Glenn A. Bruce's Blog: RITR (sic), page 4

Radio Interview

Did a phone interview last week with Gayle Trent for her web series "Writing Up a Storm." What fun! Check it out here:

http://www.gayletrent.com/media/writi...

Content

I believe in density, not paucity, when it comes to content, not words. So my goal becomes: the greatest content using the fewest words.

This is because, as an Elmore Leonard fan, I prefer lean writing; too many words, too flowery, too many descriptions of things I don't care about: that type of writing drives me crazy and makes me put a book down never to retrieve it. That's just me. I don't want to "see" the writing. To paraphrase Leonard, "If it looks/sounds like writing: cut it." Again, just me.

I suppose there are times to be pedantic (though I'm not sure on that point). Even academic articles can be so polluted with big words and hyper-modifiers that the point is lost to all but the most diehard didacticians. I have given up on articles I really wanted to read, on subjects I really wanted to know more about, not because I had to stop and look up words (a little of that is fine, of course); but rather because I knew all the words but had to keep reminding myself of what they meant when strung together in a line of twenty. Again: just me.

But I also dislike empty prose - simplistic stories with one-dimensional characters who go through, well, not much, and with very little complication. A read can be too simple (and will get similarly put down for non-retrieval). Not a fan of fluff, in movies or books. But that's just me!

It's a big world out there, with all kinds of readers and tastes. I couldn't read a vampire story if you paid me; but Anne Rice can write up a storm. I have only finished two Steven King books that I can recall, but I think he is one of the best American writers alive. I just don't spook easily. So why bother? Again: just me.

We all, writers that is, need to find what it is we do best, and do it! For me, the challenge is writing a different book every time. Each time, I want it to be new and different than the last. That alone, is a challenge. But I also want each book or story to be as dense as possible in terms of context and content, while being as readable as possible. In my definition, that is using as few words as possible - and cramming those few words as full of story, character, subplots, humor, (true) terror, emotion, side-thoughts (background), and complex interactions as is possible. Throw in a few great (less-used) words, a few "poetic" sentences, and of course in my case, a few alliterations. (I know, but I like them!) Make it all as real as possible within the rules of that fictional world, then grind it down to its essence.

I guess that's why I enjoy Hunter S. Thompson at his edgiest best. He keeps it real (in more ways than one), literary and irreverent, funny and in-your-face, smart and tough. He was a genius at times and reading him makes me giggle and get angry at the same time - just as, I suppose, he intended.

So it is that I try to meld Thompson, Leonard, Vonnegut, Hammett, Steinbeck, Heller, Dideon, Camus and Voltaire (with a nod to Hiaasen). But that's just me.

Book Festival

That was fun! Last weekend I took a little time to "give back," as they say by giving a class/lecture on screenwriting at the High Country Book Festival, essentially condensing what I do in the first two or three classes at App. Lots of fun, good questions, interesting folks - and some nice compliments. Those help! I was also invited to sit on a panel titled "What Makes Southern Locations Sizzle." Even more fun, with Cathy Simon and Jane Tesh, moderated by Wendy Dingwall. All three write "cozies" with humor and were great to hang out with on the panel. We talked about a lot more than locations and the folks attending again seemed to have a lot of fun and asked great questions. Lots of encouragement from Cathy and Jane to stay with it, keep writing and...keep writing! Great advice. Special thanks to Suzanne Thompson for the invite! A great time!

Book Festival Panel

Just ten days to the High Country Festival of the Book where I will be sitting on two panels. One is the Mystery (writers) panel on Friday, June 21st, 3-4 p.m. The other is a panel about using Southern locations to create "sizzle" in your writing. That one is Saturday morning, June 22nd, 10-11 a.m. I love these workshops, conferences, roundtables, et al. They are so much fun! It's great to interact with working and aspiring writers, and those in the middle. It's a lot like teaching but without the grades or paperwork. Just writers talking with other writers about writing! It's always fun to hear other writers' routines and methods of getting from A to Z. We all do it differently - yet there is always some crossover. Hopefully, we help each other. (Right now, I could used some major help on the opening of y heist novel! Rough going, today. But that's part of it, as well: navigating the serpentine parts. In the end we hopefully offer each other insights or practical possibilities to solve the current problem - which may not be a problem at all.

The bigger idea is unrestricted, UN-monopolized, undetermined, unrealized, anti-nihilistic, unresolved truth-in-process. The anti-narcissist who perhaps can really exist, but has something to contribute on occasional.

Then we rein it back in and decided whether we like cafe con leche with our morning work time or Cheerios.

We will discuss all of this and more on June 21m 22 - so please comes see what trouble we get into discussing words!

Keeping up

It seems that the hardest part about writing has become keeping all of my social media updated! Thankfully, folks are reading them and buying books, so I shouldn't complain - but it more difficult and time-consuming that actually writing! So, after a morning spent trying to make all these posts current, I shall move on to editing Legacy (name change coming), about a modern dysfunctional family with a dark(ish) mystery. Lots of humor and great characters (to write). One more pass after this one and it goes to Lou for proofing! Editing four at once keeps it interesting.

Dear Me, How Time Passes!

