Ordinary Horrors: A Blog - Lowell Mick White

I Answer Some Questions about Writing X

1/8/2021

Reading out loud works for me. You can feel the rhythm of the words....
Make your poems literal. Nothing wrong with that! Close observation of the world makes for excellent poetry!
You can impose a type of exterior order on your poems by making each line the same length. (Counting syllables is a good way to do this--make each line 11 or 14 or whatever syllables long)....
Nope. Little narrative poems generally work best for an assignment like this—but any theme you want....
Well, what do you care about?
If you don't care about what you're writing, your lack of care will come through.
That said, "feelings" are usually kind of abstract and hard to write about. Personal experiences are good beginnings for a story, but they need to be better—that is, more story-like—than "real life."
Social topics can work if you don't preach at people—put your character in a situation that illustrates something (like roommate tension during pandemic quarantine, for a very good example).
Like my fave TV series. The Wire is the best show in tv history. (It streams on Amazon and HBO). It's cops chasing drug dealers, but it's really about people and the problems they have—funny, exciting, suspenseful, heartbreaking—and the society they live in. Covers social topics and doesn’t preach.
Most of my poems are short stories that didn't work as short stories—I just keep whittling them down to about 14 lines or so....
And—observations of the world. Something that catches my eye. It doesn't need to be much....
I try very very hard not to get all philosophical.....
Don’t overthink it. Poetry's not (necessarily) about making grand pronouncements on the Meaning of Life. It's about observing the world.
Go look out your window. What do you see? That's your living poem.
That's enough. That's plenty.
As I said upthread, most of my poems are stories that didn't work as stories. They're narrative poems.
Some of my poet friends write their poems in paragraphs—descriptions or stories. They get the sentences right, the punctuation right, and then they break it into a poem with line breaks.
Try writing four or five sentences about something concrete you know about. (How to drive a car. How to tie your shoe. How to pour milk on cereal).
Break it into lines—make each line more or less the same length by syllables.
Elevate the language.
Boom—a poem.
Don't overthink it. Don' try and be profound.
Just look to the world for inspiration and you'll be fine.
Poems are usually written in sentences—so, just put the commas and periods and em-dashes where they would usually go in any sentence….
(Maybe avoid semi-colons, which I’ve always seen as elitist punctuation).
(That’s just a personal maybe, though).
And, that said—punctuation is really important in poems. Poems are so short that the punctuation really draws attention to itself.
(Unless, on occasion, you don’t use any punctuation at all).
I write about the world I observe or remember....I stay as concrete and real as possible. (I hope you do, too!)
Just describe it as it is. Later, when you revise, you can search for the right metaphor (and maybe you don't need one!)
Obviousness can be the right thing!
I might add on a technical issue that your secondary characters could become very important as they interact with the protagonist....
Sure! Read a lot. That's part of the research. You want to see what's been done before, so that you can do it better!
One of the odd things I noticed when I first started teaching creative writing was that student stories often went on just a bit too long. That the endings were over-explained. And that the easiest way to fix a story like this is to lop off the last sentence or paragraph or whatever. It's like a miracle!
That said, happy endings have to be earned....
And that said—it could and might well be that the problem in the ending lies earlier in the story.
One of my fave writing quotes is by movie writer/director Billy Wilder: "If you have a problem in the third act, that means you have a problem in the first act."
Keeping in mind that you're always writing a story about people, not about magic or science. People who engage in magic or science. (If your protagonist is a robot, it's an essential person).
Why is a lot of dialogue a problem? Who says it's too much dialogue?
Hemingway was the writer who changed my life, and he was big on dialogue. So, guess what? I've always been big on dialogue! Who's gonna stop me?
