And you're worried about writer's block?

It's a common theme with writers I've spoken to, both on line and face to face. It's a question that comes up at every talk or discussion about the writing life.

" How do you beat writer's block?"

My basic answer : Stuffed if I know.

I don't suffer writers block. Never have. I suffer from excessive laziness and a very short attention span. That's why I don't write as much as I should or could. Any bright, shiny, noisy object that comes into my personal space must be investigated rather than work on my current project(s). And that's where the trouble begins.

I shall digress.

The understanding when I joined this crew was to write a short story at approximately 10,000 words. A lot of people throw their hands in the air at that. Others just laugh and tell me that 10,000 is just saying hello. Goodbye must be a novella. 10,000 is just a tad (and a very small tad at that) larger than my comfort zone but out of my reach. First draft was 10,227. Right on target.

So, I put it to bed for a few days, what with disasters seemingly falling out of the sky, and when I pick it up to edit, I have red pen in hand and an eye to kill a few darlings. In Stephen King's "On Writing" he mentions a rough target of ten percent to be shaved off in editing mostly useless, passive words, sentences that go nowhere or add nothing to the story.

I took out nearly two thousand.

And promptly put back another 9,000.

Yeah, you got it right.Literary diarrhea has flowed from my brain, through my fingers and into my harddrive. And some of it is damn good, too!

So, what to take out. My story has moved in a newish direction. Not an unplanned one, but it's fattened my little calf to the point I need to put it on a bit of a language diet.

But - and I repeat - what to take out?

I have some cool characters, a few that are needed for side dressing and diversion. None of them are ripe for the chop. Neither are any of the situations by darlings have found themselves in. But 6 - 7,000 words must be taken out, and I alone have the power to choose them.

The other problem? (Did I mention that there is never really one problem? They always seem to come in herds!) The other problem is oversupply of ideas. I suffer from a very active imagination. Give it a few minutes to run loose and it's off, dragging random factoids, heresay and pure bullshit together into a possible new project. SoI take notes. In the month that I have been working on this project, no mless than 15 more have been noted. More than a few will not survive the thinking/planning process and will be doomed to the box of notebooks stashed cleverly in my office under a growing pile of crap. But at least three (at this writing) have stayed with me, taken root in my clutered and hsort-spaced sub conscious and grown.

Not counting the other projects I was already invoved in. (told you, herds!!)

Thankfully, the urge to write comes along frequently enough to quiet the voices in my head, all clamouring for attention. Look at me, look at me. I focus on what I can, note what I can't, and those I lose, I lose with regret and hope that one day they come back to me so that I may do them the justice they deserve.

But enough of that, back to my story. I may post a bit here on the weekend. We'll see.

From the engine room, I bid you good-night.

Baz

Theme And The Me.

I suffer from a bad case of second guessing. A large part of my writing life is always questioning my ability, my product, my work ethic. Am I wrong in doubting myself? Probably. but having completed a first draft and working now on a second - or first rewrite if you prefer - I keep coming back to the theme. I'll not give the game away just yet, as I've noticed no-one has advertised the theme of the anthology yet, but ...

When I was first informed of the theme for the book I had just finished watching a recently released movie with my older son and thought WOW! This guys psychic. That's just the same as the movie I just watched. Since then, I've sent my first draft to my favourite editor and her first comment referred me to another movie - totally different - that worked along the lines of my story. There's a love story that's mixed in that, and it's a seriously hard movie to watch, but thematically it's the same. Then (there's always a then) I'm asked by one of my readers if I was comfortable ripping off one of my favourite writers, Philip K Dick.

So now, out come all those petty insecurities that just wait to explode out of my mind. Have a committed the crime of ripping off a great writer with my own poor efforts? Will people think back to a hard to watch movie and go gee, he certainly liked THAT idea. Is my writing fresh enough, individual enough, GOOD enough?

On second read-thru, following exhaustive soul-searching (didn't find one) and fighting the misgivings of taking food from the mouths of writers I admire (yes' he's gone on to that next great adventure, but you know what I mean) I have decided that yes, I write very goodly, I am fresh and innovative and I will give the theme a new voice through my work.

I think.

More as it comes to hand. Blog.

Whatever.

Intercontinental Ink. The only ink I use now.

10,000 Word Odyssey

10,227 words for a first draft. Not too shabby. But now I wonder if I should have gone with option 2. Dunno. I like the idea of this first story. It shares a bond with one of my favourite writers, Phillip K, Dick, the man Hollywood goes to when they run out of ideas of their own.
It's a difficult one to make work though, the science is kind of loose and there are a few holes, but the Master has given me time to fix some of those holes and tighten them up, and make the science a little more believable.

See me in a week. Will either have it heading in the right direction or will be on to option 2.

More as it comes to hand.

Baz

Barry Simiana

Barry Simiana writes spec fiction, usually in the vein of "what if..." and his first major publication was in an anthology titled, Next Stop Hollywood, 15 short stories bound for the screen.

Other publications include a short werewolf story published many years ago called, How High The Moon, (recently redone and updated) and a short story, The Monster published in a local parenting magazine.

Coming soon is a collection of short stories called, Touch of Evil (due Aug 2010) and that is also being developed into a TV series, an Australian take on Halloween (due October 2010). Also on the cards is a film adaptation of Gone to Mum's and a follow-up to Touch of Evil due in March 2011.

Barry lives on the North Coast of New South Wales Australia with his wife and two sons.