learning » jentropy

I’m delving deeper into the writer’s life, learning more about the evolving world of online fiction. I’m no longer trying to restrain myself by holding onto my work for editing and revisions. With all the upheaval in the publishing industry, I see no wisdom in starting this adventure using traditional processes designed for a system that is quickly becoming obsolete. I was fighting my natural writing tendencies, shaped by years of blogging. Instead, I will continue to work with what moves me and hope something I do will fit in with new publishing models.

It’s a curious thing to be straddling these two fields; education and writing. Both are full of creative, intelligent, passionate people, but the systems, processes and products are vastly different. Even when they use the same tools, the practices differ. My colleagues in education spend much of their time writing and connecting through social media. Most of these people do this as part of their salaried employment, with a few consultants and contractors. My new friends in the writing world spend a similar amount of time writing and connecting, but many are unpaid for these efforts, instead, earning a living performing other work.

In the world of edublogging, it’s considered uncouth to sell products or run ads on a blog. In the fiction-writing world, it’s no crime to try to make a buck off your writing. In education, I supported the promotion of open content, free and open source tools and open teaching. However, I felt a bit like a trophy wife at a corporate cocktail party. I could talk about it without making a fool of myself, but here I sit with a MacBook Pro and have no idea how to switch to Linux, or use Open Office. On my education blog, I published everything using Creative Commons licensing, but new inquiry into the meaning of taking upon that license (including questions raised by Dave Cormier) has me reconsidering my copyright options.

This week I listed this blog with the Amazon Kindle marketplace. I received instant pushback from the education community for participating in something with such a restrictive format. However, to the writing community, my actions were considered very open, and some wondered why I would offer my work openly on my blog without charge in the first place. My thoughts about the Kindle project are that my blog is similar to buying chapstick or batteries at the grocery checkout counter. People are buying eReaders and I want my work available to them, in whatever format I can accommodate. I also see it as an opportunity to publicize my work in an environment with a strong participatory media community. I am looking into things like Smashwords, Mobipocket, and FictionBook, all of which will take time to explore and learn.

I have also explored some new options, including listing my blog with the Web Fiction Guide (online novels, reviews). I submitted a few of my flash fiction stories to contests, and plan to participate in the Editor Unleashed Flash Fiction Contest. Amidst all these fun new things, I’m completely neglecting the blogging activities I already know; reading and commenting on other blogs, and keeping a blogroll on my site. It will take a while to balance all this and find time to write and do the work that pays the bills. I’m glad I’m meeting new people and still connecting with old friends on my adventure!

Learning as I Go

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May 092009

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes with this Grievous project. The bones of the story were in my head when I first began writing, but the complexities were not fully mapped. With my last two parts of the story, I realized I could not go much further without starting to document what’s going on that isn’t in the writing. Yesterday I started a timeline including all the events I’ve written about that refer to a period of time in the characters’ lives. I am up to more than 36 items I will need to keep track of as I write. I am going to start filling in other events that have yet to be mentioned in the story.

I have a few characters already with interesting personality traits that may affect their decisions. I need to start documenting these separately so I don’t make them do things against their ‘will.’ Maia exists in my head as a person and I feel I know her well. But she is a combination of people I’ve met, or stories I’ve heard and I feel I need to find a way to keep track of her feelings and philosophies in a separate place. I’m not sure if there is a technology solution for this. I like the idea of having these things in a place that can be easily searched. Thus far, I have been reading the entire story before I write each time!

The story takes the proportions of a novel, in my mind. I’m stripping back words and details to keep the posts short and ‘bloggable.’ However, I do still have those thoughts about writing a novel. I’ve heard many first novels are more for practice, and rarely get published. So, is this my first novel? Am I writing it in this public space so I can get feedback to write something better? I have no goals. I didn’t plan to start writing like this, it just hit me. It gives me pleasure, and pleases a few who give me feedback, and that carries me. But should I be more ambitious? I created a new Twitter account for my writing, recognizing that I wasn’t engaging with readers and writers as much as I would like using my other account. I’m also ready to accept that injenuity and jentropy are two very different brands and need their own digital identity.

