A Short Story Wants to Get Away From Me
Earlier this week, I started writing a short story entitled “The Girl Who Flew on a Whale” as part of my WISB Podcast project. The story, as my friend Adam Callaway remarked, is a whimsical fantasy for young readers (chapbook level). I’ve always wanted to write a story like this. They’re fun to read and the current venture has been fun to write. But one of the issues I’ve had is the tug in my mind to turn this short story into a much larger project. “The Girl Who Flew on a Whale” is about a young girl who lives in a semi-Victorian-era town on the continent of Traea (many centuries after the events of The World in the Satin Bag). Her mother wants to prune her for the aristocracy, while the little girl, affectionately called the Dreamer, wants nothing to do with that world — rather, as her name implies, she dreams of the legends and myths of her world, wondering and wishing some of them are true. The conflict is one that I’m sure has been seen many times before, but it is also a conflict that is close to my heart. I don’t have children, but know that when I have them, I’ll do everything I can to foster their creativity. Because children who have their dreams crushed are children who lose the very thing that makes the world grow: creativity and innovation. We need dreamers today more than we ever did before. “The Girl Who Flew on a Whale” is partly about that conflict, but I’ve set it in a fantasy world (with plenty of whimsy) to get the message across via an adventure. And that’s where the issues arise. The story is begging me to expand the narrative I have already started. It’s begging me to bring in swashbuckling pirates and strange creatures and wonderful magic and all sorts of silly and beautiful things. Many of these I’ll put into the story anyway, but the grand adventure my mind is trying to imagine won’t fit into a short story or novelette. I’m having to keep those things at bay while I write a more manageable tale (and one that I can actually read in a single sitting for the podcasted version I promised everyone). Something I’ve been thinking of doing is providing the short version and then expanding it into a proper chapbook. I know many writers have done things like this (writing novel versions of shorts they wrote a long time ago). But is it as common today as it was in the old days of SF/F? I can’t think of many contemporary examples. I bring all of this up because I’m curious about some things: How do you go about keeping a story under control? Or do you throw your hands up and give it what it wants? Do novel versions of short stories work for readers? Do you enjoy reading those kinds of stories? What do you think? ———————————————————– P.S.: I actually already have cover art for this story, which is amazing. My lady has been working on artwork for me (not because I asked, but because she’s freaking amazing). I’ll share such things later. Maybe I’ll even do a special illustrated edition of the short story. That would be cool, no? P.S.S.: The inspiration for “The Girl Who Flew on a Whale” came from the following image:
WISB Podcast: Chapter Fifteen (The Golden Path and Silhouettes)
The next chapter is finally up. “The Golden Path and Silhouettes” continues James’ journey to Arnur as he and his companions attempt to escape Luthien’s forces and survive the unexpected terrors of a world gone mad. Now they have to find the Golden Path, which will lead them safely to Arnur. Some things, however, aren’t easily found… Chapter Fourteen — Download (MP3) Thanks for listening. Please give WISB a review on iTunes! There’s an extended apology at the end of the episode (in case you’re wondering why it is so late). The short of it is: school (as expected), more surgery (unexpected), and…yeah. (Don’t forget to check out what I’ve done to sweeten the pot for anyone who donates to the project. Plenty of free things are available, from ebooks, paperbacks, random letters from me, and even a character written about you into the world of WISB. Please consider donating!) (All podcast chapters will be listed on the Podcast page.)
The Status — A Very Long Summer and the WISB Funding Update
Two things: 1. The Lizards and Financial Mumbo Jumbo The last couple weeks have contributed tremendously to my long history of garbage-ness. I had to have one of my lizards (Taj) put down, today marks the day when my other lizard is expected to go into surgery (Noodles), and so on. Emotionally, I’m in one of those “well, life kinda sucks, but at least I woke up today” moods. Such events also have other ramifications — namely, financial ones (my vet has been very kind to me and allowed me to defer payments on some things; they’ve also reduced the cost of some of the bills when they didn’t have to — but cremation services and the like have still put a strain on my financials). I’ve got about $5 until next Friday, which I hope will be a large paycheck, because I really don’t need any more small ones; the first was pitiful considering that most grad students have nothing to work with over the summer. I’ve never understood why the University of Florida pushes back the payment process by several weeks so that you don’t get paid properly until a month into your teaching job, followed by a month or so of left over payments that they might as well have made during the semester. It’s the most bizarre payment scheme imaginable, and it causes a lot of grad students a lot of stress, since their financial situation prior to arriving here didn’t exactly make the transition easy. We start poor, we stay poor, and re-orienting the bills doesn’t exactly change this cycle… In any case, that’s sort of where I’m at. I’m sitting here, in my apartment, hoping that when the phone rings I don’t end up with a “so, he passed away during surgery” call. And I’m worried about whether what I have in my cupboard can keep me fed, or if some strange charge will throw me in the negative on my bank account, and so on. This must be what real life feels like. I don’t like it. But I’ve learned a life lesson, which is one I won’t forget any time soon. I’ll be better prepared next year. 2. The Funding Project (The World in the Satin Bag and “the Status”) In other news, since I’m rambling a bit here, I’d like to let you all know that I will be making a video of myself doing embarrassing things, as per our public agreement for reaching my funding goal of $1,000. You can still donate to the project if you’d like; I will honor the original fundraising scheme I set up here, so any donations will still earn you free stuff. I intend to spend the next week practicing, because I want to be really good at the Truffle Shuffle and Peanut Butter Jelly Time before I record myself doing it. This means I have to watch The Goonies and stare at every rendition of PBJT available on YouTube over the next few days. I want to thank everyone who donated, even if you only gave me a few bucks. You helped me a lot during a difficult time and I appreciate that. I’ve got all sorts of other things in works, such as stories with characters based on folks who donated, and the editing process is still underway. Once I finish this next edit (and then one more major pass with a friend), I will get the ebook compiled and sent to everyone who donated $10 or more. My hope is to have all of these things done before my birthday (Oct. 6th), and at the very least, in the event that I get run over by a bus or aliens abduct me and put me behind, it will be finished before the year is out. If the project is delayed until the end of the year, I will make up for it by doing something more for you all (free fiction, another embarrassing video, or whatever you’d like). I don’t want it to be delayed that far out, but life has been giving me whatever the hell it wants at the moment, so it’s always possible. Anywho! Have a good one!
