WHAT TO DO WHILE WAITING ON THE MUSE

OR

ANYBODY SEEN MY DATE?

Like so many other writers, I'm in the middle of something. Right now it's rewriting the novel I'm working on. The process is only different in the amount of freedom it entails. Writing the thing was a seat of the pants dream. Sit down and give full reign to the work itself. Just follow it where it wants to go and don't ask a lot of questions.

I set off with easy goals of a couple of pages a day, but before I knew it I was banging away a chapter per session. Ninety-one thousand words later - Voila, a first draft. Of course, a first draft is just that, a draft, a very detailed (In some places over-detailed) outline of an actual book. You know, that finely polished bit of literary art that someone besides your mother is willing to part with the requisite cost of a copy to own.

The fun's over. The work begins - all the way back at those fateful first words: CHAPTER ONE. This is where so many people end up flummoxed. After all, the stories done, the spark of creation is gone. Metaphorically, the child has been born. Just like child birth, it takes a lot of work after that point to take this squalling, red faced, wrinkled kind of almost being and raise it to admirable adulthood.

But where to start when the magic's over? Take small bites when eating an elephant!. Begin at the beginning by finding all those adjectives and adverbs. Are they necessary? Stephen King suggests you go after words ending in 'ly' with ruthlessness. Can you find other ways to begin a sentence than with the ubiquitous 'The'? Does every sentence involving a particular character need to start with the character's name or the gender correct pronoun?

'THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE', 'THE ELEMENTS OF GRAMMAR', and 'THE ELEMENTS OF EDITING, plus an unabridged dictionary and thesaurus should be within arms reach. I'd also suggest 'REVISION AND SELF-EDITING FOR PUBLICATION'. Yes, I know that's what you think an editor is for but a good one will cost you. Why not get as much of the work done before you have to start dragging out your wallet? Not to mention, if you're pursuing the traditional route of trying to entice an agent into taking you on, the more polished the product you deliver to them, the higher your credibility and the easier their job is when it comes to interesting publishers in your work.

Too often, neophytes get it into their heads that it's someone else's responsibility to tame the savage they've brought into the world. Your baby is yours. If you're not willing to help mold and shape it, then it's liable to end up an orphan.

Back Cover Copy for the novel I'm working on under the working title, "EYES LIKE WALLS".

This is being released as a beta version. Feel free to offer comments or suggestions.

"Vernon Dawson is slipping into that kind of Hollywood obscurity reserved for those who are no longer glamorous (or never were in the first place) and is settling nicely into his oblivion, thank-you very much indeed. That is, until he takes a gig photographing a private party for Valeria. What she leaves behind at his place following their intimate after-party encounter sets off a series of events that sucks Vernon into the world of the 'Deep State', staged and actual alien abductions, and a covert network of genetically engineered androgyny controlled by Valeria's superiors, 'The Handlers'.

Former National Football League superstar, and now full-time woman, Melanie (Melvin) Thorenson, Rides to Vern's rescue. She enlists the aid of the ne'er-do-well heir to Middle Eastern billions, Prince Sheik Mukhtar al Zaffir. But it's not until they encounter the cyborg "Five" and his bosses, "The Others", that the plot really deepens. Vernon Dawson isn't just an unwitting dupe, he's also the bearer of a specific bit of DNA that is key to the goals of one organization's quest for interstellar conquest and their opponent's hopes for thwarting them.

Vernon just wishes he'd never opened that damned valise he found in the back of his car. As it is, he may be humanity's last reluctant hope for salvation. Or at least a good night's sleep."




Presently I'm in rewrites of this work. It tips the scales at a bit over 93,000 words. I'd love to hear your thoughts so get back to me on the form below.

REFRESH YOUR HEAD

DOWNTIME DOESN'T MEAN DUMB TIME

Last thing I want to do is sound like some one's Mom but, "Turn off the damned television and go do something."

Honestly, television is probably the greatest destroyer of creativity I can think of. It is a weapon designed to annihilate brain cells at an apocalyptic rate and aimed at reducing the IQ of the general population to the dreaded lowest common denominator. It's the great intellectual override. The minute the picture appears on the screen the lights go off in your eyes.

The same with too much of the music being pumped out by major labels. The same repetitive beats, the same repetitive lyrics, the same repetitive brain numbing effect. Why? So that you'll wander around all day going, "I could have done that." Given the resources of most recording studios and Auto-tune, yes, you probably could. Does that mean, just because you can, it will be better? I'm giving odds on the next person with a ten minute career.

Go to a museum. Go to the library. Go to a historic site. Especially one with devoted docents and re-enactments. Go to a beach, or a mountain, or the middle of a desert. Take up a musical instrument or art. Get involved in theater. Go to world music event.

