Kalends of January
Booksquare has a discussion about whether bloggers are superproductive people. Hmm. Frank Wilson announced he’s going dark in order to do things like write articles, make a living. The conversation was triggered by the return of Mad Max on Bookangst 101 who confessed to being Dan Conaway editing Sara Gran’s novel Dope. I always assumed that bloggers did other things when not blogging, but then I always wondered what Rocky and Bullwinkle did on their day off. Maybe they blog.
Blogging is a profession for some, a new profession to be sure. I think most bloggers, though, are more like me. I started blogging at Collected Miscellany reviewing books. Why? I wanted to re-learn short form writing. That’s how we all start writing. One of my early novels, more of a novella, imagined a world controlled by the New York Transit Authority. Step lively and watch the closing doors was the nation’s slogan. That advice is still valid. After writing book length material for a long time I enjoyed the short stuff, write it, rewrite it, post it. A wind sprint. I never thought of blogging as a substitute for doing what I really want to do.
Since December I’ve been working on a historical novel, not in the research phase, not in the drafting phase but in the finishing stage. My first draft was a kind of narrative outline, 350 pages of ideas, some of which made the cut, some didn’t. I like the ending so this draft is easier because I’m writing to that ending. Most of my blog entries during this period of intense focus have nothing to do with writing a novel, yet they have something to do with my process. What that something might be is a mystery, but if you’re batting .400 in April you don’t want to over analyze because as Old Blue Eyes once said, you’ll get shot down in May.
January 27th, 2006 at 9:22 am
I think a much more thought-provoking slogan would be one from the London Tube: “Mind the Gap.” I endeavor to apply this to every aspect of my daily life.
Writing something other than one’s novel is a good idea–non-fiction and rants use different muscles. And they are muscles that, if left minus an outlet, will often try to muscle into your fiction, where they are not quite so welcome. (I note that Romans have invaded the world of the Earl. That’s fine. But if the Earl starts invading your Roman novel, you should be concerned.)
January 27th, 2006 at 11:39 am
Where does Frank say he is going dark?