Less is More

When it comes to writing, I think less really is more.

In the case of editing a story, I think trying to limit the length results in a better story. It forces me to cut out scenes, dialog, etc. that are superfluous in favor of those that are absolutely necessary. The scenes that are left end up getting picked over to make them more efficient.

The result is a story without a lot of filler. It gets to the point quickly and takes less time for my readers (both of them) to get through.

I've heard this sort of thing from a couple of my favorite authors. Roger Zelazny and Larry Niven both had several short stories that they turned into novellas or novels – in a couple of these cases I recall reading that they preferred the short story because it was "tighter" or that it tried to communicate fewer ideas.

I have to say that as a reader, I agree with them.

BYBS: Writing

Writing, particularly fiction writing, allows me to explore ideas and concepts that I'll never be able to realize in real life. Even relatively simple ones like RPGs where I've wanted to run a particular campaign and I'm just too lazy to get the people together for it.

Writing requires a lot less background work. There's no illustration, ideas don't have to be as fleshed out, etc. No "herd of cats" I have to corral in order to run the event.

Characters are a bit of a problem, and dialog can be problematic as well. But at least everything I need is right on hand. And finally getting my butt to actually sit down in the chair and write is one of the hardest parts.

What's really nice is that a lot of times, writing something out cracks me up. What can I say? I'm easily pleased. That anybody else enjoys what I write is a bonus :-)

Why Write About StarWars?

StarWars remains one of my guilty pleasures. Writing about it is like going out the back door to smoke...or at least it would be if I smoked...but you get the idea. The thing is, if I start with the assumption that what I'm writing is crap, I can actually write. When I start out by trying to make something good I run into writer's roadblock similar to the blockades one might encountered during the manhunt for a serial killer. I find the StarWars universe to be so silly, even by its own standards, that anything I could do is peanuts by comparison. What's more, there has been so much bad stuff written by fans over the years that, no matter how bad my writing is, I can probably point to someone who is actually worse. That someone could be worse than me was a great comfort when I started. This combination of things made writing the story much easier to write than it would have otherwise been; and what's more I actually wrote something. I harp on that point because I've encountered a lot of people who haven't. Not a damn thing. When I ask them what they want to write, they say a novel. I look at them and think: "but for the grace of StarWars there go I."

Elements of Writing Style

Some have asked me: "Whatever: how do you write?" I answer: "Poorly." Actually to date, no one has asked me this question. That, however, is no reason to not create a pointless blog entry about this very topic. First of all, I set out with the goal of creating crap. Many people say that this shows in how I write. Even if I have not asked them first. At any rate, when I start from this point, I have a much easier time actually producing something. Long ago, in a previous life, I wanted to be a writer. Like many people who want to write, I didn't. Instead I would pace, or watch TV, or do anything that did not involve actually writing. The reason for this was that I wanted everything to be perfect, because it mattered to me. When I start with a silly topic, however, the emotional investment is much smaller. Hence I write about StarWars and other such things. The second important thing is make sure the check clears before taking on a project. Actually that applies to other things, but could apply to writing as well. The second important thing (honest) is that I try and write something every day. Even if I only write one lousy sentence, it keeps the rhythm going. One of my favorite authors, Terry Pratchett, pointed out that, if you don't write any thing, then it is much harder to edit. I also noted that Stephen King and Mr. Pratchett come from journalistic backgrounds where writing equals food. Sometimes it seems that these sorts of people take a somewhat callous view towards their work, but I think, on the whole, that what they say makes a lot of sense. As yet another writer, Theodore Sturgeon said, "90% of everything is crap." I personally am aiming for closer to 95% but the principal is the same. If I churn out 19 pages of crap, then that means I get to the one page that is actually good. Or at least that's the theory. The third important thing is to write something that I feel passionate about. Or at least that I think would be fun. That way, it seems much easier to churn out the stuff once I get my second wind. I know that this is in direct contrast to my first point, but hey, this is a blog entry. The final and most important point is to use a spell checker. One of my teachers said that my spelling was disquieting and that he thought it would continue to "haunt me." Well, in your face punk! Erm…sorry. What I was trying to say was that Word does a much better job than I ever will when it comes to spelling. It even points out grammar problems correctly, at least some of the time. Of course, spelling checkers have their own limitations:

Eye have a spelling checker. It came with my pea sea. It plane lee marks four my revue Miss steaks aye can knot sea.

So to recap: • I don't take my writing seriously. • I try to write every day. • I try to write about something I enjoy or feel strongly about. • I use a spelling checker. • I avoid gnomes.

Ummm…A Short Story?

Yes, lame, isn't it?

Well, for quite some time™ I have wanted to post some of my writing drivel. As I commonly do with anything, I put it off.

For no discernable reason, I decided today to actually do something about it.

What I really wanted to do was start posting the second installment of the DeathTalker stories, but I realized that, as incomprehensible as it was, it would be much harder to understand if I started with Part 2. So here's part 1.

Assuming anyone actually reads this dog and wants to send spelling corrections, grammar fixes, etc. please direct them to what0607@yahoo.com. If you want to make general comments, feel free to do so. I reserve the right to whine, mutter and delete comments that I find too accurate (depressing).

If this story is received well (HA) I have a few others knocking around on my hard drive I can also post. We'll see.

For those that read my BYBS stuff (hi mom!), you may have noticed that I have not posted in a while. Not sure if I'm going to continue with BYBS: maybe all the bile and negativity is just risen to the level where I cannot think of anything positive to write about. Maybe I have writer's block, who knows?

At any rate, have fun reading it and avoid gnomes.

-W