could write an engaging story which was devoid of sympathetic characters, and I took that as a challenge. So this story evolved into a full-on evil-fest, starring seven dastardly people (each loosely representing one of the seven deadly sins) locked in a competition none of them could win. There’s a big illegal money deal going down, and everybody wants in on it: from The lazy CEO Vick and his Lustful, philandering wife Barb, to The arrogant Human trafficker Ken and his Wrathful crooked cop brother Abe, to the Greedy Private Investigator Kwame and his Envious girlfriend Terri, and of course The gluttonous superhoodlum John who is at the center of it all.

While writing this story, I ended up pouring all of my anger and frustration at my situation into the book. The result is a story that I wrote to intentionally offend and disgust as many of its readers as possible, regardless of race, religion, gender, social status, or sexual preference. I wanted to piss EVERYBODY off. The story was basically my middle finger to the whole world. Once done, there were actually some people brave enough to want to proofread it (I warned them about it, though. I told them that after reading it, they might want to take a bath). None of them could get past the first chapter. But it was for a reason other than the story being offensive. They simply couldn’t find my central protagonist interesting enough to want to read any more about him. That’s the cardinal rule of storytelling, it doesn’t matter how virtuous or evil your hero is, he has to first and foremost be interesting. And in that regard I failed. And that was the end of that, so I moved on to another story.

I think some people would think creating unpublishable works to be a waste of time, but I beg to differ. First of all, it’s good exercise, and helps a lot towards developing your voice and writing style. Secondly, it can be very therapeutic to just cut loose and not worry about grammar and character development and all that other stuff that content editors harp on. Just let the imagination run and see where it takes you. Thirdly, your unprintable story might have some ideas in it you can come back and mine later on for other more salable projects. Who knows? Maybe someday you’ll see some elements from this story in something else I publish. Stranger things have happened.

Picking Through the Remnants of Unused Stories

Quan

Like most writers, I have gotten a lot of story ideas. We get bombarded daily by “what if” questions that are begging to be answered in our own particular style, with our own particular voices. It would be foolish not to record these ideas. Even if you cannot utilize an idea now, it is something you very well might want to revisit at a later date.

Sometimes, that “later date” actually arrives. I was in the midst of promoting my sci-fi horror novel Godmode and I had gotten the itch to start writing a new story. Problem was, I didn’t have any new ideas to explore at the time, not that I wanted the hassle of building on an idea from scratch anyway. So I picked up my old archive of unused ideas and undeveloped concepts and thumbed through them to see if there was anything that struck me at the time. It is always good to keep some kind of record of your unused ideas, whether it be some kind of database, or a journal, or a folder of notes, or something. I have folders of unfinished comic books in storage, as well as CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs full of stored ideas and unfinished manuscripts. It was my unfinished comics that game me inspiration this time, and I decided to adapt one of them into a series of novels.

Some of my best projects have come from recycled ideas. All of my webcomics were continuations of ideas I had come up with back in my college days, and the current stories I am working on now are ideas I had ten years ago but never did anything with.

Sometimes an idea you come up with can be literally ahead of its time, so it might need to sit and percolate for a while as you mature as a writer and as a person. Once you’ve built up skill and confidence in your craft, and acquired more knowledge and wisdom, then perhaps you might be ready to tackle that idea and give it the attention it deserves. This was the case with the manuscript I’m seeking representation for as of this post, an urban high fantasy epic with very deep political and socioeconomic themes. When I first drew up this story as a four-issue comic book series back in the year 2000, I was only scratching the surface of what I could do with this story. But 14 years later, I’ve grown a lot, learned a lot and seen a lot, and now I’m more prepared to plumb the depths necessary to truly tell this story.

So when sifting through your pile of lost ideas, how do you choose which one to dust off? It’s not an exact science. You can go by feel. Which of your old ideas is speaking most to you at that moment? Writers have a mysterious intuition for stories, where one idea or concept burrows its way into your mind and won’t leave you alone until you do something with it. Does one of your old unfinished stories do that to you? Is it begging you to come finish it and won’t get out of your head until you do? Then that is obviously the story you need to be picking up. Or your motivation could be purely financial. Which of your story ideas is the most marketable? Compare your ideas to what is popular now, or what might be popular in the future, around the time you finish your story. As of this writing, there’s a big surge in popularity for Young Adult adventure books starring white, teenage females. Before that the hot thing was Young Adult high fantasy starring white, teenage boys. If your idea fits what’s popular now and you can crank a book or three out of your idea within the window of that genre’s popularity, then go for it. Otherwise, think about the future and try to gauge what the next trend will be, and see which of your book ideas fit. Of course, some concepts are timeless (re: anything that can be easily adapted to a movie). So if that’s the way you want to go, then you might want to consider that.