Why? Because a challenged mind is a an active and imaginative mind. By getting out of your own head and into someone else's you expand the vocabulary of your own creativity. Take a good look at the painting above. This is by Marc Chagall. The intensity of the colors, the fanciful and playful composition. Other than right now, you probably would never encounter this work. I wouldn't if I hadn't taken the time yesterday to go to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. I saw this and several other of Chagall's works, along with the costumes and sets he designed for opera and ballet.

When Chagall was asked why he chose such a broad palate and such dream like presentation he said, "Because I can." But it was the exposure he had to the music of Russia, the art of Paris, and the metropolitan life of New York that filled his 97 years with images and inspiration.

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to visit the village of Ste. Paul de Vence in Province, France. It was a place that was special to any number of artists. In a small cemetery on the end of the old walled fortress, opposite the main gates, rests Marc, and his second wife Vava. I walked away feeling lucky to have been able to connect the man, his art, and his final resting place. Where have you been lately?  

WHAT TO DO WHILE WAITING ON IMMORTALITY

IS THERE ANY SUCH THING AS DOWN TIME?

I told myself I was going to take three weeks and let the novel I was working on simmer. Steep in its juices, so, when it was time to refine and season the stew, the fat would be ready to skim away. I was going to do nothing until then.

Well, two short stories, a couple of poetry submissions, and decisions taken and releases filled out for the next paintings to submit for an upcoming show - and three weeks have flown by. That's the whole secret to the artistic life. Write, paint, compose, stare at the ceiling until a vagrant idea flits through. Then write it down before it gets away.

Doodle. Noodle. Read, read, read, read, read.

Before I know it I'm headed for my twelfth art exhibit this year. I've taken four awards from the twelve, so far, and I have eighteen short stories out for consideration by eighteen different publications. Not to mention the four poetry submissions my gorgeous wife made for me. Everything from a maximum of three pieces to a complete chapbook.

This all occurs around researching markets, agents, building my platform, re-opening this blog which laid in neglect far too long, and ordering new business cards.

Then there's the constant research for the creative portion. Which involves everything from scouring libraries, the Internet, the daily newspapers, cookbooks (If you're going to crack one open - Damn it, cook something!). Add to this excursions to museums and historic sites, and just plain old fashioned road trips for the hell of it. If you're going to write about a particular area, you might as well know what it looks like.

Is there any such thing as down time? I eavesdrop and people watch, I flip over rocks and poke around tide pools. Take pictures. Make sketches. Whistle, hum, yodel, give out a barbaric YAWP! Down time is coming in abundance. When they put the pennies on your eyes.

Oh, did I mention I'm rewriting a novel?

HAVE I REALLY BEEN GONE THAT LONG?

                   

                                    WHERE THE HELL HAVE I BEEN?

Probably the easiest of the questions to answer. I was wrapping up all those years I'd spent on an everyday job. I was spending a lot of time at open microphones and chasing after the recognition of poetry journals that paid in one contributor's copy. I was getting wrapped up in parts of the literary life I wasn't cut out for or comfortable in.

I was back in my studio, working on my painting and entering things in all kinds of shows. The challenging ones were the juried exhibitions. Who knows what goes through a juror's mind? Whatever it is I have garnered a few awards (some of them accompanied with cash). Sure, it was local, but it led to having pieces placed in Massachusetts, Virginia, Georgia, and other locales.

My wife and I have traveled to wonderful places. Alaska and British Columbia, the Mediterranean. All over the Southwest U.S. I photographed and sketched and compiled enough material for a whole other lifetime. Still, there was a nagging question. Was I really a "WRITER"?

Now I've embarked on a journey into that next level of difficulty. Chasing after that elusive goal of being published by literary journals and getting paid for the experience. Having been the other route, being thankful just for the chance to see my name in print, and, believe me, I always was, I felt it was time to kick it up a notch.

So, I sat down at this infernal machine and began banging on the keys with all the intensity of an enraged ape. I sent out story after story. I self-published two poetry chapbooks that I flogged at readings where, if you were lucky, they passed the hat to cover the gas it took to get there and you sold enough merchandise to cover printing costs.

Stories were sent out. Stories were systematically rejected. All this I have lovingly enshrined on a spread sheet created for just that purpose. What was the main lesson learned? Have some fun while you're driving yourself to distraction.

Don't take rejection personally. There are a lot of people pounding away at keyboards and a shrinking galaxy of outlets. The people who are tasked with reading what is sent to these journals and anthologies see an incomprehensible number of manuscripts all during their reading periods. What you felt to be so unique and divinely inspired may just be the three hundredth treatment of that same plot and setting.

Don't give up. If it gets kicked back with that perfunctory, "Not for us at this time", turn it right around. There are books full of stories about stories that were rejected innumerable times. You might just be the next Papa Hemingway, but even he had to be discovered.

Don't write what you think everyone else wants to read. Write what it is you want to say. Write it in the way you want to say it. Be you! It's all you've got. Most of all, don't quit. I had my first poem published in 1975. I've had dozens of fits and starts. I'm still here. Where's it going to lead. Who cares. In all reality, it is the journey and not the destination.

