The Streak

The streak isn't a new concept. Streaks are ever-present and are tracked in sports, the stock market, and gambling for starters. We may not think about streaks when it comes to our daily lives with things such as fitness or abstaining from alcohol or whichever vice(s) one may have, but they're there. They may not even be healthy streaks.

But what about writing? The idea of the streak in writing isn't new at all. I didn't see writing as something capable of a streak, like Joe DiMaggio's streak of hitting safely in 56 consecutive baseball games or the stock market rose seven days in a row. The headline would read, and oh it's so exciting, Kimble Hits 30th Consecutive Day Of New Fiction. Writers typically just try to sit down each day and get some new words down. Move forward on a project in some way.

When I began using a word tracker the streak became more obvious to me. There it was in a spreadsheet--my daily word counts. At first it was just enough to say I'd written each day, got at least some words down, say 250 words or more. But then I became a little more bold and began stringing together 1,000 word days--1,000 new words of fiction (not world building, not blogging, not emailing, not outlining, but new fiction) being the minimum.

But, like Joe DiMaggio's, the streak has to end at some point (for the record, Joe's ended in Cleveland--I could crack a joke here, but since I grew up in New Jersey I'll refrain). For me, right now, in the middle of a great streak (if you're interested: 25 consecutive days with at least 1,000 words, and the average daily word count is roughly 1,500 with a total of 38,000 words), I can't imagine the streak ending, but it will. Real life and other responsibilities have the power to destroy a streak, but then, there is no reason why I can't embark on a brand new streak. And by the way: one of the major components of the streak was turning off the critical part of my brain and just allowing the words to flow, but that's an entirely different post on writing.

The 1,000 words a day streak wasn't a conscious thing at first, and at one time that many words would have felt like a lot of pressure to get done every single day while working full time and trying to be a good and engaging husband. No, I simply wanted to write daily and gain momentum on a first draft I wanted to finish by March.

The streak began on the day I had oral surgery--I was numb and on pain meds (I haven't gone back and read that day's work, and for all I know it's some surrealistic nightmare love child of David Lynch, Dali, and Bunuel--mixed with High Plains Drifter and The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly which I watched that day). I even had a nice bacterial infection afterward which was quite painful and required two rounds of antibiotic to eradicate--the point is that I didn't allow any of that to get in my way or slow me down. The streak continued. It would have been easy to sit around watch film after film or binge-watch a series I hadn't gotten around to seeing yet (there's simply too much great programming these days to keep up).

If the idea of a streak interests you, then I say start small and allow it to build. Keep track if that helps you. Maybe keeping track or thinking about a streak stresses you out, then it isn't for you. In the end, every writer has their own method or little thing that helps them, like turning off the internet or shutting a door or writing at the same time every day.

The streak works for me.

Rogues In Saratoga Springs: World Fantasy 2015

I'll be on the road again this week and attending World Fantasy in Saratoga Springs NY, November 5th-8th. The con organizers have graciously put me on a panel the opening day-- Thursday, November 5th at 4pm. Here is a description along with the panel participants from WFC's website:

The Rogue
Assassins, thieves, rogues of all stripes, it seems that no quest party™ is complete without a wisecracking roguish sidekick. But is there more to the Rogue than that? 
Ellen Kushner (mod.), Alistair Kimble, Cinda Williams Chima, James Alan Gardner, Ryk E. Spoor

About World Fantasy:

The World Fantasy convention will always be special to me--I attended my first one in 2010 when it was held in Columbus, Ohio. This particular convention is less fan-oriented and more professional, by which I mean, this is a great place to hang out at the bar and meet writers, editors, and literary agents.  Another aspect of the con that I like is that the membership is capped, so one has to purchase their ticket early enough in the year to be sure of getting a spot, otherwise there is a waiting list.

So many of the friends I have in the writing community became friends of mine in Columbus back in 2010. That first convention was interesting, since I went by myself and decided to wing it. Given my day job and the fact that I get paid to talk to people made meeting others not that difficult--but even so, I sat at the bar and the other writers and professionals were friendly and didn't mind talking to a stranger. At that convention I realized the old saying about writers was true--they like to drink. But no one got out of control and I found all my interactions with others to be quite engaging and informative.  I've learned so much about the industry over the years simply by attending conventions--but especially World Fantasy.

Anyway, World Fantasy will always have a special place in my heart, and I'm really looking forward to attending this one and having a chance to hang out with friends.

Inspiration, Observation, & Participation

Lately, I've been thinking about inspiration -- not in the start your day right, devotional kind of way (though I could certainly benefit from that sort of thing), but more along the lines of writing, and the genesis of a story.  Inspiration and ideas can be from an article, word, photo, sunset or sunrise, or any number of stimuli prompting thought or some sort of activity, creative or otherwise.

These stimuli often lead to an idea or an image I turn over in my mind, and often I believed there was a story there (yes, on occasion it sprouted into a story and everything fell into place perfectly, but not often).  Lately, I've realized the stimulus has not sprung a fully formed story from my mind, but only a simple premise--if that.

A premise is not a story. In fact, most of the time I don't even have a premise from these stimuli. The sunrise photo is useful, but I'm not likely to yank a full story from the image. I'm more likely to have a premise emerge from this photo of a tree taken in Luxembourg Gardens -- it's almost Lovecraftian, or some sort of petrified sea creature trapped on land, waiting to be awakened when the seas rise or something. You get the idea...still not a story.