That said—if you're a dialogue-heavy writer, your dialogue should be sharp and well-punctuated....
Now I'm scared. Did I not warn everyone not to be literal about "hero sets off"? Like--it's a protagonist, a focal character. They don't have to be Achilles....unless you want them to be Achilles or whoever....
But, anyway...Me? I don't worry about category when I'm pondering a story. Character first, then setting, then action. The category will emerge organically from the action as it develops.
(Obviously, I'm not writing for a class where I have a cranky professor who's trying to nudge me into trying New Things).
I've been reading a lot of detective/crime/noir fiction the past few years. And—Elizabeth Hand has a new Cass Neary novel out! And Tana French has a new novel out too! They're great--highly recommended....
That's the function of the outline.
I truly see the outline as the First Draft. I spend a lot of time on it before I start writing and update it often as I write.
And—outlines for short stories don't have to be detailed--just a handful of bullet points will work. But it's good to have the from-here-to-there thought out, even if you change it as you write....
Most published stories are about 12-20 pages--3000 to 5000 words. The trend is shorter and shorter. There's just not enough space for longer stories.
We go six to eight pages in class because grading. But—don't stress! Make the story as long as you need it to be....
(That said--if everyone in both classes went three pages over, I'd have an extra 108 pages to read. It adds up).
I'm fond of all my characters. Even the villains.
Tom Holt has been in three books--Professed, Normal School, and my current work in progress. So I apparently have lots to say about him.
I'm very fond of Linda Smallwood in That Demon Life....
I think this might happen more with freelance journalism than with fiction....
But I think it would depend on how you approach it, what kind of limits you set between internal deadlines and external deadlines, and the pressures and stresses of whatever else is going on in your life....
I think about my character a bit--who they are, how they got to be the way they are. Then play around with an outline. Then I get serious about the outline, etc.....
Great idea!
Novel or story? You probably don't need too many characters in a short story, so introducing new round characters late might be a problem. (A flat character might be easier, since they don't have to be People We Care About).
Adding new characters late in a novel is usually not a problem unless they totally take over the narrative.
(I'm looking at you, Alexander Solzhenitsyn).
If you're with a major press and if the company is making lots of money off of you, they will take care of your publicity. If not—especially if you're an unknown writer—PR is up to you. Be on social media, send out review copies, hustle for interviews and bookstore appearances, etc.
Okay, triggering incidents. Where do story ideas come from? Example—my story collection, The Messes We Make of Our Lives.
Maybe three of these stories came from dreams—not the whole story, just an image or idea.
(Do you keep a dream diary? You might want to).
Most of the others have a triggering incident that more or less happened in "real life," something that I then applied imagination to and made better than real life.
(Imagination is simple--it's merely looking at something an asking "What if?)
The story "Quiet Sport," for example. I was once fishing the Shoshone River in Wyoming, sort of near a campground just outside Yellowstone. And I was doing my thing, and this kid, maybe 13 or 14, starts throwing rocks right by me! I was PISSED! And I thought—I'd like to throw that kid in the river. And so I wrote a story where the protagonist throws the kid in the river! Ha! Victory! The End.
The story "It May Be a Day..." is also sort of based on something I saw. Back when I was your age, I was witness to a murder. But—when I wrote the story, I wrote it not from my puny witness POV, but from the POV of the murderer. Some months after the murder, a cop told me that the murderer got turned in by his sister. That was my "what if?" moment—I wondered what happened between them. (My first published story...).
And so forth. Moral of this post: make your stories better than real life.
Also a moral—your life is your most precious resource.

