05 October 2008
Switching Speeds
07/10/08 20:26 Filed in: Writing
I have been having a lot of fun writing the Abigail
stories lately. So much fun, in fact, that I have
left off the completion of the two Phillip Gold
mystery stories entirely. I'll get back to them, no
doubt, especially since one is just about ready to be
printed and sent off to a mystery magazine or two in
hopes of getting it published.
What has surprised me, however, is the fact that I am REALLY enjoying writing these stories for children. So far, I've written six — four of them are available on this website (click on "McAdam Station", then "Abigail" to find them) — and they're rolling off my fingers like magic. I sit down with a basic concept in mind (like, Abigail and the Skating Champion or Abigail finds a Puppy) and out they come, complete with a fairly decent plot, a nice escalation of tension and a fitting, appropriate climax and outcome. It's really quite amazing to me. No, I'm not saying they're classics of kid lit but I think they're pretty good.
I've always thought of myself as a mystery writer — a hard-boiled mystery writer, in fact — but I'm starting to see something of a pattern here. While the Phillip Gold material flows fairly well, I still have to plan it very carefully and I still run into blocks and barriers and have to pause for a day or more before I can get back on track. These Abigail stories, like the Shirtless Joe novella (click on "Fiction", then "Shirtless Joe") that I wrote in just three days for the infamous Three-Day-Novel contest last year, seem to write themselves.
And it's not just that I find the mystery stuff harder to write — my recent introduction to Dennis Lehane and others has started to make me wonder whether I'm capable of writing the kind of mystery that sells in today's market. I have patterned my writing after Raymond Chandler and his crowd and maybe I have to accept that I'm just not capable of writing the blood-soaked, bullet-ridden sadistic prose that is so popular today. And what I can write won't sell in the 21st century.
I tried to go a little more graphic in the Gold Prequel (click on "Gold Mysteries" and then "Gold Prequel") but it just doesn't feel right. Quite frankly, I'm not even that comfortable having it up on this website for people to read but I'd feel like a quitter if I took it down. I don't like reading about women being raped, tortured and maimed and I really hate feeling like I have to write about it. But it seems that you have to do that to get a sale in this day and age.
So what do I do? What would you do? All of your life, you've thought about yourself in one way and then, slowly but surely, you come to the realisation that you're actually something very different. Do I abandon Gold entirely and focus on lighter, happier stuff?
We'll have to see. Right now, the Abigail stories are just dancing around in my brain, aching to come out. I guess I'll have to see where it takes me.
What has surprised me, however, is the fact that I am REALLY enjoying writing these stories for children. So far, I've written six — four of them are available on this website (click on "McAdam Station", then "Abigail" to find them) — and they're rolling off my fingers like magic. I sit down with a basic concept in mind (like, Abigail and the Skating Champion or Abigail finds a Puppy) and out they come, complete with a fairly decent plot, a nice escalation of tension and a fitting, appropriate climax and outcome. It's really quite amazing to me. No, I'm not saying they're classics of kid lit but I think they're pretty good.
I've always thought of myself as a mystery writer — a hard-boiled mystery writer, in fact — but I'm starting to see something of a pattern here. While the Phillip Gold material flows fairly well, I still have to plan it very carefully and I still run into blocks and barriers and have to pause for a day or more before I can get back on track. These Abigail stories, like the Shirtless Joe novella (click on "Fiction", then "Shirtless Joe") that I wrote in just three days for the infamous Three-Day-Novel contest last year, seem to write themselves.
And it's not just that I find the mystery stuff harder to write — my recent introduction to Dennis Lehane and others has started to make me wonder whether I'm capable of writing the kind of mystery that sells in today's market. I have patterned my writing after Raymond Chandler and his crowd and maybe I have to accept that I'm just not capable of writing the blood-soaked, bullet-ridden sadistic prose that is so popular today. And what I can write won't sell in the 21st century.
I tried to go a little more graphic in the Gold Prequel (click on "Gold Mysteries" and then "Gold Prequel") but it just doesn't feel right. Quite frankly, I'm not even that comfortable having it up on this website for people to read but I'd feel like a quitter if I took it down. I don't like reading about women being raped, tortured and maimed and I really hate feeling like I have to write about it. But it seems that you have to do that to get a sale in this day and age.
So what do I do? What would you do? All of your life, you've thought about yourself in one way and then, slowly but surely, you come to the realisation that you're actually something very different. Do I abandon Gold entirely and focus on lighter, happier stuff?
We'll have to see. Right now, the Abigail stories are just dancing around in my brain, aching to come out. I guess I'll have to see where it takes me.