Okay, so now you’ve picked your story to rehash…now what? You need to look your idea over and figure out what it was that made you abandon the story in the first place. Maybe the subject matter was too personal, or maybe the story has a character in it you can’t quite figure out. Maybe the concept was too big to wrap your head around at the time. I have one story idea in mothballs because it would involve extensive worldbuilding and research into a foreign culture – in my case, feudal China. I also would have to delve into a myriad of different kung-fu fighting techniques, and figure out how to portray them properly in prose. And that’s in addition to the usual character and plot development stuff – involving nine different protagonists (yeah, my story idea is a little on the ambitious side). I’m not ready to do all of that…not yet, at least. Regardless, once you figure out what stopped you the first time, you need to attack that issue head on and figure out a solution. Or work around it, and develop all of the other aspects of the story you are more comfortable with. For instance, if one important character is an enigma to you, then develop everybody else first. Sometimes, working on another aspect of the story will actually present you the solution to the aspect that is bothering you.

Once you open your mind and focus on that story, you will be surprised at the things you notice around you that will help you develop it. Information in the news, or in conversations with your colleagues, or stuff you see in other media, will feed your idea. There were stories I’ve found on the internet that I otherwise couldn’t have cared less about, but now that I’m in tune with my new/old story idea, those articles particularly stand out. When you think like a hammer, everything becomes a nail. So start hammering away! 

BTW, One of the best examples of successfully rehashing an unfinished story is M. Knight Shaymalan’s Unbreakable/Split/Glass trilogy. check out the Wiki on how Glass was made. It’s absolutely fascinating.

Writing is the New Running

Quan

One of the more intriguing things to me about pop culture is the portraying of “running” as a person. The first I had heard of this was in the Mel Gibson movie “What Women Want,” where the hit ad campaign concocted by Mel and Helen’s characters features a Nike shoe campaign aimed at female runners.

 “You don’t stand in front of a mirror before a run…
and wonder what the road will think of your outfit.
You don’t have to listen to its jokes and pretend they’re funny.
It would not be easier to run if you dressed sexier.
The road doesn’t notice if you’re not wearing lipstick.
It does not care how old you are.
You do not feel uncomfortable… because you make more money than the road.
And you can call on the road whenever you feel like it,
whether it’s been a day… or a couple of hours since your last date.
The only thing the road cares about…
is that you pay it a visit once in a while.”

Since then, I’ve seen a number of ads promoting “running” as this anthropomorphic person all runners have an intimate relationship with. This person even wrote a blog about it (http://www.irunfar.com/2014/09/my-relationship-with-running.html) Even recently I heard a commercial saying “Running does not like the shoes you bought for it,” as if Running is going to dump you for another runner with better shoes. I personally think the metaphor has been taken to a ludicrous extreme, but that is the nature of advertising. I’m actually impressed that the idea lasted as long as it did.

But that got me to thinking. Why should Running have all the fun? What about those of us who might not have had relations with Running, but have instead courted someone else? Someone, like, maybe…Writing? Pretty much everything you can associate with the amount of discipline, dedication and passion it takes to be a serious runner you can also apply to being a writer. Writing can be every bit as fickle a mistress as running; every bit as time and life-consuming, every bit as painful (although in different ways) and mentally taxing, with just as much chance of ostracizing you from so-called “normal” people. Non-runners will never understand why runners run. Non-writers will never understand why writers write.

So let’s change the metaphor a little bit. Let’s take all of those cool sayings and catchphrases for running, take the word “running” out and replace with the word “writing.” The road is now the page. Your trusty pair of running shoes is now your favorite writing pen (or your laptop) What would a Nike commercial for “Writing” be?