Life gets in the way sometimes but don't stop!

I Answer Some Questions about Writing IX

12/25/2020

Writing, studying, thinking

Once again...The Answers. BYOQ!

The hardest part might be figuring out what I really want to say. That takes effort and thought but it’s part of the process!
Then—I have to figure out the BEST way to say what I want to say, the most expressive language to say what I want to say.
How do I turn up the power of my language....?
The most useful writing class I had as an undergraduate was an art history class—we had to write about art! I learned so much!
Try it right now—go find a painting and just describe it. (Trad narrative art is easier at first).
Then write an ekphrasis….
(I’ll wait…).
Other history classes are good, too. (I was a history major, ha).
Knowledge is good.
We're in the 21st century, so you will also need to know some basic Photoshop and InDesign. These are very valuable skills!
I always wanted to tell stories. When I started college I wanted to be a journalist (I wanted to write the A-heds for the Wall Street Journal!).
But I'm too shy to talk on the phone, so that didn't work out at all....
Once I set foot in grad school I wanted to be a professor....
But, basically, I'm a linear word-type guy....
No, not too much. I just move onto something else....
Titles...
When I’m grading or editing, I look at the formatting—it’s something that just jumps off the page. Sloppy formatting is a bad sign.
If your reader can’t read what you’ve written, you have a problem.
Be generous—both with other people and with yourself. (Writing is an act of generosity).
Perhaps practice writing longer sentences, and embedding your ideas in those sentences....?
Walt Whitman.
I'm not in college anymore, so I don’t have to read things I don't like. Or finish everything I start.
It's nice!
In grad school I was reading a lot of memoirs as I researched my dissertation, and I read The Dead Girl, by Melanie Thernstrom. Dreadful. It was the last book I hated that I finished....
In my downtime I work on my own books. Also: I drink beer and watch tv.....
What a great question! And—there is no definitive answer.
Generally, punctuation is more important in a poem than a story, since there are fewer words in a poem, and every word has to be in the correct context and carry a lot of weight.
But! Sometimes you can remove punctuation from a poem and speed it up!!!!!
Read your poem closely, and experiment. How do you want it to sound?
I go through phases, though I always like reading histories about American stuff in the 19th century....
The ending should be a big part of your outline. Maybe even the starting point!
What I've found a couple of times is that the novel stops the scene or two before the projected ending in the outline. Just—there is nothing more to say about this story or this character.
So: The End.
But the overall tone of the ending itself is dependent on what has transpired in the novel. Triumphant, elegiac, whatever.
And—whatever happens—maybe turn up the volume in writing the ending? It's the second-most important part of your book. It's what will stay in your reader's memory.
Also—who gets the last line? This is really important.
I guess some writers do the name symbolism thing. But I'm feeling that character names should just be names.
That said—the name should be appropriate for the characters. Who are they? What year were they born? Where were they born?
All these factor into the naming conventions....
Yes...but--
It will vary from poem to poem!
George Martin is kind of an outlier, but at the same time his big novels are still under focal control. (Maybe). (Sort of).
Also—it’s a long long series!
(Martin needs to get busy and finish those last two books!)
(Robert Caro needs to finish his LBJ biography, too!)
I would still advise you to limit the number of important characters in your short stories. Do you really have enough space really make them into individuals?
Or will they just be names on a page? What is your available narrative space?
Okay—titles. In ye olde face-to-face class days, I would often send students out to walk about the halls for 10 minutes and come back with 10 titles. (Everyday objects can make great titles!)
Or—maybe a song lyric that represents something in your story. Or a line from a poem. Or something odd your overhear while walking around....
We are surrounded by titles.
And—I usually start stories with a title. The title is sort of where I get the inspiration from.
(I have a notebook which is nothing but titles. I'll never get them all written!)
Character names? I really really good resource is the Social Security Administration's baby name listing. The most popular baby names, decade by decade.
So—figure out more or less when your character was born, and go from there....
Or—use phone books. (Do phone books still exist?)
For Burnt House, I had an old WV phonebook and chose many names from there, mixed up by first and last names....
Outlining! (Outlines are my answer to every writing problem!)
So I outline, of course. But, yep, I start writing the book or story at the beginning. It's the most important part of your story/novel/memoir/whatever.
I worry most about beginnings and endings....The middle, generally, can take care of itself.
I think it's a pretty good idea to have multiple projects going. You can switch from one to another as your get stuck.
But my experience has been that at some point, one of the projects will catch fire and take over all your time. If that happens, just go with it—you can get back to project B later...
I'm writing a sequel to Normal School. It takes place in 2020 and features the pandemic and Trumpism and ghosts.
I haven't generated any new material on it in about six weeks. I'm just too tired. But I have @45000 words, so I work on revisions every day.
And—last weekend I pulled out an old project and worked on it for a couple of days.
There's always something to do. As busy as I get, there's always 15 or 20 minutes a day for writing....
And 15 or 20 minutes a day is enough.
A page a day is a book a year.
You can republish a story in a book, no problem. In fact, I'd say that's encouraged! Some journals will take previously published work—always check their listings in Novel & Short Story Writers Market.....
I read a lot of student stories, and I see the army of characters as a real problem.
When there are too many people in a six-to-eight-page story, there’s not enough space for the secondary characters to be even flat characters. They're just names on the page.
And the fact that they stake up valuable narrative space means that the protagonist is given less to do....
Well, both. Sort of. But you need good work for your buddy to promote.
Good writers come out of the slush pile all the time. But you have to put yourself in a position to benefit from any publication.
Hence my encouragement of Literary Citizenship.
Be active on social media, and support other writers. Let people get to know you.
Try pushing ahead. The work that is forced is just as good as the work that flows. Can't tell the difference.
But—you can always skip the tough spots (make sure to update your outline) or bypass a stuck place for something easier.
(Me—I usually force my way through the tough spots).
I'm a total oddball and outlier—I look at genres as mostly marketing. (Which has its place, of course). On my level of pen-to-paper, I just write words....
No—you're fine!
And—a lot of people do this. I'm thinking right now of the Hemingway novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. The book opens with the protag laying on pine needles in a forest watching people, and the last scene...there he is again.
(His life has changed a lot in the previous three days!)
So—a form of circularity.
You can easily do this in a short story or novel. When you're dreamstorming your outline, just work the circularity into it....
I have a list of seven books I need to write before I die. So—I'm racing the clock.
I'm 62—will I get them all done? Will my physical and mental health hold out?
We'll see!

