When I set out to write my debut novel I knew that there was going to be an incredible learning curve for me. All my life I had been used to writing short stories of 8,000 words or less. The only other time I attempted to write a full length novel I got hung up around 42,000 words and the manuscript is still tucked away in a closet.
Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett takes place in a very limited environment, not only because I wanted to keep things small scale and well paced, but because this introduction to a greater world was meant to feel like someone making a gradual transition from our world into a universe much greater in scale than he could ever imagine. This novel is a bit like uncorking the bottle. Maestri will see the genie set forth. The scale of the follow up will be incredibly vast in scale, by comparison.
This takes absolutely nothing away from MFoDB. It's a taught, closed quarters, slow burn suspenseful horror work in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft and evolves a bit toward a more Clive Barker influenced work near the end of the 3rd act. That really sets the tone of what we can expect in the next chapter of this tale - of which David Bennett is only a small part.
The Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett, now available in paperback, ebook, and free with Kindle Unlimited!
Take a chance, and read a few pages. I bet you just might be enticed to read further.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1701845431
Thursday, October 31, 2019
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Becoming the Thing I Hate
Confession time:
I used to be a salesman.
A Schwann's salesman.
I hated it.
I hated myself.
I'm not a salesman. I have a real hard time interacting with people. I am about as introverted as it gets. I come across as cold and aloof and people think that I hate them and it really bled through into my somewhat brief career of selling frozen treats door to door. I don't hate people. I hate talking to people. Does that make sense?
So, I am still a salesman.
I make chain mail armor and jewelry and sell it at craft shows around the Midwest. It started out as a necessity for income ten years ago. It quickly grew into my main job.
I. Still. Hate. Selling stuff.
So, it's that time in my life where I get the joy of learning how to sell a new product. I have ordered my first shipment of author copies and already called local libraries and booked a craft show in December in which I will be selling my books.
Whoa boy. Hyperventilating. People interaction while trying to teach myself how to sell books.
Unfortunately, in the modern world, an author has to be willing to step outside their sphere of comfort to succeed at their craft. It doesn't matter whether you are self published or signed to a traditional agency - odds are you're going to be responsible for doing a lot of your own marketing to get copies of your book moving off shelves.
So, next week after my books arrive, I will force myself to become more social and more visible...for a while. I will begin offering a few copies out there for honest reviews, and awkwardly calling bookstores in my area to see if they would be willing to meet in person to discuss the possibility of stocking my book. The entire time I will be staving off anxiety attacks. It's a sacrifice that I, as an author now, have to be willing to make.
Life would be so much easier if I could just pay someone to go out and do this for me. I asked my daughter if she wanted to do it and she just stared at me over her sketchpad. My son enthusiastically volunteered to go out and sell my book for me, but I had to remind him that he's only 3. He eventually conceded that point with great reluctance.
You're not alone if you are struggling to sell your book out there. Just don't psych yourself out. Don't think that it is easier for some people than it is for others. It really isn't. Everyone walks through the mud to get the gold at the end of the rainbow. If anyone takes anything from this rambling post, I hope it's that your misery is shared. Keep on trying to market, writing, and eventually you will get to where you want to be. The world can't ignore you forever.
Speaking of marketing...please check out my book!
The Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett, available now in Paperback and Kindle (included in Kindle Unlimited) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1701845431
I used to be a salesman.
A Schwann's salesman.
I hated it.
I hated myself.
I'm not a salesman. I have a real hard time interacting with people. I am about as introverted as it gets. I come across as cold and aloof and people think that I hate them and it really bled through into my somewhat brief career of selling frozen treats door to door. I don't hate people. I hate talking to people. Does that make sense?
So, I am still a salesman.
I make chain mail armor and jewelry and sell it at craft shows around the Midwest. It started out as a necessity for income ten years ago. It quickly grew into my main job.
I. Still. Hate. Selling stuff.
So, it's that time in my life where I get the joy of learning how to sell a new product. I have ordered my first shipment of author copies and already called local libraries and booked a craft show in December in which I will be selling my books.
Whoa boy. Hyperventilating. People interaction while trying to teach myself how to sell books.