What I'm experiencing most often is a detail, and I'm reminded of an exchange from Woody Allen's, Midnight In Paris, where Owen Wilson's character, Gil talks about Brasserie Lipp (a wonderful place in Paris to soak up what it must have been like in the 1920s). I'm paraphrasing here, but Gil states he once had a professor who saw James Joyce at Brasserie Lipp eating frankfurters and sauerkraut. His girlfriend and her friends look at Gil expectantly, waiting for more. His girlfriend, Inez says, "That's it? That's the entire story?" Gil responds that what he related isn't a story, but more of a detail.

This is exactly my point. Details like Joyce eating frankfurters and sauerkraut are the spices that will make a story come alive and provide insight into what a character (Gil) thinks, and also shows where his interests lie. I could write an entire post on Midnight In Paris and nostalgia and "Golden Age Thinking" (and I probably will, since I'm in love with a bygone era).

Details are not story, but they certainly pull a moviegoer or a reader deep into a story. If you're a writer and interested in adding more depth to your stories, I highly recommend an online workshop taught by Dean Wesley Smith called--Depth In Writing. He also teaches an online workshop on Character Voice & Setting (another I highly recommend, though I took this one as a weeklong workshop in Oregon when it was offered as such).

Back to ideas. Rather than think every single thing I see is another story, cataloging them is useful. This can be with photos, or jotting down words the image evokes, or simply stuffing it back into my subconscious where I'm hoping it'll emerge when I need it in the middle of writing a story.

Experiencing life is the best fuel for a writer. Not only observing, but participating. Passive observation, or reading and researching can only get you so far when it comes to true details that will make your work come alive. Sensory details come about from living life and building a vast archive to draw upon so the characters in the story I'm writing will have an opinion.

Don't dismiss any experience--the details of the experience will be useful for a character and his/her/its opinion in a story at some point.  And this goes beyond writing--you never know when a seemingly unimportant detail will provide inspiration down the road to solve a problem, or help someone out, or even help you in a situation.

Fantastic Detectives: A Fiction River Anthology

I have a short story appearing in the September edition of the Fiction River anthology series--which is available now.  This edition's theme is Fantastic Detectives, edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. My story, Trouble Aboard The Flying Scotsman,  is an origin story for two of the characters in a novel I'm wrapping up.

I'm honored to be sharing the table of contents with so many wonderful writers (to include Kevin J. Anderson and Dean Wesley Smith). Of course, I've read and enjoyed the entire anthology, but one of my favorite stories is Case Cracked by Joe Cron, which is absolutely hilarious and has many laugh-out-loud moments. The stories in the anthology range from the whimsical and comedic to hardboiled and noir, but all have a fantastical element.

The anthology series (now in its second year) is available in trade paper as well as e-book. There is a subscription drive taking place on Kickstarter that offers some nifty rewards, but ends October 2nd 2014.

If you're interested, please check out the website for Fiction River, here.

A couple of sites have already reviewed Fantastic Detectives:

"Fiction River: Fantastic Detectives is a great choice for anyone who loves it when genres are swirled together. It's nominally more heavily influenced by mystery conventions and tropes, but the science fiction and fantasy elements in it are almost as strong." --Long and Short Reviews

And Keith West of Amazing Stories wrote: “Fiction River: Fantastic Detectives is a great read if you like to blend mystery with your fantasy. Check it out.”

MARCON & 1632 Mini-con

I began writing this post just before leaving MARCON on Monday, May 12th. However, due to some horrible travel conditions while connecting in Chicago that saw me miss a conference for my day job, well, I forgot to post on the convention.

I won't bore anyone with the travel details--I'd rather not relive the experience. Though, I'm still missing my luggage which contained all of my favorite dress shirts and some nice slacks. Okay...moving on.

MARCON was a lot of fun, and one of the things that struck me most was how young the convention was--as in they attract a lot of younger people. MARCON itself has been around for 49 years--that's pretty incredible for a regional con. But I think it survives because its organizers are not afraid to cater to all ages. Their programming was diverse and offered panels and events for everyone.

The Hyatt Regency in Columbus is the hotel, which is connected to the convention center. A huge plus. There were no death marches in intense heat (like at World Con in Reno or San Antonio). Also--the bar at the hotel is adequately stocked, 53 feet long, and well-staffed. World Fantasy in 2010 was held at this venue and to this day is my favorite convention that I've attended.

So, my role at the convention. I was there as a guest, which was a first for me and my room was comped by the convention. Very nice. I was scheduled to speak on 1632 panels (I have two novelettes published in the Grantville Gazette with a serial planned involving the Knights of Malta) as well as a panel on character battles (stuff like Rambo vs. James Bond, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer vs. Sherlock Holmes or Dracula or Doc Savage) and another panel on Sherlock Holmes (what we like and don't like about the various incarnations).

I also taught a workshop with Griffin Barber (San Francisco Police Department) on Law Enforcement for Writers.

And I got to hang out with a bunch of friends and had dinner the last night of the con with Robert Waters and Chuck Gannon (Nebula Award nominee and ultra great guy).

Oh, and I suppose this is the biggest news for me at MARCON: I met up with Eric Flint to discuss our novel project which is moving forward quite nicely. For the curious: the novel is an urban fantasy set in the present and leans pretty heavily on my experience in law enforcement--until we get further along (contract and all that), I'm not going to say much more about it.