Revision advice from the great Megan Abbot, from her Twitter feed....

I Answer Some Questions about Writing VIII

12/11/2020

One word at a time....

Fan fiction can be very good practice.
And of course stories from the Bible, Shakespeare, mythology, fairy tales are all continually rebooted and re-imagined.
Remember—there are only (maybe) three basic stories!
A difficult and important question! And—I don't know the answer.
I remember when I was finishing up Burnt House—I was totally mentally exhausted, and the semester was beginning and it was very difficult.
My reading indicates that hating what you do is a big part of burn out, and I really do love what I do. So—was I just tired?
I guess.
Maybe here's some advice. I haven't worked on my work-in-progress for four days. Just sort of tired of it. And I'm feeling the guilts about being sort of tired of it and slacking off.
But something reminded me of an old abandoned project sitting on my hard drive, and so I opened that up and loved it and worked happily for a couple of hours.
So...maybe try working on a different project to get around burn out?
(If it is burn out?)
I didn't write much from 1984 to 1990 or so. I was doing stuff, but not writing. Depressed and angry. But I took a class like this and ending up publishing all three of the stories I wrote in it, and I was off....
You can do this, too....
Well, I'm pretty much always thinking about my writing (I have writing dreams), so when I finally sit down I'm ready to go....
But I always have a hard time starting!
I do not write in the mornings.
I don't mean to abuse you if you're a morning person. At all times be your best self!
But my peak efficiency time is from @1100pm to @100am. That's my writing time.
Robert Olen Butler, a very fine writer, in his craft book, From Where You Dream, advocates for early morning writing because the writer will be close to their dream state.
Bob, you can sit down and shut up. While you're writing, I'm sleeping....
How long to let a project sit? Maybe 20 years? (Sort of serious—look at next week's reading!)
But 20 years is extreme. Sure, let it sit for a while and write something else—maybe a couple of something elses. When you come back to it, you'll be a better, more experienced writer than you were when you wrote it....
Graphic novels are terrific! I couldn't do one—I can't draw and I also don't have enough knowledge to theorize one....
I like stories that are physical and sensual, not stories that are abstract....
Humor is always totally subjective. A lot of my friends, for example, love David Sedaris, and I just don't get him (I love his sister, comic actor Amy Sedaris!). I think America's greatest comic novel is A Confederacy of Dunces (it was a big influence on my first novel), and a good friend of mine thinks it's tragic and depressing.
I find a lot of dark humor in Hemingway, and few other people do.
Here's a recommendation: Tom Wolfe. His nonfiction book on the space program and the first astronauts, The Right Stuff, is a hoot. And his big novel about greed, Bonfire of the Vanities, is full of fun unlikable people doing outrageous things.
But what I think is funny you might not....
I think you should share your writing. But not big chunks like whole chapters. Try what Austin Kleon suggests in Show Your Work....
Plagiarism shouldn't be a worry. But publishers want first exclusive crack at what you've written, and if half the book is on some lame amateur website they will be discouraged.
Why not start sending your work out to reputable publications? Why not get published for real?
Do writing practice. Maybe try three pages a day (handwritten, in a notebook). Do it for a month and you will be a better writer.
What to write about in writing practice? Anything! Everything! Since no one will ever read it, you shouldn't feel pressure from your internal editor.
Just put down words one after another after another.
And read—two or three books a week. Read like a writer--always be looking for how the author did what they are doing....
Do this and at the end of a year you'll be the smartest person you know.
Go for it!
I went to grad school and fell in love with it....
I try to force myself. Just open the file or the notebook and at least LOOK at the work. And when I look, and I'll usually see something to fiddle with, or more....
When you think about grad school, look at the professors—look at their websites—find people you want to work with.
And then—also, REALLY—look at what kinds of financial support they offer....and then compare all the schools and then compare them again.
Do research.
I'm going to try to write every day this month, but I'm not trying to write a whole book this month....
Try doing timed writing sprints and see how much work you get done....
