In Today’s Journal
* A Fun Fact
* Faux Interview, Part 5
* Of Interest
A Fun Fact
How to conceive of a trillion anything….
- 1 million seconds is 11.5 days.
- 1 billion seconds is 11,574 days (31.7 years)
- 1 trillion seconds is 11,574,074 days (31,709.79 years)
(Thanks, KC!)
Faux Interview, Part 5
- You explain that you once wrote under five personas and still publish some short fiction under names including Gervasio Arrancado, Eric Stringer, and Nicolas Z Porter. What does a pseudonym allow a writer to become?
I don’t do that much anymore. But Gervasio Arrancado is very much in touch with that place on the horizon where imagination folds into reality, so he writes magic realism. (Gervasio’s bio.)
Eric Stringer is a borderline psychotic and a free spirit. He writes whatever the hell he wants. Eric is also basically the same person as the character Charles Claymore Task. Both are equally real to me. (Eric’s bio.)
Nick Porter is my adventurer/writer “Hemingway” persona. He writes dramatically, often tersely, and always factually. (Nick’s bio.)
But a pseudonym (simply an alternate name) is not the same as a persona. A persona allows the writer to become whatever and whomever he wants to become—all within the realm of his own very real personality, of course.
- Does a pseudonym or persona allow a different voice? Or even give the writer permission to explore a part of themselves that doesn’t fit their primary author identity?
Yes. For example, it would be difficult to write a romantic love scene if you’re drawing on the darker side of your personality that you normally use to write slash-and-gash horror. And vice versa.
The persona also “gives the writer permission” (I detest that phrase) to explore different aspects of their own personality.
- Do you think your personas actually changed the way you wrote?
Yes. My personas had different personalities than I have. Or more accurately, they brought out different aspects of my personality.
- And when a writer creates a different author identity, is the persona merely a marketing tool—or can it genuinely influence the creative process?
For me, my personas gave me freedom to write different types of stories (per their interests and personalities) and in different ways, but always writing into the dark, meaning nothing was planned in advance.
- There is also an interesting tension between your enormous output and the traditional image of the solitary author.
Yeah, I don’t spend a lot of time with my forearm draped dramatically over my forehead and griping about what “drudgery” it is to be a writer.
The forearm thing would restrict my ability to type the story I’m trying to write, and for me, writing is anything but drudgery.
I don’t spend any time eating brie and sipping wine at hyped-up book launches either. I’m not into all that foo foo, melodramatic, look-at-me crap.
- The conventional picture of writing often involves one manuscript taking years.
Yeah, I know. Ridiculous, isn’t it? Makes me wonder what that “writer” does all day. See my response to Question 7.
- What happens when writing stops being an event and becomes a way of life?
Heaven ensues. Or Nirvana. Or Elysium. Or Paradise. Take your pick.
Our basic biological reason for being here is to procreate and continue the species. Everything else we do is either
- to ensure we are able to continue drawing breath for one more minute or hour or day, or
- to pass the time until we click out of existence.
Those of us who have found our passion and are able to pursue it are the fortunate ones. We aren’t content to simply stare at the television (for example) as the minutes tick off the clock. We’re accomplishing something in our passion, even if it all comes to nothing in the end.
- When writing becomes a way of life does the pressure surrounding each individual book decrease?
Pressure? What pressure? If you’re a writer and you’re feeling any kind of pressure over anything as unimportant as a short story or novel, you need to adjust your attitude.
No individual story or novel is important enough to feel any pressure over. A fiction is nothing more than a few minutes’ or hours’ entertainment. You put it out there, and some readers love it or like it and some don’t. Shrug. So what? You’re a writer, not the general manager of the universe. Just write the next story or novel already.
I mourn the passing of each finished story or novel as I would mourn the passing of a loved one. And I celebrate the beginning of the next story or novel as I would celebrate the birth of a new grandchild.
- Does experimentation become easier? Does failure become less frightening?
For me, no experimentation is necessary. Only practice, only allowing my characters to entertain me.
And there is no failure. There is only Story. The only way a writer can fail is to not write.
Even if you write an opening that doesn’t take off, that isn’t a failure because it got you closer to writing the opening that will take off. And that one might turn out to be your first bestselling novel. But the point is, you’ll never know if you don’t write it.
While we’re on the topic of failure, there are also no real-world repercussions.
Even if a reader absolutely hates your story, he isn’t gonna get on a plane, fly to your city, take a cab to your house, and punch you in the face. Maybe he’ll remember your name and not buy your next book, but so what? If you consistently convey your characters’ authentic stories, a lot of other people will.
So there is no down side to being a writer. That’s why I keep saying the myths are based on unreasoning fears. There is literally nothing to be afraid of.
Sometimes a story doesn’t end the way I’d like it to, but even that isn’t a failure. After all, it ended the way some other reader wanted it to, so that’s fine. For the writer, there is always the next story.
Of Interest
Dr. Mardy’s Quotes of the Week: Money
Which reminded me of a favorite song: Pink Floyd’s “Money” (Thanks, Mardy!)