“There are clubs you can’t belong to.
Neighborhoods you can’t live in.
Schools you can’t get into.
But the page is always open. Write.”

“Write happy. Write grumpy. Write speedy. Write slow. Just write.”

“The biggest mistake a writer can make is to be afraid of making one.”

“If you want to become the best writer you can be, start now. Don’t spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it.”

See how easy that is? So why are you still reading this? You’ve got writing to do, so…uh...Just Do It.

Oh, and if you’re interested in that campaign I was referring to, watch it for yourself in the movie What Women Want.

So You’re Thinking About Writing A Book…

Quan

Oftentimes when I tell people I’m a novelist, I hear them say “I’d like to write a book someday.”  I’ve even had friends explain at length their wonderful story ideas for a book they’d like to write…someday. Or friends and family would tell me of something about their lives they would like to make into a book. Someday.

My response to them is always, “why not now?”

Getting beyond all the hemming and hawing and shoulda-coulda-woulda, the bottom line is that either you’re going to write a book or you’re not. You either have it in you or you don’t. So if you believe you have it in you, then why wait to bring it out? Tomorrow is not promised, and God forbid something bad were to happen with you, you don’t want all of those wonderful ideas dying with you, do you?

You can make all of the excuses you want to NOT start writing. You have too many chores to do. You have to tend to your spouse or raise your kids. Your work takes up too much time. The Game is on. The bottom line is that you will make time for the things you really want to do. At the height of my writing, I was getting up an hour early to write my latest novel before I got ready for work, then I’d write during my lunch break, and if I had to, I’d go to bed a half hour later to finish that final thought before heading to sleep. If I had downtime at work, I’d pull out a piece of scrap paper and jot down ideas, then type them in when I got home. I’ve vocally recorded story ideas with my phone. I’ve written while waiting in long lines for appointments instead of reading a magazine or surfing the social networks. If you really want to do it, you would find a way.

And it’s easier than ever before to publish now, so being worried about getting your book out is no longer an excuse. If you don’t want to deal with the haggle of finding an agent or an established publisher, self-publishing is a very viable option. Sites like KDP.com offer easy, convenient and FREE ways to get your book formatted and made available for purchase and download. And some even offer free book cover creation. All you really have to provide is the manuscript, especially if you don’t want an editor. There are tons of networking opportunities on social media for writers and bookmakers, so it’s easier than ever to find a proofreader, a beta reader, a reviewer, and even an editor. Heck, I even typeset books and design book covers as a freelance designer; you could hire me to do that for you.

Here are a couple of simple exercises to get you started.

  1. if you are writing nonfiction, first ask yourself what you want to write about. Then, once you come up with an overall subject matter, then make a list of ten different aspects of that subject that your potential reader would want to know about. Now, for each of those topics, make a list of three things: what you know about it, what you need to research, and how will this benefit your reader. You can even apply this formula in writing a biography. Your ten subjects are ten most significant events in your subject’s life, and the three questions pertain to details of the event. Once you finish this, then you have an instant book outline to build from. And from there it’s just filling in the details.
  2. If you are writing fiction, start with that kernel of an idea that you have in the back of your head. Write it down. Now ask yourself why your idea would be such a big deal in your world. Write that down. Then ask yourself what would have to happen for that idea to happen in real time. Write that down. Now ask yourself how that idea would affect the normal, everyday people of your world. Write that down. Keep going. Ask yourself as many details around your idea as possible. Ask the WHO, the WHAT, the WHERE, the WHEN and the WHY of your idea. Ask how people would respond if your idea really happened. Ask why anyone would try to stop that idea from coming forth, and how they would do it. Ask yourself these questions and whatever others come to mind, and once you have answers, then Write. Them. All. Down. Before you know it, you’ll have a simple story bible to build your tale from, and you’ll be immersed enough in this world that the people in that world will start speaking to you. Write down what they tell you. And you do not have to start at the beginning. That is something that intimidates a lot of would-be writers. Don’t let it intimidate you. Start writing with whatever is in your head RIGHT NOW. If you write enough, the beginning will come to you eventually.

There. I just eliminated all of your excuses for you. Now, if you’re serious about SOMEDAY getting that book idea of yours out, you’re in luck.

Someday just arrived.

So get started.