Unfortunately, in the modern world, an author has to be willing to step outside their sphere of comfort to succeed at their craft. It doesn't matter whether you are self published or signed to a traditional agency - odds are you're going to be responsible for doing a lot of your own marketing to get copies of your book moving off shelves.
So, next week after my books arrive, I will force myself to become more social and more visible...for a while. I will begin offering a few copies out there for honest reviews, and awkwardly calling bookstores in my area to see if they would be willing to meet in person to discuss the possibility of stocking my book. The entire time I will be staving off anxiety attacks. It's a sacrifice that I, as an author now, have to be willing to make.
Life would be so much easier if I could just pay someone to go out and do this for me. I asked my daughter if she wanted to do it and she just stared at me over her sketchpad. My son enthusiastically volunteered to go out and sell my book for me, but I had to remind him that he's only 3. He eventually conceded that point with great reluctance.
You're not alone if you are struggling to sell your book out there. Just don't psych yourself out. Don't think that it is easier for some people than it is for others. It really isn't. Everyone walks through the mud to get the gold at the end of the rainbow. If anyone takes anything from this rambling post, I hope it's that your misery is shared. Keep on trying to market, writing, and eventually you will get to where you want to be. The world can't ignore you forever.
Speaking of marketing...please check out my book!
The Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett, available now in Paperback and Kindle (included in Kindle Unlimited) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1701845431
Monday, October 28, 2019
The Easy Way Out (World Building)
When I set out to write Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett I knew that I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew. I was going to be pressed for time and suffering through a myriad of distractions and the last thing that I wanted to do was find myself in over my head and frustrated to the point where I would abandon my manuscript.
One of the first things that I decided to do, with world building, was set the story in a mostly real environment. Thus, northern Michigan, I apologize for inflicting this tale upon you.
Oh, I knew there were dangers in doing something like that. I have fictionalized street (and some other location) names, but anyone familiar with the area is going to know exactly where this book takes place.
This approach became a double edged sword because it freed up my time to dedicate toward character and story development without having to create and learn an entire new world, but it also influenced how my character treated his environment. In the original draft, David had much more contempt and loathing for the particular area in which he found himself. He considered it a hillbilly haven and didn't want anything to do with the locals.
Realizing that I would be offending a whole geographic location of people with this approach I tamed it down quite a bit. Basically, David really doesn't interact with locals beyond a basic need to. It's too difficult for him to come back to this place that he once called home and face the memories that he associates with the area. He felt used by so many people and dragged down into the seedy lifestyle that is all too common in that area. Instead of dwelling on it, he ignores it.
It's an artistic sacrifice that I felt was worth the cost of giving myself a relatively easy canvas to paint upon with my debut novel. In the end it was a successful approach.
The sequel is much more fantastical and fictionalized. I don't plan on holding back too many punches in the next round.
Now available with matchbook! Buy the paperback and get the kindle edition for 0.99.
https://www.amazon.com/Morbid-Fascinations-David-Bennett-ebook/dp/B07ZG4N2
One of the first things that I decided to do, with world building, was set the story in a mostly real environment. Thus, northern Michigan, I apologize for inflicting this tale upon you.
Oh, I knew there were dangers in doing something like that. I have fictionalized street (and some other location) names, but anyone familiar with the area is going to know exactly where this book takes place.
This approach became a double edged sword because it freed up my time to dedicate toward character and story development without having to create and learn an entire new world, but it also influenced how my character treated his environment. In the original draft, David had much more contempt and loathing for the particular area in which he found himself. He considered it a hillbilly haven and didn't want anything to do with the locals.
Realizing that I would be offending a whole geographic location of people with this approach I tamed it down quite a bit. Basically, David really doesn't interact with locals beyond a basic need to. It's too difficult for him to come back to this place that he once called home and face the memories that he associates with the area. He felt used by so many people and dragged down into the seedy lifestyle that is all too common in that area. Instead of dwelling on it, he ignores it.
It's an artistic sacrifice that I felt was worth the cost of giving myself a relatively easy canvas to paint upon with my debut novel. In the end it was a successful approach.
The sequel is much more fantastical and fictionalized. I don't plan on holding back too many punches in the next round.
