Goals

Like anything else in life, great leaps in writing can come from setting goals. Everybody does it differently. Maybe the goal is to write at least 2,000 words a day. Some want to write a certain number of short stories within a period of time to expand a portfolio and maybe come up with a collection. Perhaps it's something simple, yet complicated like writing a novel.

Regardless of the goals for writing, they're good to have. They bring the writer into a certain focus and direction. No goals mean no desires. No desires result in no words. When I made the decision to finally start writing a novel, all I wanted was to finish writing the damn thing. Now, years after completing the first draft, rewriting, and editing, I'm trying to get it published. That's the main goal for me at this moment. One can only hope.  

The Short Happy Life of the Novella

I think something has to be said about the novella, a form typically overlooked by readers and critics alike. There's a particular attitude that more is better. However, we all know that a sense of economy can be equally valuable if not greater. The novella is a form that I admire deeply. Following a fiction style that encourages succinctness, I find the form to be excellent. A few of my pieces of work are novellas and I plan to write more.

The novella should certainly be treated with more respect today. There are enough epic novels that waste extra pages that can be done away with easily. In fact, some of the most notable books are actually novellas. These include Of Mice and Men, The Old Man and the Sea, The Great Gatsby, Heart of Darkness, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and more. Does this not mean that the novella has as much merit as the novel?

The distinctiveness of a novella goes beyond word count. While it is part of the criteria, the novella is also about the scope of vision. A story that takes place in a day or perhaps a couple of hours is ideal for a short novel. It can help depict a slice of life that has more possibility beyond a short story without getting into more complicated plots and long progressions of time found in a novel.

Although it's uncertain if the novella will ever have a revival, I won't concern myself with that. I'll instead continue to enjoy the form and use it to write stories that I feel would work well with it.  

Violence, Language, and Sex

The three elements in the title of this post are commonly found in multiple forms of media. Some push for censorship and some are for complete free speech. I for one don't think anything should be suppressed due to certain people's opinions of obscenity. However, political debate is not the real subject here. I want to address the use of violence, language, and sex in literature as a means to tell stories.

With violence, images on film and TV can be lurid. Some violent content is present just for the sake of violence. It can be so graphic and unabashed that it seems unreal. I have a greater appreciation for depictions of violence that are not so blatant. This is why I think violence in literature has a completely different dynamic from the visual arts. Even if scenes are incredibly descriptive to give readers a clear sense of what is happening, it is still left to the individual imagination. Regardless of the justification or lack thereof regarding violence, it is still one aspect that makes us human and is something I continue to explore in my work.

Language is precious to certain people. Centuries of use and refinement give it a sense of prestige to some. Anything that "tarnishes" the language can be seen as contributing to the slow death of it. My view on the matter? Fuck it.

I swear quite often and I think using that in fiction makes stories and the people in them more real. This is the way many people talk. Granted, not every son of a bitch curses and talks shit to mother fuckers every other goddamn second like a bunch of cunts acting like total cock suckers. Then again, there are people like that. Perhaps they lack a diverse vocabulary and would rather use a more basic manner of speaking that others like them can understand. For me, swearing is a way to emphasize emotion or the significance of something.

"Man, I had to work a 12 hour day in 110 degree heat. I'm fucking tired."

My use of "foul" language is quite liberal. Although I respect people who prefer not to use it, that won't stop me from continuing.

Sex. It's all on our minds. It's on TV, in the movies, plastered on advertisements, and thrown in our faces on a daily basis to entice us. Like violence and language, it's something I feel comfortable writing about because it's another part that shapes the human condition. I don't write sex scenes like the ones in romance novels, nor do I write them like erotic fiction. My goal is to be honest and direct when it comes to sex. I don't want to completely romanticize it or focus solely on the physical to the point where it's just pornography.

To me, violence, language, and sex are elements that can be used in fiction to help drive it forward. It doesn't have to be so fabricated and overt. A writer should write it as it is, if that makes sense.
  

Music and Writing

Music often helps me to stay centered when writing. There's something about the rhythm it establishes. At times, the tone of the music will shape the tone of a scene. Some writers prefer a certain genre. This can include classical, jazz, new wave, rock, hip hop, heavy metal, or nothing at all. My personal favorite is post rock. For those who don't know what this is, the definition isn't quite clear. It can be described based on the elements of the music. Post rock is often considered a subcategory of indie and experimental. It also tends to be comprised of instrumentals with little to no lyrics. I prefer this because lyrics tend to distract me when writing. I've been regularly listening to post rock since college. Oftentimes, I'll think songs from the genre that would fit well with different scenes in my stories.

Some of my favorite post rock bands are Mono, Explosions in the Sky, This Will Destroy You, and Underground Cities. I often think of how awesome it would be to have one of these bands record the soundtrack for a movie based on my work. Explosions in the Sky actually did the majority of the music for the movie Friday Night Lights. There's something about post rock that makes it suitable for use in movies. It can be as beautiful as traditional orchestra pieces.  The following is one of my favorite songs.

I'm not sure if I could ever get tired of post rock. It has helped influence my work so much that I couldn't imagine not having it.   

Getting Published

It's the big goal for most of us writers. We dream of a time where all of the hours spent alone crafting and refining are finally recognized. There's the idea that as soon as the book gets published, a writer's career will be set. Unfortunately, it doesn't always happen that way, especially not these days. Hell, it was just as tough getting published back in the day. I don't care to go on a tangent, but I really do loathe big publishers. I see them as nothing more than elitists and businessmen who want to whore out writers instead of truly supporting their craft. It's all about the money and getting out a book series that sells and gets turned into movies. Gone are the days where books could change the very social structure of society thanks to big publishers who took chances and helped share them with the world.

When I saw this scene, I couldn't help but laugh while also having my dislike for big publishers reinforced.

 

Just to clear it up, I am an unpublished writer with a completed novel. I know I don't have a chance with big publishers because my work isn't commercial. I write for the sake of art, not money. 

Luckily, there is still hope in the literary world. The advances of technology have allowed many small publishers to sprout and release works that don't focus on the bottom line. I think these independent presses, boutique publishers, or whatever people care to call them are the new pioneers of literature. They take chances with work because that's what literature should be about. Such books probably won't cater to the general reader, but that's what makes such works special. They don't follow the mold. They go their own ways. 

I think most of us who focus on literary fiction can find plenty of support in these small publishers who hold literature in high regard, as it should be. Without them, many of us would be doomed to stay unpublished.