It didn't hit me until the other day that this story is up to 18 chapters. I think there's at least 3-4 more chapters to go, including the epilogue. The first thing that comes to mind is that I have a rampant ego. These stories are the ultimate in self-indulgence since they are all about me, me, and more me. I suppose all blogging could be considered self-indulgent if you use that criteria because it assumes that you 1) have something to say that others want to read, and 2) that what you have to say is interesting.
I don't know. What I do know is I will continue to write these personal stories, as I call them, about these worlds and characters I have created on Mock Turtle's San Francisco Life because they help me delve into important issues going on with me, and because it's a lot of fun. Whether or not I will continue to post them is another matter.
Still, casting myself as the 'FailSafe' and going up against God himself seems a little crazy, even for me. Oh well. It's my head and imagination we're dealing with here so I'm just going to go with it.
Thanks for reading.
Showing posts with label An Aside. Show all posts
Showing posts with label An Aside. Show all posts
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
FailSafe: A Quick Note
The story is about to get more violent. Just a warning.
I finally got around to rewriting and posting the missing chapter. The rest of the story is finished and just needs to be cut & pasted and edited.
I wanted to make a comment on the writing. While this is an actual story it still falls under the category of blog post for me. As I mentioned before, everything that happens in this story was written as it was happening. There was no advance planning at all and there's been very little editing to the story. I only had a vague idea about how it was going to turn out. I didn't really know much about it, I just knew it had to be written.
I've been working steadily on my novel which means finding the story, putting it together, and then extensive editing and polishing. These blog posts are usually written down off the top of my head, edited a bit to make it more readable, and then posted. My point is the writing in my novel and any other story that I don't consider "personal" is different than these blog posts. How different, I'm not sure. I don't think I'll know that until I've finished the third draft of my novel (working on the second draft now).
Thanks for reading.
I finally got around to rewriting and posting the missing chapter. The rest of the story is finished and just needs to be cut & pasted and edited.
I wanted to make a comment on the writing. While this is an actual story it still falls under the category of blog post for me. As I mentioned before, everything that happens in this story was written as it was happening. There was no advance planning at all and there's been very little editing to the story. I only had a vague idea about how it was going to turn out. I didn't really know much about it, I just knew it had to be written.
I've been working steadily on my novel which means finding the story, putting it together, and then extensive editing and polishing. These blog posts are usually written down off the top of my head, edited a bit to make it more readable, and then posted. My point is the writing in my novel and any other story that I don't consider "personal" is different than these blog posts. How different, I'm not sure. I don't think I'll know that until I've finished the third draft of my novel (working on the second draft now).
Thanks for reading.
Friday, October 23, 2009
FailSafe - A Break In the Action
***The following post was written after I wrote the first three chapters of this story, formally known as "The Tower" now entitled "FailSafe." I'm including it here because it's part of the whole package.***
So I'm seeing that my new story, "The Tower," has taken on epic proportions. I knew I had to write another story about Mr. Gryphon but I didn't know what to write. I just started the opening line and then we were climbing the stairs in The Tower. I didn't know about the Stranger until I literally looked out the window in the story. I did scare myself too because I saw the Stranger for the first time when I wrote those words. Likewise, I didn't know Mr. Gryphon was going to be killed until I couldn't hear him climbing up the stairs. Everything is unfolding as I'm writing or minutes beforehand.
Such is the creative process. Almost all my stories with Mr. Gryphon unfold like this as they go along. I was surprised about the Rocketeer. I thought he was gone a long time ago. I knew he was going to pull me through the door but only after the door appeared and I pushed it open.
I have a vague idea how the story as a whole will end but I didn't know the Stranger was me until they were carrying me to the clinic. They say we battle ourselves in stories and that's what mythology is supposed to show us.
Sometimes when I'm working on my novel things unfold like this but more often than not I attempt to do some advance planning. Lately, though, I'll write a scene and forget about it. When I go back to read it I've been pleasantly surprised.
All the characters here existed before in other stories or there have been references to them on my blog. There are three other aspects of myself: my 36 year old self, my Dead Self, and April. In truth, all the characters are me but those three are most directly me. April is a teenager and lethal when she wants to be. She is very dangerous. It's probably why she looks like Go-Go.
The Forest of My Imagination consists of the Library, a massive cathedral-like structure I dreamed about a few times. There's a huge maze in the basement with many blue doors. The doors shift and move around all the time so it's difficult to find the door you're looking for. The doors have signs on them that say things like: "London in 1875," the "Song-Every Day Is Like Sunday," and "The Ed Sullivan Show Featuring The Doors." If you go through the door you'll find yourself there. I can travel back through time, into songs and books, but not forward in time. There's also my living quarters where Chapter 2 of the story takes place. A conservatory, gardens, and observatory are in the "backyard."
Also in the Forest is a 20 bedroom mansion situated on a hill that used to belong to Mr. Gryphon, but now belongs to everybody else who lives here. There's a smaller maze with blue doors in that basement. There are the picnic tables in the forest, the Still Pool which is really a vast lake that goes back into the mountains beyond, and now The Tower.
On a parallel plane is the Burned Out Place Of My Nightmares. It's another place that I've dreamed about many times. Most significantly, my dream with April took place here. The landscape is desolate with very few trees and shrubs. The ground is stark and cracked. It seems as time goes on there are more and more crashed cars, planes, and other vehicles. Everything is rusting out and most of the vehicles are broken apart and lying upside down or on their side. It's not always dangerous but there's always that possibility.