Now available with matchbook! Buy the paperback and get the kindle edition for 0.99.
https://www.amazon.com/Morbid-Fascinations-David-Bennett-ebook/dp/B07ZG4N2
Saturday, October 26, 2019
Atmosphere and Immersion
One of the questions that I get all the time is 'Where do you write?'
It's a good question, considering that I share a 2000 sq ft house with two children, a patient spouse, and 3 cats that don't know the meaning of 'personal space.'
First of all, I'm not the kind of writer who blocks off 6 or 8 hours a day to write. I'm lucky if I can find 45 to 60 minutes in a day to write. Usually I wait until my wife is putting our 3 year old to bed and I just grab my Chromebook and plop down on the couch to bang out 1200-1500 words per day. That's not a lot but I aim to write at least 5 days a week and NEVER take more than 2 consecutive days off, because I feel like it really causes me to detach from my story. I don't like that feeling of being behind in my own story and needing to get back inside the characters' heads.
Once in a while when I get to a particularly challenging or intense scene I will waddle up to my theater and enjoy the silence for a while. Sure, I write better when I'm in that kind of environment but usually it isn't a big enough difference to warrant setting up a home office, again. I had one of those once. It was grotesquely underused and my cats eventually claimed it as their own. The room was eventually converted into a movie theater. Much better use of the space.
On occasion I will also plug in earbuds and listen to recordings of thunderstorms while I write. For me, it is an excellent way of blocking out the noise of the world around me and setting my mood for writing some proper horror.
Does it work? You be the judge.
Available in paperback or Kindle (included with Kindle Unlimited for free!)
https://www.amazon.com/Morbid-Fascinations-David-Bennett-ebook/dp/B07ZG4N2XB
The paperback turned out beautifully done, with a soft matte finish cover.
It's a good question, considering that I share a 2000 sq ft house with two children, a patient spouse, and 3 cats that don't know the meaning of 'personal space.'
First of all, I'm not the kind of writer who blocks off 6 or 8 hours a day to write. I'm lucky if I can find 45 to 60 minutes in a day to write. Usually I wait until my wife is putting our 3 year old to bed and I just grab my Chromebook and plop down on the couch to bang out 1200-1500 words per day. That's not a lot but I aim to write at least 5 days a week and NEVER take more than 2 consecutive days off, because I feel like it really causes me to detach from my story. I don't like that feeling of being behind in my own story and needing to get back inside the characters' heads.
Once in a while when I get to a particularly challenging or intense scene I will waddle up to my theater and enjoy the silence for a while. Sure, I write better when I'm in that kind of environment but usually it isn't a big enough difference to warrant setting up a home office, again. I had one of those once. It was grotesquely underused and my cats eventually claimed it as their own. The room was eventually converted into a movie theater. Much better use of the space.
On occasion I will also plug in earbuds and listen to recordings of thunderstorms while I write. For me, it is an excellent way of blocking out the noise of the world around me and setting my mood for writing some proper horror.
Does it work? You be the judge.
Available in paperback or Kindle (included with Kindle Unlimited for free!)
https://www.amazon.com/Morbid-Fascinations-David-Bennett-ebook/dp/B07ZG4N2XB
The paperback turned out beautifully done, with a soft matte finish cover.
Friday, October 25, 2019
The More They Overtake the Plumbing...
This post is just a bit of a rant, to start with.
I have been learning the ropes with advertising and my first effort was met with a high degree of failure...complete, really. I built my ad on Amazon and let it run for three days without a single impression. I kept checking my budget, including my ad bid rate and dynamic adjustments. Nothing was helping. This morning I finally decided to do the proper research that I should have done a few days ago. It turns out that Amazon's system is really horrible at automatic keyword matching. Amazon's system decided that my ad only needed two keywords: 'David' and 'Bennett.'
...........so... that was definitely an issue. There aren't many people who go on amazon and search either of those two words.
This morning I did what I should have done in the beginning and taken the time to create a manual ad and select my own keywords. A few dozen proper keywords back in the system and we will see how it rolls now. Too bad I likely have to wait several hours to a day or more for moderation on the new campaign.
Our world has become so Automatic that it feels like what should be the easy, time saving solution actually blows up in our faces. I think a good analogy is the 'automatic' setting on your microwave for cooking things like popcorn. Has anyone in the history of microwaving EVER been able to successfully use that button to properly pop a bag of popcorn? My own experiences have ranged from ending up with a quarter cup of unpopped kernels to "holy crap, where's the fire extinguisher!"