Hemingway (allegedly) said, "Write drunk, revise sober." But I think he was speaking metaphorically!
No, nothing special for me...
Every writer has to find what works for them....
Experimenting is part of the process, and it’s a fun part.
I read a lot of history, and quite a few biographies....
For fiction—recently I've been reading mostly horror and noirish crime....
Sure—travel changes your perspective. It de-familiarizes your base location. You see it new—and this will often emerge in your writing.
And the more observations you make, the richer your writing might be....
Discouraged?
Nobody tells me what to read.
Again: it's never the book in your head. It will never be as good as what you envision. Just get used to that and do the best you can.
Also—don't judge your first draft. Really. AT ALL. The first draft only needs to exist for it to be fine.
In the seventh grade I read The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway. Changed everything!
Some very few people can make a living as writers. Most writers have day jobs. (Or inherited wealth).
Sometimes I get asked to write a book or music review. I have a really hard time—the critical hat does not fit well on my ginormous head.
Also I have a hard time with academic writing. I usually have to imagine LOVE or HATE for my subject to get going....
No! No! NO!!!!!!
Why would you want to delete your writing?
Even if those words are not the right words, you might want them later!
Probably The Lord of the Rings when I was in the sixth grade....
I was always reading as a kid. I went with my mom on weekly trips to the library and loaded up on books. And my parents bought me any book I wanted. I started reading adult literature when I was in about the fourth grade or so...
Every character is me, or an aspect of me. Heroes, villains, men, women, whatever. I always try to see the world through the eyes of my characters....
That said—I'm not an autobiographical writer, I'm an experiential writer. I use the experienced observations I make of people and places and things to inform my writing, though my writing is not based directly on my lived events....
The racial divide in America as a whole has been wide throughout our history....
The antagonism and hatred of the Texans toward the Comanche was a real thing—and perhaps even more extreme than shown in The Searchers....
Big themes told through the actions and lives of individual characters can make for compelling narrative in either literature or film....
Yes! I think the context is--let's untie ourselves from the past and create a new and free life/society/world....
There's also a line very early in the film..."You live in a place, you should know something about it” —which I think implies that if you truly know something about a place, you can then understand it and deal with it. Whitewashing the past or embracing a false past leads to ongoing problems....
(Like, look around…),
Assimilation—the old "melting pot' theory of Americanization, where you give up your past and blended into a new life....
Change is a constant. Young people are always growing up in a New America, where the past is being simultaneously forgotten, rediscovered, and reinterpreted. This can certainly cause misunderstandings and strife!
There is also an inherent conservatism in the way so many people hold onto what they were taught when they were young and how they are resistant to new interpretations of the world....
Yes! I hadn't even considered that! But--yes!
Maybe sort of...no? I'm seeing it more about using time as a setting...
(In my cw classes I'm always or at least often haranguing students about time as a place...).
Most westerns made back in old Hollywood days were low-budget shoot-em-ups. But there were always higher-budget prestige westerns, too. So—critical acclaim and awards were not uncommon for westerns throughout movie history....
It's absolutely important.
It doesn't totally match up but there is something going on there.
Go big or go home?
Thematic ambition, in the right hands, can make for a powerful story or film....
It would be nice! But there is always a resistance to change and new views on old topics....
It sort of seems that corruption is more or less everywhere, and seems to go in waves. Our second Gilded Age—the Right Now—is sadly quite corrupt....
Maybe because it's a form of conflict, and all stories need conflict. And because it's pretty common....
Generations. Borders. History.
The guy who write the script for Chinatown was inspired by a line he read in an article about the history of Los Angeles: "…at least part of the personality of a city devolves from the crime we perceive to be committed there…."
The crimes will differ from location to location and throughout different eras.
But there is a lot of dark history out there in America, if you look for it.

