Wow, the last post I made on this old blog was 2023? So much has happened since then.
I’ve been writing most of my articles and posts over on my website, Slowgoer.com which I created in 2023. So I haven’t been around Blogger much at all. However, reading through some of my old Blogger posts has sparked a real sense of nostalgia, and I figured I’d make an update here.
Another thing I noticed while reading through some of my old posts is just how idealistic I was from the get go. Not that this has changed. But I find myself being a lot more open minded than back then. I’m able to see a lot of perspectives, and can’t be bothered to fight and argue over which is the best perspective. To me it’s all mind chatter, essentially. Although, that is exactly what writing is: jotting down mind chatter.
What I love about writing is that it’s the most humble way to be pompous. By that, I mean that anyone who shouts their viewpoints into the world is being pompous, whether they like it or not. But writing is the most humble way, as opposed to standing on the corner with a bible in one hand and a bullhorn in the other. With writing you can print your words, hit the publish button, and people can come to read them or not—it’s up to them.
You write your book, publish, move on to your next book. The previous one may end up on a bookshelf in a library. Someone can peruse the library shelves, spot your book, pick it up, thumb through it, and either check it out or put it back. It does not matter in the least. That is why writing is the most humble way to be pompous.
I’m lucky to have a job that helps deliver such a positive information source.
But as far as my own projects go, I’m writing my first time travel story. I’ve always wanted to write a time travel story. In fact, I would really love to write a ‘stuck in a time loop’ story, since my favorite film of all time is Groundhog Day. But this story is just a time travel story, which will have to do. I can’t say a thing about it though, but will share once it’s published in one of the literary journals.
Speaking of which, I got to hang out with and listen to some of the greatest writers and publishers working today down at Worldcon in Seattle this last August. And one of the publishers/editors I spent time around was Clarkesworld founder and editor, Neil Clarke. I’ve been a subscriber to Clarkesworld for a while now. It’s a fantastic science fiction literary magazine, and Neil won the Hugo Award for Best Editor (short form) this year. He’s probably the biggest supporter of short science fiction and fantasy around, and is one of the reasons I’ll be submitting my work to Clarkesworld.
I’m currently in the writers’ program at Western Washington University. I’m not leaving filmmaking entirely. But I’ve found you get a lot more control over your work as a fiction writer working in short stories and novels, rather than selling a script to Hollywood studios where they will tear the arms and legs off your baby against the author’s protests.
But what I love about Western is that all my professors are published authors. I get good guidance and plenty of time to focus on revisions. Not to mention directed study, where professors leave me be and just check in with me now and again while I focus on my long-form work, a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel being sent out for publication in 2027.
I met and got to thank George R.R. Martin down in the Seattle convention. He was kind enough to sign my new copy of A Game of Thrones. What he was able to achieve in the series is extraordinary and seemingly miraculous, in my view—particularly after having spent years learning the craft and understanding the nuts and bolts of the mechanics under the hood of good narrative storytelling. I’m really glad I got to tell him thank you for creating such cool stories. He’s a humble and likable guy who reminds me of a wizard—particularly Radagast from The Hobbit movies.
My research for the time travel story has been extensive and, to be frank, emotional. I’ve watched a ton of interviews and criminal interrogations, as well as victims’ family statements and such. But it’s all part of the deal. Truthfully, my heart has always been wide open, and I’ve walked the Earth as an exposed nerve, all the better to express and hopefully affect others. That is, after all, why we do this.
But I was thinking yesterday about the intentions of an artist who focuses on a particular medium as a career. What I’ve come to is that the artist has been impacted by the art of another, at one point in time, and they are simply doing art in order to give back to the next batch of human beings so that they too can be impacted by that style of art. Essentially, it’s all about giving and gratitude. I’m so grateful for the experiences that great films and literature have given me. And it’s an honor to give back by creating wonderful experiences for others.
With fiction, the key is to rewrite draft after draft. Each draft has its focus: shaping dialogue in one, description in another…pacing in one, theme in another. The list goes on, but in my opinion a truly great piece of work has gone through at least five revisions, and perhaps as many as thirty. There is no greater joy than being a murderer of darlings. It is so fun to take the dagger out of the scabbard and hack away at unnecessary bits in order to whittle the block of wood into a sculpture.
My path is to find writerly independence economically. As much as I love helping other people get their projects out there, I’d prefer to focus full-time on my stories. Thankfully, I’m frugal and able to live on next to nothing. Though, I hope to find a greater form of economic success, as does any writer.
Robert Redford passed away this last week, and it truly is a great loss. He has always been somebody that I admire greatly. Just a truly solid and good gentleman. His work in bringing about Sundance has helped countless indie filmmakers get exposure and find distribution outside of the closed and gate-kept Hollywood system. He was always very down to earth, as evidenced in this 1976 interview with Melvyn Bragg for the BBC.
The world lost a good one. But we have decades of his works to enjoy always. I look forward to rewatching All The President’s Men, Brubaker, and Three Days Of The Condor again this week. And the 1992 film Sneakers is in my top 20 films of all time (a personal opinion collection). Just want to say thank you so much, Mr. Redford. I’ll always appreciate you.
I’m currently reading a marvelous and epic science fiction novel by Adrian Tchaikovsky called Children of Time. Highly recommend it.
I’ll end this by sending out my best wishes for all. May we move through challenges and challenging times in support of each other. It may sound naive, but I feel that humanity is a wonderful species with the utmost potential for goodness and greatness. And nothing I’ve seen, even the most horrible of horrors, has dissuaded me from believing this.