I feel like that is my experience whenever I try to use any website's automatic function. It leads me to believe that the function is only ever put there to make someone feel like they are actually being productive when the truth is that they are pretty much sending a digital dog to chase its own tail for a while.
Okay, rant over.
What are your experiences with automation technology?
I have been learning the ropes with advertising and my first effort was met with a high degree of failure...complete, really. I built my ad on Amazon and let it run for three days without a single impression. I kept checking my budget, including my ad bid rate and dynamic adjustments. Nothing was helping. This morning I finally decided to do the proper research that I should have done a few days ago. It turns out that Amazon's system is really horrible at automatic keyword matching. Amazon's system decided that my ad only needed two keywords: 'David' and 'Bennett.'
...........so... that was definitely an issue. There aren't many people who go on amazon and search either of those two words.
This morning I did what I should have done in the beginning and taken the time to create a manual ad and select my own keywords. A few dozen proper keywords back in the system and we will see how it rolls now. Too bad I likely have to wait several hours to a day or more for moderation on the new campaign.
Our world has become so Automatic that it feels like what should be the easy, time saving solution actually blows up in our faces. I think a good analogy is the 'automatic' setting on your microwave for cooking things like popcorn. Has anyone in the history of microwaving EVER been able to successfully use that button to properly pop a bag of popcorn? My own experiences have ranged from ending up with a quarter cup of unpopped kernels to "holy crap, where's the fire extinguisher!"
I feel like that is my experience whenever I try to use any website's automatic function. It leads me to believe that the function is only ever put there to make someone feel like they are actually being productive when the truth is that they are pretty much sending a digital dog to chase its own tail for a while.
Okay, rant over.
What are your experiences with automation technology?
Thursday, October 24, 2019
Self imposed hiatus
Yesterday was a very odd day for me. It was the first day that I took completely off from anything to do with my book in more than 7 months. I have to say, the house is much cleaner now. I honestly feel more stressed out now, though.
My book is now in the hands of Amazon and it has been slowly rolling out for sale. I have some advertising in place for it, mostly with Amazon ads, but I'm taking a few days off before I ramp up my efforts to market my work. I have spent so much time with my book, in its various stages, that I want to mentally detach from it as an author and reconnect with it in the role of marketer and salesman. I feel that to succeed at it I need to have a clear head and not take the forthcoming rejection personally. Failure is part of the learning experience, especially for writers. I want to learn from it, not get mentally beaten down by it.
So I am going to take a few days off from all of it and then, once I have a chance to go over my proof copy, go back and form a game plan of how to market it - including giveaways, searching out review groups, etc.
One thing I won't be doing during this initial push is writing. That is going to be the hardest part of all of this. I already have my next book fairly plotted out and I am eager to get to it. Part of me is worried that in the intervening time spent marketing that I will lose my fire for the next book and have a hard time getting into it. I am just going to have to accept that.
I want to give my marketing campaign a solid month to really ramp up before I go back to spending a decent amount of time writing, again. So the plan is to begin my next novel on December 1st. That should be interesting with the holidays rapidly approaching at that point.
In the meantime, feel free to browse both versions for sale on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1701845431 for paperback
https://www.amazon.com/Morbid-Fascinations-David-Bennett-ebook/dp/B07ZG4N2XB for Kindle (yes, it is also on Kindle Unlimited.
I appreciate everyone sharing those links, too, even if you have no interest in reading an intense horror novel.
Thanks for reading. I look forward to updating you all on my successes and failures during the marketing phase of Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett.
My book is now in the hands of Amazon and it has been slowly rolling out for sale. I have some advertising in place for it, mostly with Amazon ads, but I'm taking a few days off before I ramp up my efforts to market my work. I have spent so much time with my book, in its various stages, that I want to mentally detach from it as an author and reconnect with it in the role of marketer and salesman. I feel that to succeed at it I need to have a clear head and not take the forthcoming rejection personally. Failure is part of the learning experience, especially for writers. I want to learn from it, not get mentally beaten down by it.
So I am going to take a few days off from all of it and then, once I have a chance to go over my proof copy, go back and form a game plan of how to market it - including giveaways, searching out review groups, etc.
