Writer's Quirks, Strange Research and a New Venture

I live with a writer (he's on the left). We've been together many, many years. I can't deny that such creative cohabitation has great benefits. Jon and I are each other's sounding board. We fill in the gaps for each other. We proofread for each other. This symbiosis was especially important early in our relationship. I was not trained in screenwriting, and Jon was not a writer of prose fiction. In theory, the arrangement should have been simple. I do characters. Jon does visuals. We both work on the concept and the outline. Easy peasy lemon squeezy – it is not.

The big issue is that Jon hates doing re-writes. Who doesn't, right? I am quite famous for reacting so badly to the term 'notes' that my production partners warn the note-makers in advance that they best have complete confidence in their schooling, experience, and taste (depending on my mood) or Deb is really going to hurt your feelings. And I'm known as the nice one. Oh, there were many meetings I was glad Jon wasn't a part of such is his dislike for re-writes. That said, I do know that re-writes are inevitable for various reasons that involve anything from money (remind me to tell you about the animatronic cow we wanted for our Vampire film, Demon Under Glass) to logistics, creative input from the cast and/or crew, and audience reaction. Only Paddy Chayefsky got away with not changing one word of a script, and I'm fairly certain that only happened once.

Somehow, we've made our personal styles mesh well enough to write scripts in a timely fashion with little household tension. I found that I've picked up a lot of Jon's methods for outlining and figuring out what is wrong when I hit a wall while writing fiction. And he's been learning about writing fiction from me. He experimented with all kinds of styles when writing some chapters of the insanely long fanfic saga. Jon was so good at mimicking my voice that very few readers spotted the difference between my chapters and his. For the most part, the Logs were written quickly to respond to episodes and irk the writers for the show. They were also writing experiments.

And then came Life on the Periphery, Jon's collection of short fiction. First off, I must emphatically state that the book is brilliant. That made coping with 'he who shall not re-write' worth the considerable consternation. The protracted research process featured questions about such disparate topics as teenaged girls in the Dust Bowl era, abandoned spouses in olde timey Arabia, personality quirks of the jinn, security protocols at Auschwitz, and courting rituals of young men in 1920s Ohio. The questions tended to pop up randomly and in no particular order. Life was quite interesting during that time. He kept this gal on her toes.

 The range of the collection is breathtaking. He has a truly unique perspective and expresses that with keen insight, great wit, and delightful whimsy. I freely admit that it was so good that I was annoyed. It was his first collection. Who hits a grand slam the first time at bat? When I think about it, I'm glad the collection turned out so well. 

The current book is a novel, but it still involves a wide range of research. Jon has two expert consultants working with him, but the questions keep coming. How do you eat French onion soup (chew, then sip); what do you know about Noh Theater (next to nothing); if you get soaked in the rain, should the clothes come off as soon as possible (yes). Over the past several weeks, he's been through the Concept Stage, the Outline, and the Detailed Outline. He's five chapters into the writing now. The first thing Jon's discovered is that characters are harder to control over a longer arc. That was quickly followed by the revelation that no matter how careful the outline, a plot can be stubbornly wayward.

What do Jon's adventures with writing have to do with mine? Isn't it a distraction? It does seem so when I write it down like this, but I find his drive encourages me when I am wallowing in rough waters with my own work. That said, Jon has derailed me while writing love scenes here and there with the sheer weirdness of some of the questions. That is rare though. It's encouraging to have another writer in the house. Keeps our eyes on the prize, so to speak. And pulling me out of the deep malaise I was in was no easy feat.

Updates

I'm basically finished writing the short story that's taken forever. Its title is Pedestal. I'm working on a few illustrations before going back to proofread and tweak. As I've said before, the story will be free to download. I'll also post it on my Yaoi Blog page. This my gift to the readers for their patience and understanding. I've written an outline for the next Ensnared book while working on the short story. I wasn't planning on that, but a certain character loves hogging attention. Other novels and shorts are in the works. I worked on the next Vampire Rent Boy when I got stuck with the current short story.

Speaking of keeping our eyes on the prize, I was seriously stressed over the thought of having to take on freelance work to keep our heads above water during this situation with the Feds. Before my diagnosis, I worked jobs that didn't drain my mental energy. That way, I could write quite a bit while I was off. The gigs I'm looking at now require a lot of mental and/or creative energy.

I think the worry was evident in my last Author Page post. Several lovely readers strongly suggested that I consider starting a Patreon account. I've considered this before, but I couldn't figure out what perks I could give that anyone would want. The latest person to suggest a Patreon sent links to other authors who had an account. I was surprised at the average minimum ($3.00) and at how simple and easy the perks could be. So – I'm gonna create a Patreon account! It will be a few weeks before I roll it out. First, I must publish Pedestal, Second, I want to plan it carefully and get a jump on the crafting the perks. Thank you to those who suggested the notion.

This is both exciting and terrifying.

An excerpt from Pedestal will be available tomorrow!

Stay tuned!