The Perfection Problem: Part 1, Naming It

I'm about half of the way through The Graveyard Book right now, and I keep thinking about the reading Neil did. I'm also beginning to buckle down on my initial thesis revisions. I like having the two in my mind at the same time.

I'm a huge Neil Gaiman fan, and I've been asking myself why. The thing is, it's not really because of how elegantly he writes. Let's face it, he doesn't write all that elegantly at all. Neil's prose is pretty simple and straight forward. On the way back, Deb and I were talking about how bad he'd get dinged in a critique group for his frequent use of "was." But, that's the thing, sometimes "was" is the right word, passive tense or not.

In a critique group, we're so focused on trying to make things perfect that we sometimes work too hard on finding things to fix. There have been plenty of times when I've talked with someone about something that was not only published, but even acclaimed or award-winning, and we've talked about the fact that said author would have been criticized in a critique group for one thing or another in that piece.

"But, it's a prize winning author!" You say. "They've done it just fine." And you're absolutely right.

The critique group danger is always thinking there's something to fix. Don't get me wrong, there's often plenty to fix and many ways to make something stronger. But, as soon as we work too hard to make something "perfect" we start squeezing out the character of the thing we're writing/revising/critiquing.

Right now I recognize in my own writing this struggle for the perfect. I've wandered away from the land of the happy medium and into the land of "if it isn't perfect, it's not worth it." Time to make a figurative U-turn.

New Thesis Title

After the second push on thesis pages, and my change in direction, I realize that my initial title no longer fits. Thus, I'm faced with finding a new thesis title.

I don't like not having a title for the thesis. I'm in the process of playing around with some, making lists, trying to decide what I want to use as a focal point. I wonder, would it work to call it Falco Sparverius, or would that be all wrong? What about The 250 Year Molt? I almost feel like I'm coming full circle back to my very first ideas about the thesis, like I want the word "totem" to fit in the title somehow.

I'm taking it as a good sign that I've circled back around, maybe it means I was on the right track all along. Maybe I should look all the way back and see what my first thoughts on title were, maybe I've already named the thesis exactly right, but have just forgotten.

Neil Night

Deb and I made our way up to Boulder last night to see Neil. Way fun. You can tell he's very at home standing in front of a couple hundred people (which makes sense for as long as he's been doing book tours), and he's a great reader. You can see some of what we saw on Neil's blog. (Just imagine seeing it from the other side and farther away.)

We even got to see bits of Coraline, have Neil answer audience questions, and then we got a bonus of him reading us his new upcoming picture book. Nifty stuff.

And we both snagged autographed copies of The Graveyard Book, which tells you what I'm reading as soon as I get home today.

(Side note: It was especially interesting to go and see him right now, when I'm focusing on paying close attention to how writers do what they do. I never before noticed how often he uses metaphors/similes in his descriptions, for instance.)

Though I am quite tired today, thanks to the late night, I am very glad I went. Neil's as much fun in person as I had thought he might be. Besides, it's always nice to prove to oneself that:
1. That person you so look up to really is flesh and blood
2. Writers really can have fans
3. Not only that, but people will pay money, dress up in goth gear, and wait in line outside of a church just for the chance to see a writer

And, did I mention that I got an autographed copy of the book? He signed in purple ink.

Thesis: The Compilation

During my last meeting with Juan, I told him about having hit 22,000+ words in two weeks. He asked me if I felt like that and my earlier pages were about what I wanted, or if I planned to add more. I said I felt like I had enough.

As of two minutes ago, I've put everything together in the order it belongs in and cut out the stuff that I don't feel quite fits, and got it all together in one place.

106 pages of fiction. 30,247 words. I just may have a book, guys. Plenty of revisions ahead, no mistake about it, but it's all there. That makes me smile.

Feel the (Book) Burn.

In keeping with my writing study, I've made two trips to the library in the past few days. Now that the bet is over, I'm in high gear for productivity and have burned through a couple of short books.

I gave up on the Kim Edwards The Secrets of a Fire King when it proved to be too literary for my tastes (pretty, but little happens). The title story was probably my favorite, but I couldn't make it further than my half-way goal. Then I burned through a Batman comic by Frank Miller, also not my favorite (way too much stuff going on all at the same time, sorry Frank). Since I've heard lots about The Vagina Monologues that was next on my list. Eh. I get the political & feminist stuff behind it, but it was only okay. I opened a book about the Bell Witch, but made no progress at all because I didn't like the first paragraph. Then I remembered I had a half-read issue of Realms of Fantasy in the clutter on my couch, and that held my interest infinitely more than the others had. Nifty mag. However, with only a few stories per issue, I was soon needing more stuff to read.

Since one of my influences/supports for my thesis is Sherman Alexie (let's not forget that I named my dog after him), I decided it was time to re-read The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. I'm a couple stories in right now, and remembering why I like him so much (poetic language and stuff happens). Meanwhile, I stopped by the library again, picked up some new books, and flipped through Nocturnes, a book of Chris Faust photography. I'm debating whether I'm going to stay focused on the Alexie or hit my library books next (as library books have due dates and I own the Alexie). Either way, I'm doing lots of pages reading-wise, which nicely balances all the pages I just did writing-wise.

Back to Basics

One of the things about writing so many pages all in one go is that it makes it very clear to me what my writing does, and what it doesn't do. I'm talking mainly style here.

My writing style is pretty spare. In high school I was reading something and I kept getting fed up with all the exposition in the narrative, especially with regard to characters. It's that classic "show don't tell" idea, and the thing I was reading was all about telling. Then I read "Hills Like White Elephants" by Hemingway and with the two experiences together, I latched onto streamlined writing like nobody's business.

Now I find myself with a problem. My reaction in high school has influenced me ever since, and it also ultimately led to over-correction. So, I've come to the point where it's time to start swinging the pendulum back. While I can never imagine myself getting into really elaborate or expository prose, I can admit that I have a leaning to make my writing more skeletal than spare. I already know I'll need to go back over the pages from the bet to put some flesh on them, and to help that I'm turning to more reading.

One of the best places to look for help is examples, ergo that's what I'm doing.

Which leads me to this month's challenge. However long you've been writing, chances are it's been a while since you've really broken down the nuts and bolts of it and taken some time to closely analyze how other people's stories work. And I'm not talking in a critique group context, here. I'm talking published work which is presented to you as the best version of that novel/story/poem.

This month I challenge you to pick out a few pieces, maybe even focus on one of your favorite authors, and break them down. Look at the different parts of that writing. How do they fit together? How do they talk to each other? How is it that when you put them all together, you get something of publishable quality? Play around with it, a bit of mimicry is encouraged at this point. See what you can learn from it and take for your own repertoire.

September's Over

The challenge this month was a pick your own. I ended up going the competitive route with my bet with John. Boy howdy, talk about productivity.

Overall, this month has been all thesis, thesis, thesis. It's been interesting. The thesis has entailed some firsts for me. This is the first time I've ever written so many pages in so little time. The first time I've been so consumed by a writing project, and it's the first time I've done such a full and complete single project. It's been a while since I've had so many firsts in my writing. It's groovy.

September was good for me. How did yours go?