WISB Podcast: Chapter Fourteen (The End of the Beginning)
The chapter is late and I’m feeling like crap about it. Life is not being kind to me as of late, what with having to put one of my leopard geckos down, starting up school and teaching, and other similar issues. But it’s here and I’m going to get my crap together and put myself on a regular schedule. The fourteenth chapter finds James and his companions (Pea and Darl) at the far edges of Arlin City, inches from escaping. But escaping weights heavily upon James…and I’ll leave it at that so you’ll have something to look forward to! Chapter Fourteen — Download (MP3) Thanks for listening. Please give WISB a review on iTunes! (Don’t forget to check out what I’ve done to sweeten the pot for anyone who donates to the project. Plenty of free things are available, from ebooks, paperbacks, random letters from me, and even a character written about you into the world of WISB. Please consider donating!) (All podcast chapters will be listed on the Podcast page.)
The New Writing/Editing/Podcasting/Reviewing Agenda/Plan/Thing (Yeah)
The last few weeks have been nothing short of crazy. My sister spent two weeks (ish) in town, which was great because I’ve only seen her all of four hours in the last two years. Likewise, the school season started up again, putting me head first into a poetry/film course that (let’s face it) is way outside of my area of expertise (though I’ve been inspired to write some pretty nutty poetry as of late, which Adam Callaway has read and subsequently went nutty over — you can read more about that on my Google+ page). I’m also teaching a Survey in American Literature course, which is an amazing experience, but also a good deal of work. The result of all these events has been a pitiful output of writing-ness, which includes, in partial-list form, the following: Editing on WISB chapters are behind my proposed schedule WISB Podcast chapters, subsequently, are behind my proposed schedule WISB Podcast funding updates have yet to be announced (ANNOUNCEMENT: I made it!) All writing in general is at a complete standstill, with the exception of poetry (something I rarely do and never thought I would do in any significant form) Behind on my reading Behind on reviewing (I swear, Strange Horizons, a review is coming to you for Harbor by Lindqvist!) The articles I’m supposed to be working on for my academic career are way behind too Plenty of other things are behind too… This is unacceptable. Completely and utterly unacceptable. So, I’m going to do the following to resolve this: Limit my Internet usage timeIt should be easy to manage with my girlfriend going on vacation, which opens up my evenings; I can devote more time to catching up, while missing her terribly. Set blogging “time limits”I shouldn’t spend more than an hour doing blogging things, including things for The Skiffy and Fanty Show. This means I’ll have to get quick at writing my TV/movie reviews, rather than spending hours doing them. Set reviewing timeI need to write a review a week, or more. And I need to get better at writing reviews…time limits might help. Set reading timeBecause I need to read more. Set academic-stuff timeBecause I need to finish those articles! Make sure when I am studying, prepping lectures, and so on, that I am only doing thatWhy? Because when I do these things, I find myself doing lots of other things too, like wasting time wandering the Internet. I don’t know what these limits and what not are going to look like, but I think it’s safe to say that I will put a lot of extra time into editing to get caught up on WISB. I’m behind. I don’t like it. At all. So there you have it. That’s my mini manifesto thing.
WISB Podcast: Chapter Thirteen (Of the World Below)
After a short delay, the new episode is here. James and his companions are stuck in the dark world below the earth while Arlin City fights of Luthien’s forces. But the world below is not what it seems. Listen to find out more: Chapter Thirteen — Download (mp3) Thanks for listening. Please give WISB a review on iTunes! (Don’t forget to check out what I’ve done to sweeten the pot for anyone who donates to the project. So far, six people have donated. Plenty of free things are available, from ebooks, paperbacks, random letters from me, and even a character written about you into the world of WISB. Please consider donating!) (All podcast chapters will be listed on the Podcast page.) P.S.: In case you missed it, I’ve agreed to do two very embarrassing things on camera if I meet my funding goal. Find out what they are here and support this podcast!