Category: Writing

Writing Update: September

Regarding tne twelve-short-stories target for the year, I’m finally hitting par with this set of written pieces:
– “The Tape”
– “Buckets”
– “Babel”
– “The Twelve Times I Drank Too Much”
– “Lift Story”
– “The Apotheosis of Melvin Rameka”
– “Inappropriate Boss”
– “The Intervention Upstairs”
– “The Confessions”
Not a single one of them is really ready for prime-time though, they all need at least an edit if not more. Only five of them have been out to other human beings for comment, four of them exist solely as pen-in-notebook scribbles, so got to get those typed up. Still work to do! I’m seeing some themes/types coming through in my stories, also; maybe I’ll try and break out of that for the last three pieces. Maybe not.
Notable scratchings ‘n’ failed drafts include:
– “Walking story”
– “The Big Drive”
– “Corrina’s Walk”
“The Beast” comic ticks along.
Having meetings about the follow-up to “Affair of the Diamond Necklace”.
Recorded my pieces for Dan’s podcast version of “Urban Driftwood”, the anthology of our work as young writers. This was a really challenging little gig, trying to get to the meat of stuff I wrote a long time ago and respect it for what it was. I ended up liking some of it more than I did before, and some of it less, and in the case of one piece I ended up really liking the first half and really disliking the second half. Anyway, when it goes live you’ll read about it here…
“Ron the Body” is still inert. Must get that submission train rolling again, so easy to slack off on it.
And working away also on “Lament”, a role-playing game I’ve had in my to-do list for years, Mr 2Trees did some wonderful art for it a few years back. Enjoying that process.
Ummm I think that’s it. [Last writing update]

See me, angsty

In October last year, Urban Driftwood was published. It’s a collection of poetry and prose by four young Wellington writers. I’m one of them, so is Dan of Freshly Ground foodblog infamy, and we get away with applying the word “young” because the writing is a decade or more old.*
And now you can download it free.
I wrote in the blog post linkied above, “The collection is a nice blend of voices, which was always Dan’s intent – he, Jane and Stephen all bring distinctive rhythms and styles and they balance each other well. Jane’s meditative simplicity, Stephen’s shaggy-dog shrugs of tone, Dan’s thoughtful density and my whatever. I am pleased to say that it lives up to Dan’s initial hope that we four writers together would be more than the sum of our parts.”
Its up for sale in hardcopy on Lulu, and we’ve added a free .pdf download. Go get it. Read my angst. I dare you.
* Yep, this project was in Dan’s to-do list for a looong time. Much respect for people who keep things on their to-do list for a decade and then actually do them.

Writing Update: July/August

Still working on tne twelve short stories target for the year.
Either finished or in a late-stage draft:
– “The Tape”
– “Buckets”
– “Babel”
– “The Twelve Times I Drank Too Much”
– “Lift Story”
– “The Apotheosis of Melvin Rameka”
Notes ‘n’ scratchings ‘n’ failed drafts:
– “Walking story”
– “Confession”
– “The Big Drive”
In other words, got a long ways to go yet. But I’m learning a lot about short stories, so that’s good.
“The Beast” comic keeps on keeping on, looking handsome. Re-writing dialogue to best fit a drawn page is a whole new writing skill. Awesome though.
“Affair of the Diamond Necklace” was performed and went well. Sweet.
I’m going to be recording some decade-old short fiction soon, for Dan’s podcast version of “Urban Driftwood“. Some of it will be tricky…
A couple other small Sekret Projects too but nothing particularly dramatic. No movement on Ron the Body.
[Last writing update]

Smashed plates and diamonds


Thoroughly caught up in the world of Marie Antoinette for The Affair of the Diamond Necklace, which is on Saturday evening.
Today, I smashed a plate by letting it fall from my head. That’s a new one. But the dances are going rather well I think.
There are still tickets to be had, if anyone is feeling keen. It will be a spectacular evening in every way.
But while the spectacle is being prepared, blogging will be light.

More art from the comic

beastp2.jpg
Some nice art from Brynn (unfinished! she says). These are Pascal (left) and Jesse (right), the two main characters in the first part of The Beast. It’s a six-part story due to be completed sometime this century. Each 16-pg part foregrounds a different character in the orbit of the enigmatic Leo and his unusual parties.
Just showin’ off, here.