I Answer Some Questions About Writing VII

11/27/2020

Giving thanks for the defeat of the traitorous slaver armies in 1863....

All the exciting answers, none of the boring questions...Thanksgiving Edition!

Turkey legs & turkey leg pie!
I've written a Holiday/Christmas story—it's in my book Burnt House. It's pretty grim!
I didn't want to drive a cab any more....
People have appetites; how do they sate those appetites?
When people dine together, they talk. Food gives them something to do. (A lot of dialogue I read seems to take place in a vacuum).
Also, food is itself intrinsically interesting for most people. (Always be looking for ways to connect with an audience).
Be humble.
Big picture hope: I'd like to see America healed. It's going to take some time!
Personal hope: I hope I live long enough to get all my books written. (Which might take a long long time and that’s fine!)
But there will always be a demand and desire for stories.
I miss hanging around the Teacher's Bar and bragging about my students!
Basically, what I said upthread—cultivate Humility and Patience.
Writing doesn't happen overnight. Many young writers find this discouraging.
Humility will win the day.
And I would encourage all of you to follow Lev Nikolayevich's example—be excited about your next project!
I've learned to adapt and survive (so far).
Horror.
Everything is equally easy or difficult, depending on the writer's state of mind....
But here's some advice: don't wait to tell your stories!
So I sat on it, and waited until I was "good enough."
And I never wrote it.
I should have written it immediately! It would have sucked, but who would have cared? (Other than my ego).
Moral of the story: don't wait! Write—now.
Everyone needs to read more.
Those of you who already read a lot need to read more.
Those of you who don't read a whole lot need to read more.
Every book you read helps build your Writer's Toolbox. You'll be able to see all the options you have as a writer.
I think just about everything is important enough to write about—if the writer takes their writing seriously.
Understanding what a story is, and making it happen....
Go with what's in your heart. That's vague—but true.
What poems do you feel strongest about?
Activities: keep a journal. It doesn't have to be complicated and sound like the all-knowing voice of whatever. Just write down your observations about what you see and experience. It can be a list. Or photos!
(Actually, if you use social media, you are in fact keeping a journal).
The world is always changing and slipping away. Notice the changes! (It takes practice).
Develop HUMILITY and PATIENCE.
It takes a long time to get really good at writing fiction. A writer's ego and perfectionism can in the way.
And also be PERSISTENT.
Pretend to care.
Make it a game. In the end, everything you write is just words.
Watch how one scene flows into another. Look at how the dialogue is edited and cuts from one character to another. Look for how setting is used. Look for how it is lit and filmed. Read the movie like a writer....
I don’t buy it.
I’m seeing the Stranger as an idealized romanticized personification of America itself. The Cowboy! Honest, straightforward, kind, respectful. How America sees itself reflected through media/Hollywood....
That may not be factual, but it's True enough to be a starting point for a novel or a film....
Though I wouldn't want to hang around with him....
The drugs are definitely making him irrational.
There are easy-going, good-hearted stoners everywhere.
I see him as the innocent victim of capitalism….
Nihilism is the denial of the value of reality, so here the nihilists are the cats-paw of capitalism, which believes in nothing outside of profit/greed/gain....
I liked it. Dark and funny.
We've had some grim readings and viewings this semester—I thought it might be nice to close with a comedy....
The War on Drugs has been a catastrophe for our country.
Food.
This job is easy when you have a lot of great students!