One interesting thing I’m realizing, is that I don’t have the opportunity to do a full edit and revision like you would with a book. I’m still writing hastily and pushing ‘publish,’ like I did when I was blogging. I’m not spending time to re-read, proof and edit. What this means, is that I have to keep the full story, past and future in my head. I can’t really make too many changes to the general plot, because people have already read some of it. I find this interesting and it makes me wonder about the future of novel writing. Is this an opportunity for the reader to be more involved? I don’t think I would sacrifice anything to please a reader, but I like the idea of feeding a bit on reader response.

I still think the story is yours. I try to leave much to the imagination, so each reader can find their own meaning and explore how the story makes them feel. I don’t really want to add more detail and description, because I want you to be able to discover it on your own. So I have this ‘story behind the story,’ the timeline and character descriptions, and I think each reader would have their own ‘story behind the story.’ The unwritten piece, the story in your head, the way you feel, your hopes and dreams, disappointments and fears about the characters, IS the story. You are writing it for me. I only wish I could read them all!

Learning the Process

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Apr 252009

This post ought to be a celebration of all I’m learning about writing, but I’m finding I keep spinning my wheels, doing the same things with each piece I write. Maybe I need concrete goals and objectives. I wanted to learn to be more patient, taking time over my words, revising and editing, but it isn’t happening. I’m writing these stories using the same process I did with my ed tech blog. I grab an hour as soon as I get the chance, and cram as much writing in as I can. I don’t take time to proofread, revise and edit as I should.

The thing that bothers me most, is my urge to click that ‘publish’ button and release my words. I know this comes from years of sharing all my thoughts online, and I haven’t decided whether it’s even something that can be judged as positive or negative. One side of me feels we’re in a different place now with writing, and there’s nothing wrong with releasing first drafts. Another part of me feels I’m cheating readers, or at least mucking with writing conventions, breaking rules, offending tradition.

Yesterday I was asked why I release the work with CC licensing. My initial thought is that I really don’t know any better. This is how I’ve been writing, and I don’t know anything other than sharing. In my mind, these words are just like any of my instructional pieces or presentations. They are just my organization of words, not encapsulated in my own paragraphs, but part of the middle of something bigger. My stories have no beginning and end. There are threads I will never complete. I have no intention of detailing the physical descriptions of the characters. I hope these things are in your mind.

I write things I like to read. When I’m reading a book that goes into a detailed description of a person, I get stuck trying to imagine as the author intended. With my writing, I hope the characters can live in your imagination. With that, I suppose I also hope someone out there has other pieces of the stories. Maybe they will be a spark for others to write the details, or to rewrite using a local setting, or more familiar challenge. I see my writing as more of a framework for a daydream.

Because I haven’t studied writing, I also don’t know about where my stories belong. I don’t know if there’s a genre for this, or who the reading audience may be. Yesterday someone referenced Stream of Consciousness. I was unfamiliar with the term, but now plan to learn more about it and see if it is something that will help inform my future writing. I’ve been working in a field where I have become used to learning with colleagues and downplaying the role of the ‘expert’ in the learning process. I’ve attempted to replicate that learning in the field of writing, but haven’t found the online opportunities as engaging as those in educational technology. So I wonder, how much am I going to learn and improve on my own? Will I need to consult experts or seek further formal education?

For now, I’m writing to please myself. The joy I get from playing with words has a balancing effect on the rest of my life. I’m fortunate that I don’t have to do this for a living, because I don’t know if I would enjoy it as much. I am still doing contract work in higher education, and haven’t really thought of building a career around creative writing. In fact, though I can certainly picture myself writing a full-length novel, I can’t imagine keeping it to myself until publication! If you’ve read this far, thank you for sticking with me. I do appreciate all the feedback I get from readers, many of whom are experts in the field. Thank you for following my adventure!

Up to Some Good

Learning as I Go

Learning the Process

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