Glossy brochures

On the scene now in Wellington: glossy, sexy brochures for The Affair of the Diamond Necklace, the interactive theatre event I wrote for the St James Theatre here in Dubtown. It’s a full-colour piece of eye candy that really makes the show look awesome – which is as it should be, because the show will be awesome.
There’s something very exciting about having classy collateral showcasing your wares. It makes the whole endeavour feel suddenly real, which is an important effect when the experience from this side of the coin is people in a room having fun and emails going back and forth about costumes and script edits. It’s like a feedback loop – we put something out there that announces us in a big way, and then we get extra movitation to live up to that high standard.
It has not escaped my notice that this is, by coincidence, ten years exactly since I was last distributing glossy, sexy brochures around Wellington in order to promote an interactive theatre event. That was Apocalypse, also called Aliens: Apocalypse (but not on the official literature so we didn’t violate any copyrights). Apocalypse was the last of three biannual weekend events where a big crowd of people pit themselves against the Giger-creatures of the Alien movie series. I was the prime mover behind all three, but was far from alone. They were all successful, but this third one, Apocalypse, was the most fitful and compromised success. It was, to be plain, an over-reach not in scale of event but in the content – I was trying to do with it something that I didn’t have tools to do. These days, with a vibrant live action gaming scene in New Zealand, with alternate structures for interactive gaming like Jeepform, online RP, pervasive games and the technique-focused Forge diaspora, and with just more know-how under our collective belts, it is safe to say we would have done it differently. But still: a success, a memorable occasion.
The flyers were beautiful but ultimately fruitless. A careful media strategy saw us garner coverage in newspapers and radio; we were supported by a handsome website and these impressive flyers completed the image of an interesting and well-assembled event. From all of these efforts, we pulled in only a handful of people who didn’t come from word-of-mouth. (On the other hand, these few people were also enthusiastic supporters of the event, and we benefited from their presence greatly; so perhaps it did balance out in the end?)
And again, I think back to the second Aliens weekend, Fury, and how every person who arrived encountered a huge and impressive movie-style poster dramatising the event they were about to join. Those posters, I’m convinced, set the tone; they told every participant that this was something big, something special. And so they believed, and so they acted, and so it was.
But then again, I remember walking the dealers room at Gen Con 2005 and seeing the people sitting lonely in their booths, surrounded by product they would never shift, with incredible art on the cover of their piled hardbacks, art that would have cost a fortune. The magic didn’t work with that transaction.
I’m excited that people will be picking up our brochure and stuffing it into their jacket pocket and pulling it out later on as they walk along the waterfront and inspecting it, decoding it, evaluating it. The glossy brochure is a promise; it says that we’re delivering something worth your time. I am deeply confident that we are doing exactly that.

Writing Update: June

Tne twelve short stories target for the year:
– Two stories (“The Tape” and “Buckets”) completed and, er, rejected by publication outlets. “Buckets” got shortlisted with some very nice words in rejection. Pleased by that. The benefit of good commentary from kind readers, there.
– Untitled walking story – still haven’t returned to this, still think it’s pretty much unsalvageable.
– “Babel” – have had good reader feedback. Needs some careful thinking and another pass.
– “The Twelve Times I Drank Too Much” – draft all typed up but haven’t sent it to anyone yet.
– “Confession” and “The Big Drive” both exist as notes and snippets only. Not good enough! Keep at it mr orgue!
Comic still progressing. Regular meetings with artist, pages slowly incrementing. Verra slowly.
Sekret writing project Marie Antoinette event – now officially announced. Rehearsals proper start Monday, yay!
Ron the Body has been back in the marketplace, too. Sample response from a UK agency: “I enjoyed this, but it’s not quite right for my contacts.” Onwards!
(Wedding thank-you cards… we are over halfway through… just)
[Last writing update]

Marie Antoinette Project – Live


The Marie Antoinette interactive theatre event is now fully live on the St James website. Very exciting! It will shortly be appearing in the next St James season brochure that is mailed out to many thousands of people.
Rehearsals are about to begin, and I’ll be giving some direction about how I want the interactivity to work in this evening. Our performers are incredible and enthusiastic and will be up for every challenge. I also need to do a bit of re-writing in response to the first cast read-through we had; I was very pleased that the script came out looking very good at the end of that, with several people specifically complimenting me on it. Believe it or not but I think working on the 48 and collaborating with an artist on a comic have both helped a great deal, forcing me to get better at cramming more content into fewer words and trusting in the performance/artwork to do a lot of communicating.
Ticket sales are open to the public – a key St James staffer was sick for a couple of weeks when they should have been hitting up corporate clients, so they’ve just thrown the doors open instead. If you’re interested, details at the webpage. (Yeah, it’s on the spendy side but it’s not that ridiculous for dinner, drinks and a show combined.) If we sell out I might even make some pocket money…