Off and running

I drafted the first short (three page) chapter of the new thunderbolt of a short novel, and while it's clearly draft, with lots to fix, nonetheless the tone strikes me as about right ... and since I already have the story whole, I'm moving forward and now expect to finish a draft before winter ends.

It's interesting to compare this to my continuing struggles with the Cold War novel, many drafts over many years, with much I like -- characters, setting, rhetoric -- but always stopped dead in its tracks at the moment I admit I have no story. Hence my new approach, to write it as a screenplay, in which story matters most. I believe in a novel the story does not matter most in the end -- it's the way the story is told, that bundle of style, tone, voice, point of view, that communicates the story. "It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it," says my favorite literary critic, Jimminy Cricket. This is a judgment of the end product. But the process works a bit differently, and if you don't have a clear story, or create one along the way, the stone wall inevitably appears and you're stopped in your tracks.

This new story came to me whole. Almost never happens. Very rare indeed. But there it was, suddenly in my head, and I can see how it comes from all the brooding I've been doing about aging, dying, empowerment, the things I brood about these days. I found a story that deals with all of this with dark humor and economy. And, of technical challenge to me, the story includes a device I've never used before: a Greek god is a character. That's the way I see it. A reader may believe it's a loony character who just believes he's a Greek god. But I take him at his word.

This book is too literary to be commercial. No problem. If done right, it will have a proud place on the shelf of my archive. Moreover, it should be a hoot to write. Dark comedy is always fun.

Man, how quickly my entire work schedule can change! I've learned not to ignore these gifts from the gods. In the past, they've turned out just fine.