Just finished second-to-the-last edit of a novel I first finished ten years ago. Ten years ago! I had no idea it had been ten years. Seems like yesterday. This story has lived in me for all this decade as alive as if it was yesterday. I suppose that might be a good sign. I certainly hope so. It is my happily dystopic post-apocalyptic comic-saga of how the last man on earth gets to be the last man on earth–and why; what God(s) has/have/had to do with it, but mainly what Arthur Mencken (no relation) had to do with killing everyone on earth except Danny “DJ” Olaf. (And that isn’t even his real name!) This is my favorite book of mine, all 130,000 words. The format is different, the style is different, the comedy is both flip and edgy, the characters feel real in every odd aspect of their ways–the whole thing feels like real life gone horribly askew with characters who (all but one) can laugh at their own foibles (and those of others–especially those of others!). Not that it helps. The world still ends (for them). Just not for Danny, who will someday reclaim his real name and maybe even pass it along–if there was anyone to take it.

Great review!

As I whine and while away me days/weeks waiting for my hand to heal so that I can actually type with both mitts again - and fight the depressing forced break from writing and editing - I received news of a very nice review of one of my short story collections, All Most Together Now. This is from someone who reads ALL the time, and who reads no trash. He is a fan of Cormac McCarthy and Shelby Foote. He has also subscribed to "The New Yorker" for years, which publishes high-quality short fiction in every issue (you know the list). So when he said, "This is the best collection of short stories I've ever read," my hair stood on end. Thanks, John C! I am inspired to write a few more!

Moving On!

The Man is up, out and happening. Hooray! Now, on to the next six!

Today, I used ITW (International Thriller Writers) site for announcing The Man as a new eBook and in their newsletter. I've been an Author member for a year, but haven't really used it yet. Felt good. New marketing etc. - marketing being the hardest part of this job.

Well, that and finding time in increasingly difficult life-times. Still managing at least a few hours every day at the keyboard, with one day a week an all-day marathon still happening. Used to be five of those per week, but life's complications grow with time, it seems. So the love for, and joy of, work feels even better when milestones are reached and goals are accomplished.

When no one else offers inspiration, you must provide your own. It doesn't really matter where it comes from, as long as it works!

Days away from the next release

The Man is finally almost ready for general release. Proofing is complete and there were gratefully few errors this time. (Hooray for me!) I have always liked this one, but it was a challenge to write - keeping the tenses straight, as it shifts in time somewhat randomly, covering 30 years in The Man's life. Over the decades his "families" change three times, with the middle "family" being the most dangerous. The book is slightly shorter than some of my others and quick read, once you get the feel for how the backstory is revealed bit by bit and how it really does always tie together - even if the "narrator" seems to be unreliable at times. He isn't; he's just telling the story the way he learned it from another unreliable narrator/character - which also made it fun to write. This is a rogue's gallery of creepy people with some nice ones thrown in; but everyone has a secret, and is related somehow to the bodies that pile up along the way. I always felt good about figuring out a way to tell this one in an effective non-linear way; and I feel I succeeded. I got Lou's seal of approval! She said it was her second-favorite after Temptation Key. Keeping in mind that it is a totally different kind of story (with a fraction of the humor), that made me feel pretty good!

Now, I'm editing four more and have decided to focus on one at a time! One pass, then go to another novel and focus on it; then back to get the first one finished and out. It should work, right?

In the meantime, also wrote a new screenplay about gun control which maybe no one likes? (No one likes the topic, that's for sure.) Too bad, because it's funny, dark, about something and timely. Also went back to an older screenplay to rehab it - a "rom-com" people always liked but had a flawed third act. Going to see if I can't fix that this time!

So, the writing has kept me busy and away from this blog - of which I can still say I am ambivalent; but I hope someone is getting something out of it! Between winter, school (teaching two classes with lots of work at home for one, reading student scripts), and remodeling the house - yipes! So, it IS possible to write under oppressive conditions and busy times. You just make yourself do it. Simple, right?

A New Year

Feeling a new attitude becoming necessary to cope with a rapidly changing world! To that end, I've been able to quickly write a first draft screenplay. Since the Aurora CO theater shooting, I have been watching this gun debate gain in intensity and had been scribbling thoughts and scenes. Then, when Newtown happened, a rush of new ideas arrived with a strong urge to take a break from novels and write a screenplay. As is always the case, I wasn't sure what it would be, tonally, until I started and found the deep levels of satire possible. I can always tell when it's going well if I laugh out loud at something outrageous that I have committed to words. Add an outrageous debate - make that flatly insane - and the potential for satire explodes.

Since I've been concentrating on novels, I haven't attacked a screenplay in a while, so it was fun and even a bit exciting to "pop one out." I say this because the amount of work involved in the first draft of a screenplay as opposed to the first draft of a novel is minimal. I don't guess I ever realized that. Now, looking back, I feel silly. Most of my novels have taken at least a year to write and edit, even if they were based on an existing screenplay of mine. Sometimes two or three years to get to a place where I am satisfied enough to start letting it out there. Some novels take 5-10 years. I still have my first, from 21 years ago, yet to edit! At one time, I was writing 3-5 screenplays a year. I couldn't write two novels in a year if my life depended on it!

To be clear, I am not talking about finished, polished scripts; each of those takes 6-months to 2-3 years, depending on the subject and how many other people have "input." (A gracious Hollywood term for "no ideas but a need to pretend.") So I embark on another journey into lala land where everyone has an opinion based on the pure knowledge that neither they nor anyone they know actually knows anything about what will or won't make money; but where everyone knows that everyone else is afraid.

I HAD to pick a controversial topic. Jeez. On the other hand, I get to laugh out loud when I read it, and get a break from the ongoing, intense, depleting labor (joyous as it may be) of fiction. Unfortunately, I don't even have time to reread this, much less edit it right now - so I apologize for any and all errors and typos.