Getting back on the Writing train
So I've decided to write and serialize a short story on Read/Write Web. I'll treat it as a mini-Nanowrimo, with me as the only participant (unless anyone else is game). I'll aim for 10,000 words in 2 weeks, which is pretty cushy compared to when I wrote 50,000 words over 4 weeks in November 2003.
The story I have in mind will be a kind of Parable for the Blogosphere. Why a short story? The themes I want to write about are better suited to Narrative than to normal weblog posts. This was also one of my motivations for Nanowrimo 2003 btw. The main theme will be Subjectivity vs System. Some of the inspirations for this are: Andrew's theory of the "blogosphere as a system" which he calls "We are Blog", which I've been following with interest and wishing he'd write more on; Erik's recent philosophizing; Paul Ford's amazing stories; my reading of Kierkegaard, which has pushed a lot of buttons for me re Individuality and Subjectivity; Cory Doctorow releasing his second novel online, which I can't wait to read; all this talk of a "new architecture for news" by the journo bloggers, which again I've been following with interest; watching The Matrix Reloaded again on DVD late last night, esp. the Architect's speech (btw check out this great analysis of The Matrix); my continuing impatience with the non-starting of The Game Neverending (mind you impatience is one of my less favourable traits); my Yawn about Orkut (but thanks heaps to the 3 people who invited me after my little sulk!); my ongoing fascination with avatars and virtual worlds; plus assorted other inspirations all playing in my mind.
Not to mention it's high time I put some effort into writing this year. I've also submitted an article proposal to Digital Web Magazine, which if accepted will give me an opportunity to write a technical non-fiction article. So the gist of this post is: I'm gettin' back into my writing.
I hope to post my first instalment of my short story this Monday, or even Sunday if all goes well.
ps if anyone has read my Nanowrimo novel (pdf), or even read portions of it, I'd very much appreciate your feedback on it. Even if you thought it was crap, please let me know either by email or in a comment. As an amateur and unpublished writer, one never knows for sure how good one's work is. So sock it to me.
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Funny you should mention my paper. It'll be ready by the deadline, for sure, but at any rate, yesterday I finally got around to fleshing out some stuff in the wiki the wiki that I set aside for that purpose. Just little tidbits, to be sure, but there is a little new content trickling in, really there is. ;)
I've been meaning to address the question that you've brought up re: subjectivity and whatnot in an upcoming post. Hopefully I'll get to it sometime today - but I thought that yesterday too. Perhaps writing that down will make me more likely to do it. ;)
I could start making excuses, but the fact of the matter is, even writing about the excuses would be writing about the topic, in a weird sort of way that I'll hopefully be able to make clear....
Since writing is something that is a work-in-progress, almost by definition, perhaps you'd like to use a wiki instead of a blog/pdf for "posting" your installment(s)? Many wiki's support built-in versioning, so you and your readers could see your revisions as you went along... unless you want this to be a continuing saga like my Masculine Exegesis category, in which case the "frequent syndication" is a feature, not an accidental by-product of the writing process.
Posted by: Andrew | February 6, 2004 11:58 AM
I know what you mean about having a list of topics to write about, but never quite getting around to it :-) Anyway I look forward to reading any thoughts you have on the subject I've chosen for my short story.
That's a good suggestion re using a Wiki. I'll stick with my blog for now, mainly because I like to keep all my original content in one place. I sort of see it as a saga - actually "serialization" is the word. nb I changed the word "syndicate" to "serialize" in this post this morning, after noting that Dave Egger's recent short story (another inspiration) was serialized in Salon.
Posted by: Richard MacManus | February 6, 2004 12:26 PM
I love the NaNoWriMo concept, Richard. I tried a chapter-a-day approach for my latest kids book (much shorter chaps. so it's possible), but it all fell apart very quickly.
Don't let it happen to you. Ignore the internal editor and keep the pen/keyboard moving. I've just downloaded "Dirtside to Spaceside" and will give it a read. Looking forward to reading your first installment on Monday. Good luck!
Oh yeah, I think I got my rss woes sorted out, and I'd be honoured if you're still interested in subscribing.
Posted by: liam | February 6, 2004 7:08 PM
Liam, Subscribed! Welcome to the Blogosphere!
Do let me know how you find my Nanowrimo effort.
Posted by: Richard MacManus | February 7, 2004 12:05 PM