One thing I won't be doing during this initial push is writing. That is going to be the hardest part of all of this. I already have my next book fairly plotted out and I am eager to get to it. Part of me is worried that in the intervening time spent marketing that I will lose my fire for the next book and have a hard time getting into it. I am just going to have to accept that.
I want to give my marketing campaign a solid month to really ramp up before I go back to spending a decent amount of time writing, again. So the plan is to begin my next novel on December 1st. That should be interesting with the holidays rapidly approaching at that point.
In the meantime, feel free to browse both versions for sale on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1701845431 for paperback
https://www.amazon.com/Morbid-Fascinations-David-Bennett-ebook/dp/B07ZG4N2XB for Kindle (yes, it is also on Kindle Unlimited.
I appreciate everyone sharing those links, too, even if you have no interest in reading an intense horror novel.
Thanks for reading. I look forward to updating you all on my successes and failures during the marketing phase of Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett.
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Surprise!
After nearly 8 months today is finally the big day! I am proud to introduce you all to my brand new bouncing baby ebook. The paperback version will be available in the coming weeks. If you buy it, thank you very much. Honest reviews are appreciated. They are a great opportunity for me to learn what I did right and what I did wrong.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZG4N2XB/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=morbid+fascinations+of+david+bennett&qid=1571781352&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZG4N2XB/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=morbid+fascinations+of+david+bennett&qid=1571781352&sr=8-1
Enthusiastic Focus or Unhealthy Crunch?
The past couple of weeks have been...different...around here. Whirlwind that is my personal life aside, I have been closing in on the final edits of Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett. Today I find myself with 9 pages left until I let my book go out into the world to see if it will find its footing.
Around the beginning of October I began to feel the pressure. I wanted to get this book done this month. The holidays are coming up and the last thing I wanted to do was fall off my schedule and end up secluded in a dark corner of my house while family and friends are wondering what the heck happened to me? (Most don't even know that I've been writing a book.)
So I started staying up later, working longer, but I never thought of it as 'work.' I was immersed in it and enjoying the journey through these final edits. I had heard the term 'crunch' many times, even working through a few on previous jobs, but I never for a second considered what I have been doing over the past couple of weeks to be a crunch.
That is, until the end of last week when I took a 2 day break from editing and realized that things weren't completely rosy around here. I had been neglecting my health, skipping a few meals, and it threw my blood sugar completely off. My 3 year old was becoming a bit extra clingy since I had been isolating myself a bit more to complete the work. It occurred to me that I may not consider it a crunch but I'm sure those in my life definitely did.
It's so easy to get lost in something that I enjoy, though, that I never considered it a strain! I probably would have kept on in the same routine until I eventually flopped over into a diabetic coma. The descent from enthusiasm for a project into unhealthy crunch is a seamless transition. That's the trap of it for those of us who control our own projects.
Make sure to pull back every so often and take a breath. It may feel embarrassing but don't be afraid to ask the people in your life if you have been ignoring them or unintentionally contributing to tension in your household. It can be all to easy of a thing, neglecting other responsibilities while enjoying the adrenaline rush that comes from finishing a huge project.
Remember to be kind to yourself, and those around you. The destination is completely worthless if we sacrifice everything else that we love along the journey.
Around the beginning of October I began to feel the pressure. I wanted to get this book done this month. The holidays are coming up and the last thing I wanted to do was fall off my schedule and end up secluded in a dark corner of my house while family and friends are wondering what the heck happened to me? (Most don't even know that I've been writing a book.)
So I started staying up later, working longer, but I never thought of it as 'work.' I was immersed in it and enjoying the journey through these final edits. I had heard the term 'crunch' many times, even working through a few on previous jobs, but I never for a second considered what I have been doing over the past couple of weeks to be a crunch.
That is, until the end of last week when I took a 2 day break from editing and realized that things weren't completely rosy around here. I had been neglecting my health, skipping a few meals, and it threw my blood sugar completely off. My 3 year old was becoming a bit extra clingy since I had been isolating myself a bit more to complete the work. It occurred to me that I may not consider it a crunch but I'm sure those in my life definitely did.
