Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The way this blog break was supposed to work, I was going to return to you tonight, creative batteries fully recharged, and regale you with a whole mess of freshly wrought insights. This onslaught would’ve been made possible by a lineup of enriching, restorative activities scheduled over the course of 11-odd days: quiet contemplation of good fiction, for instance, coupled with a juice fast and some light jogging. I’m pleased to report none of these things came to pass. Not a single one.

Oh, I wasn’t idle. Filed my taxes. Fended off a rate hike from Time Warner. Reclaimed some sleep. Even went to church. You’d better believe media was consumed, too, with the first season of Justified and the new Tomb Raider being particular standouts. But as far as rediscovering my creative spark, my drive to write? Absolutely didn’t fucking happen, and I’m fine with that. I once explained to you how a revenant functions, and to this I cleave, now more than ever.

There have been some behind-the-scenes upgrades as well. I’m back on Firefox, after a long hiatus, which translates to a smoother posting experience. No more having Chrome’s autoupdate function bring my system to its knees at regular intervals. I also took the time to disassemble my keyboard fully and clean it, with Dyson and toothbrush in hand, so if this isn’t the most hygienically produced blog post you read today, then your eyes must be too filthy. For the novel project, I actually made the effort to procure a 5-1/2″ x 8″ journal, a significant milestone in any creative undertaking. You know you’re legit when your words are sandwiched between the finest artisanal pleather.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Secondhand Rants will return on Tuesday, March 12.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Confession time about the project. When it began, I was unabashedly ready to sell out, a stance I now know isn’t sustainable. I remember discussing a potential story arc and judging it not by its capacity for meaty characterization or memorable set pieces, but whether it would appeal to women, men, or both markets, ideally. If some people write for the love of the craft, then I was decidedly on the other end of the spectrum.

The drawback to this approach is your work quickly becomes unappealing to you. On most days, I’m pretty much spent from the day job and whatever else is going on, so mustering additional emotional capital can be herculean. There has to be a spark to make the effort interesting, because before you amass a loyal readership, you’re your own biggest fan. That said, the realization that the creative industry has never been so democratized is also a driving force. All you need is a good yarn and some savvy marketing, and you can make it, traditional barriers to publishing be damned.

That’s the hope, at least, so let’s call it a draw–half passion, half mercenary. On Friday, we stumbled upon a potentially rich framework to tie everything together. It felt like we struck gold, such was the creative high. Now, I need to marinate on it, see if it has legs. There is something tangibly electric about imagining where all this is heading. It’s a completely new mindset for me, in which the dreaming is as important as the doing.