Further out from the Forest is The Garden of Eden, Hell, and various points in between. I've written about all these places in stories before so all of them are fleshed out.
I'm not sure why I'm revealing all this information right now. In the past I've been loathe to disclose anything pertaining to these subjects but I feel compelled now just like I feel compelled to write this story down. I guess we'll see how it goes.
So I'm seeing that my new story, "The Tower," has taken on epic proportions. I knew I had to write another story about Mr. Gryphon but I didn't know what to write. I just started the opening line and then we were climbing the stairs in The Tower. I didn't know about the Stranger until I literally looked out the window in the story. I did scare myself too because I saw the Stranger for the first time when I wrote those words. Likewise, I didn't know Mr. Gryphon was going to be killed until I couldn't hear him climbing up the stairs. Everything is unfolding as I'm writing or minutes beforehand.
Such is the creative process. Almost all my stories with Mr. Gryphon unfold like this as they go along. I was surprised about the Rocketeer. I thought he was gone a long time ago. I knew he was going to pull me through the door but only after the door appeared and I pushed it open.
I have a vague idea how the story as a whole will end but I didn't know the Stranger was me until they were carrying me to the clinic. They say we battle ourselves in stories and that's what mythology is supposed to show us.
Sometimes when I'm working on my novel things unfold like this but more often than not I attempt to do some advance planning. Lately, though, I'll write a scene and forget about it. When I go back to read it I've been pleasantly surprised.
All the characters here existed before in other stories or there have been references to them on my blog. There are three other aspects of myself: my 36 year old self, my Dead Self, and April. In truth, all the characters are me but those three are most directly me. April is a teenager and lethal when she wants to be. She is very dangerous. It's probably why she looks like Go-Go.
The Forest of My Imagination consists of the Library, a massive cathedral-like structure I dreamed about a few times. There's a huge maze in the basement with many blue doors. The doors shift and move around all the time so it's difficult to find the door you're looking for. The doors have signs on them that say things like: "London in 1875," the "Song-Every Day Is Like Sunday," and "The Ed Sullivan Show Featuring The Doors." If you go through the door you'll find yourself there. I can travel back through time, into songs and books, but not forward in time. There's also my living quarters where Chapter 2 of the story takes place. A conservatory, gardens, and observatory are in the "backyard."
Also in the Forest is a 20 bedroom mansion situated on a hill that used to belong to Mr. Gryphon, but now belongs to everybody else who lives here. There's a smaller maze with blue doors in that basement. There are the picnic tables in the forest, the Still Pool which is really a vast lake that goes back into the mountains beyond, and now The Tower.
On a parallel plane is the Burned Out Place Of My Nightmares. It's another place that I've dreamed about many times. Most significantly, my dream with April took place here. The landscape is desolate with very few trees and shrubs. The ground is stark and cracked. It seems as time goes on there are more and more crashed cars, planes, and other vehicles. Everything is rusting out and most of the vehicles are broken apart and lying upside down or on their side. It's not always dangerous but there's always that possibility.
Further out from the Forest is The Garden of Eden, Hell, and various points in between. I've written about all these places in stories before so all of them are fleshed out.
I'm not sure why I'm revealing all this information right now. In the past I've been loathe to disclose anything pertaining to these subjects but I feel compelled now just like I feel compelled to write this story down. I guess we'll see how it goes.
FailSafe - An Explanation
The original title of the story was "The Tower" and I had posted parts 1-3 on my other blog "Fainting in Coils." After I finished it, though, I decided to re-post the first three chapters here and will continue posting the entire story on this blog instead.
This is a long story, probably 30+ pages, and I realized "The Tower" wasn't the right title. I've done a bit of grammatical editing to "Chapter 1." I wanted to post the story here because this will be the first time I've offered a story I've written to anybody other than my ex or my therapist. Keep in mind that it's what I call a "personal" short story, that is, it deals with very personal issues going on with me. All of it is cloaked in heavy fantasy but it's still means there's something I trying to work through. I'm still not 100 sure what that could be. It should become clearer as I post these chapters, at least to me.
Just a warning, this story is very heavy in religious, most likely blasphemous imagery. The last major story featuring Mr. Gryphon was "The Coda" and it had some religious imagery but nothing like this one. As you all know I'm not a religious person but I find myself drawn to these subjects. I wonder what that's about?
I wanted to make this story available to my very small readership. I'm curious to see what you all think of it. Comments are welcome, as always. Thanks for reading.
This is a long story, probably 30+ pages, and I realized "The Tower" wasn't the right title. I've done a bit of grammatical editing to "Chapter 1." I wanted to post the story here because this will be the first time I've offered a story I've written to anybody other than my ex or my therapist. Keep in mind that it's what I call a "personal" short story, that is, it deals with very personal issues going on with me. All of it is cloaked in heavy fantasy but it's still means there's something I trying to work through. I'm still not 100 sure what that could be. It should become clearer as I post these chapters, at least to me.
Just a warning, this story is very heavy in religious, most likely blasphemous imagery. The last major story featuring Mr. Gryphon was "The Coda" and it had some religious imagery but nothing like this one. As you all know I'm not a religious person but I find myself drawn to these subjects. I wonder what that's about?
I wanted to make this story available to my very small readership. I'm curious to see what you all think of it. Comments are welcome, as always. Thanks for reading.
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