In the words of Jack Nicholson in, THE SHINING, "I'm baaaack!"

Where to from here?

The author/publisher,
Dane F. Baylis

THERE ARE WEEKS WHEN THE WORLD SEEMS DETERMINED TO MOVE AT LIGHT SPEED!

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Well, here I am again. I've been away from this site for almost a full week, and what a week it's been!

 

Monday night was the resumption of my Buddhist studies class at the Oxnard Buddhist Temple. Good to be back among the sangha and sharing our understanding of and occasional confusion with the Way. We have a new minister, the Reverend Masanori Watanabe late of Hiroshima, Japan. He replace Reverend Henry Adams who is now in San Mateo, California.

 

 Tuesday night I attended a reading at the Cobalt Cafe in Canoga Park, CA. The featured reader goes by the moniker, Urban Voodoo. His work was strong and subtly emotional with the kind of insight that doesn't just touch you but seems to reach in and take up residence in your psyche. A wonderful evening with an open mic.

 

Wednesday I started work on some preliminary studies for a painting I'm working towards. Simple pencil sketches followed by more detailed graphite rendering of a mountain scape with a lake. The work was inspired by the Big Bear, CA area and I'm looking to a final work reflective of Japanese  monotone brush and ink work.

 

Thursday, another reading. This one was in Ventura, CA and featured Ron Alexander, organizer of the Whitman/Stein series in Santa Barbara, which is now expanding to include a venue in San Francisco. Again, a wonderful voice with a lively appreciation of language and linguistics.

 

Friday I assisted at the inauguration ceremony for Ventura County, California's first poet laureate, Mary Kay Rummel. It was the usual scene full of hurry up and wait filled to over flowing with elbow rubbing and schmoozing, something I readily admit to being a total failure at. It was a smooth affair with the usual dignitaries or their representatives. By evenings close I was done.

 

Saturday, off to breakfast with the Editor-in-Wife. Then a side trip to take photo's for another painting I want to get going on. Back to the house to push the mountain scape studies to the next level and work on a new poem.

 

Today, Sunday, it was down to Highland Park in Los Angeles for a resumption of the Bluebird Readings in the Avenue 50 Gallery, presented by Jessica Ceballos. Jessica was recently honored by the City of Los Angeles as the Angeleno of the Year. The woman has more energy then any ten of her guest readers and musicians!

 

All of this on top of my usual 40+ hours at the day job. Oh, and trying my darnedest to keep a chapbook project for a poet friend and colleague on track. That's without mentioning preliminary planning for a reading of my own in Santa Barbara on the 8th of February from 4-6PM at Grenada Books and a group all erotic reading in Ventura on March 9th starting at 2PM in the Sylvia White Gallery on Main Street.

 

One of these days I want to be rich enough to hire someone to live my damned life!

 

 

 

 

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Meanwhile...live, love, write like the keys were on fire!

 

 

The offer still stands. Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on

the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.

 

Tomorrow,

 

Dane F. Baylis

Author/Publisher.



Day 365 of the 365 Days of Blogging

The author/publisher,
Dane F. Baylis

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!

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The challenge was to see if you could sustain 365 days of blogging. I accepted the challenge on the 7th of January 2013 and here we are one year later. I have learned how to post all kinds of links and info. I've learned how to post remotely. I've learned mostly that even a foul tempered old hermit can find an audience if he casts his net wide enough. Speaking of which, I've had visitors from the United States, Russia, Canada, Australia, Germany, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The United Kingdom, Poland, France, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Turkey, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Greece and a few others I can't find a record for at the minute.

 

Total, I've had 19, 534 page views in a years time. This probably doesn't seem like much to some of you, but it's astounding to me. When I first started out I had visions of long periods of churning out page after page with no response and wondering if I'd lost my Internet connection. But not a day went by when there weren't several hits, and some when it seemed like a regular flood. To all who have been kind enough to take a look, and especially those of you who came back repeatedly, my heartfelt thanks.

 

So, as I said yesterday, I'm not shutting this blog down immediately, but I am going to go to a much more relaxed every third or fourth day schedule. Also, as mentioned, I am going to be working on migrating over to WordPress and taking things to a regular Internet hosting service. Which one I'm not sure, if you have any suggestions I'd be glad to hear them. In the meantime I can also be found on Google +, Facebook, Twitter, and as of tonight on Linkedin. I'm working on Pinterest, as soon as I catch my breath.

 

 

 

 

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Meanwhile...live, love, laugh.

 

The offer still stands. Want to follow or subscribe to this blog? There are gadgets for that on

the right side of the page. You can leave comments in the form below. I can be reached directly at dbaylis805@gmail.com . You can also find links to some of the sites I visit from time to time on the right. I'm also looking for submissions to the Your Work/Your Love page. Authors retain all rights.

 

See you in a couple of days,

 

Dane F. Baylis

Author/Publisher.