It's so easy to get lost in something that I enjoy, though, that I never considered it a strain! I probably would have kept on in the same routine until I eventually flopped over into a diabetic coma. The descent from enthusiasm for a project into unhealthy crunch is a seamless transition. That's the trap of it for those of us who control our own projects.
Make sure to pull back every so often and take a breath. It may feel embarrassing but don't be afraid to ask the people in your life if you have been ignoring them or unintentionally contributing to tension in your household. It can be all to easy of a thing, neglecting other responsibilities while enjoying the adrenaline rush that comes from finishing a huge project.
Remember to be kind to yourself, and those around you. The destination is completely worthless if we sacrifice everything else that we love along the journey.
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Art Kills
One of the subjects that I have been tiptoeing around ever since I wrote the opening paragraph of MFoDB came creeping back to haunt me during my editing phase. There I was, staring at a page and trying to make a difficult decision. Do I re-write a scene to make it more socially acceptable or do I leave it as is because it is a part of the story, no matter how unpalatable the subject matter?
Before I go any further I must preface this little conundrum with my perspective on social issues within our society. Yes, there are a lot of terrible things out there and we all bear a responsibility to improve the world around us.
...but where do we draw the line with art?
There are a lot of unsavory aspects to society. Do we chronicle them, acknowledge them, ignore them, change them within our stories to negate their impact upon a reader who may be particularly vulnerable or scarred by something they may read? Do we attach a warning inside the cover that there may be scenes of particular brutality or questionable ethics in the following pages?
...or do we simply let the work speak the words and support the reader if they find something objectionable within?
I fully expect many readers to be downright offended by some of the content in my book. It's a story of people pushed beyond their psychological limits in a fight for self preservation. What would you be capable of doing to save your own life or sanity?
So there I was, trying to determine if I needed to pull back and edit some of the character qualities and scenes to make it less shocking. In the end I did compromise and altered a few paragraphs to make it a bit less paltry. In my own opinion it went a bit far. Did I do it because of outside pressure from the world that we currently live in? Not really. In this particular instance I edited the character/scenes because I thought it would distract the reader and draw too much attention to this one aspect/scene and put the focus on the wrong part of the story.
In another scene I faced a similar quandary. This time I let it be. I know the scene is going to get me some negative feedback but I feel it is integral to the tale that I am telling. So it is going to stay there. If someone reads it then tells me off and calls me a monster for writing that then I will completely understand the offended party and support them.
It's a complicated world to navigate for an artist. Obviously, there is no way to please absolutely everyone and someone is always going to hate our art. What do we owe more to society through our art? Do we owe it an effort toward improving cultural issues through our work by setting positive examples or do we owe it to society to be brutally honest about a subject and let the reader be appalled by it? Is it a hill that you, as an artist, are willing to die upon for your creation?
I have decided to let my art speak for itself and not water it down for a contemporary audience. Will people read my work and get a poor impression of who I am, as a person, from the words that I put down on paper? Probably. I believe, however, that my stories shouldn't be compromised by not wanting to push the reader far from their comfort zone. I will gladly fall on that sword if it is for an element within my story that I feel is necessary to the tale unfolding. Just know that if you hate my work I completely understand and support you for feeling offended by it.
Before I go any further I must preface this little conundrum with my perspective on social issues within our society. Yes, there are a lot of terrible things out there and we all bear a responsibility to improve the world around us.
...but where do we draw the line with art?
There are a lot of unsavory aspects to society. Do we chronicle them, acknowledge them, ignore them, change them within our stories to negate their impact upon a reader who may be particularly vulnerable or scarred by something they may read? Do we attach a warning inside the cover that there may be scenes of particular brutality or questionable ethics in the following pages?
...or do we simply let the work speak the words and support the reader if they find something objectionable within?
I fully expect many readers to be downright offended by some of the content in my book. It's a story of people pushed beyond their psychological limits in a fight for self preservation. What would you be capable of doing to save your own life or sanity?
So there I was, trying to determine if I needed to pull back and edit some of the character qualities and scenes to make it less shocking. In the end I did compromise and altered a few paragraphs to make it a bit less paltry. In my own opinion it went a bit far. Did I do it because of outside pressure from the world that we currently live in? Not really. In this particular instance I edited the character/scenes because I thought it would distract the reader and draw too much attention to this one aspect/scene and put the focus on the wrong part of the story.
In another scene I faced a similar quandary. This time I let it be. I know the scene is going to get me some negative feedback but I feel it is integral to the tale that I am telling. So it is going to stay there. If someone reads it then tells me off and calls me a monster for writing that then I will completely understand the offended party and support them.
It's a complicated world to navigate for an artist. Obviously, there is no way to please absolutely everyone and someone is always going to hate our art. What do we owe more to society through our art? Do we owe it an effort toward improving cultural issues through our work by setting positive examples or do we owe it to society to be brutally honest about a subject and let the reader be appalled by it? Is it a hill that you, as an artist, are willing to die upon for your creation?
I have decided to let my art speak for itself and not water it down for a contemporary audience. Will people read my work and get a poor impression of who I am, as a person, from the words that I put down on paper? Probably. I believe, however, that my stories shouldn't be compromised by not wanting to push the reader far from their comfort zone. I will gladly fall on that sword if it is for an element within my story that I feel is necessary to the tale unfolding. Just know that if you hate my work I completely understand and support you for feeling offended by it.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
An Echo From the Past: A Tribute to a Little Voice Forgotten
There's a moment in Morbid Fascinations where David discovers a wood board with a child's scribbles on the backside of it. This is one of the experiences I had in the real life house that the story is inspired by. In the book it is part of a creepy discovery while my main character is inspecting a suspicious noise from upstairs. The real story is a bit more mundane.
In the winter of 2004-2005 I was awaiting the birth of my first child and converting a small bedroom in the upstairs of the house into a nursery. There were built in drawers and a cubby hole that had previously had a television sitting in it. It was a recessed shelf sitting about 32" off the floor. I was preparing to paint this small alcove and lifted the television to move it to another room. There was a piece of loose, thin wood stuck to the bottom of the appliance and I wasn't even aware that it came loose until it fell on my foot while I was walking between rooms. After I set the television in the other upstairs bedroom I came back and picked up the board. One side was painted in this sad, pale mint green color generally reserved for a great grandmother's living room walls. On the back side of it were a bunch of doodles in pencil. There were quirky little poems and random phrases scrawled on the board but one little phrase from the author stood out; "Nixon Was Here."
At first I thought it may have been a joke from someone regarding our nation's rather infamous presidential history. As I painted I inspected more boards and drawers and discovered more doodles and images on the undersides of many things. Some little hands had been bored. Many of the pictures were of the yard and people playing. They were fairly typical except that they were all drawn from the perspective of someone in the house looking out. I figured it was probably a child who had been bored on a rainy day or two or ten and decided to pass the time by being a bit mischievous while left unsupervised.
Time passed and it wasn't until a couple of years later, in the summer of 2007 when my toddler and I would go for walks through the shady lanes of the cemetery across the way that I stumbled upon something a bit more interesting. I had limited information about the history of the house but I knew last names of some of the families that had lived there over the years. I stumbled across a headstone in the cemetery with the family name on it. While my two year old spun around in circles with a dandelion I looked over the family names. One of the stones belonged to an 11 year old child named Nixon. I stood there, looking down at this stone and the dots all connected. Most likely he was ill and didn't go outside a lot. He passed the time by watching his family out in the yard from his bedroom window. The view was his escape and he chronicled his little fantasies of playing in the backyard with them on what may have been the only available surfaces. He hid them on the undersides of boards to avoid getting in trouble.
Nixon is a character in Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett. He is a lonely, frightened soul desperately seeking escape from the cruelty of his world. It is a small tribute to a little boy that I wish I could have known in life. His quiet, brief time in this world forgotten by all nearly a century later can finally have a fraction of his own tale told.
In the winter of 2004-2005 I was awaiting the birth of my first child and converting a small bedroom in the upstairs of the house into a nursery. There were built in drawers and a cubby hole that had previously had a television sitting in it. It was a recessed shelf sitting about 32" off the floor. I was preparing to paint this small alcove and lifted the television to move it to another room. There was a piece of loose, thin wood stuck to the bottom of the appliance and I wasn't even aware that it came loose until it fell on my foot while I was walking between rooms. After I set the television in the other upstairs bedroom I came back and picked up the board. One side was painted in this sad, pale mint green color generally reserved for a great grandmother's living room walls. On the back side of it were a bunch of doodles in pencil. There were quirky little poems and random phrases scrawled on the board but one little phrase from the author stood out; "Nixon Was Here."
At first I thought it may have been a joke from someone regarding our nation's rather infamous presidential history. As I painted I inspected more boards and drawers and discovered more doodles and images on the undersides of many things. Some little hands had been bored. Many of the pictures were of the yard and people playing. They were fairly typical except that they were all drawn from the perspective of someone in the house looking out. I figured it was probably a child who had been bored on a rainy day or two or ten and decided to pass the time by being a bit mischievous while left unsupervised.
Time passed and it wasn't until a couple of years later, in the summer of 2007 when my toddler and I would go for walks through the shady lanes of the cemetery across the way that I stumbled upon something a bit more interesting. I had limited information about the history of the house but I knew last names of some of the families that had lived there over the years. I stumbled across a headstone in the cemetery with the family name on it. While my two year old spun around in circles with a dandelion I looked over the family names. One of the stones belonged to an 11 year old child named Nixon. I stood there, looking down at this stone and the dots all connected. Most likely he was ill and didn't go outside a lot. He passed the time by watching his family out in the yard from his bedroom window. The view was his escape and he chronicled his little fantasies of playing in the backyard with them on what may have been the only available surfaces. He hid them on the undersides of boards to avoid getting in trouble.
Nixon is a character in Morbid Fascinations of David Bennett. He is a lonely, frightened soul desperately seeking escape from the cruelty of his world. It is a small tribute to a little boy that I wish I could have known in life. His quiet, brief time in this world forgotten by all nearly a century later can finally have a fraction of his own tale told.
Friday, October 4, 2019
The Phases of Self Editing
About four days after I typed the last words in draft 2 I decided to get my MS back out and give it a run through to edit for punctuation and grammar. At first it felt like an intimidating mountain to ascend but once I put myself in the mind space for it I was pleasantly surprised at how doable it was.
For me, the key is to take it in small chunks. A couple of times along my editing journey I have tried to push myself to look at more pages than what I really should have. Not only did this bog me down and wear my brain out, but I later caught myself having missed a couple of glaring errors. So, for me, I take it about five pages at a time and repeat the process a few times per day.
Everyone is different and some people definitely have more ability to focus for longer periods than I do.
As I have been editing, I did notice that I have experienced different phases, in relation to how I view my own writing abilities.
While editing;
pages 1-50: "Hmm. You know what? I'm not bad. Wow, I can't believe I wrote some of this. It's pretty good!
pages 51-75: "Okay, it's still decent but feels a little flat. Let's just punch it up a bit...and...we're good!"
pages 76-100: *sigh* "Alright, I really should have re-read some of this. HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GOING TO USE THE WORD 'AND', DUDE?!?"
pages 101-130: "Are you kidding me?!? A monkey could crap on a typewriter and make more sense than this garbled crap!!! Did a cat walk across the keyboard while you went to get a snack? Seriously, a 3rd grader could do better!" *throws Chromebook out the window.*
For me, the key is to take it in small chunks. A couple of times along my editing journey I have tried to push myself to look at more pages than what I really should have. Not only did this bog me down and wear my brain out, but I later caught myself having missed a couple of glaring errors. So, for me, I take it about five pages at a time and repeat the process a few times per day.
Everyone is different and some people definitely have more ability to focus for longer periods than I do.
As I have been editing, I did notice that I have experienced different phases, in relation to how I view my own writing abilities.
While editing;
pages 1-50: "Hmm. You know what? I'm not bad. Wow, I can't believe I wrote some of this. It's pretty good!
pages 51-75: "Okay, it's still decent but feels a little flat. Let's just punch it up a bit...and...we're good!"
pages 76-100: *sigh* "Alright, I really should have re-read some of this. HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GOING TO USE THE WORD 'AND', DUDE?!?"
pages 101-130: "Are you kidding me?!? A monkey could crap on a typewriter and make more sense than this garbled crap!!! Did a cat walk across the keyboard while you went to get a snack? Seriously, a 3rd grader could do better!" *throws Chromebook out the window.*
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)