Yes, but is it Art?
9/28/2005 10:42:00 p.m.
I've started a short story that I think will end up being submitted to the lit mags when (if) I finish it. The title is "Sons and Daughters of the Builder", and the first paragraph (still first draft) is
Whenever people ask me if my father is God, I say no. I learned a long time ago that the true answer—"maybe"—was an opening for any number of further questions, questions I didn't have the answers to.
I have no idea where it's headed. Well, that's not true; I have some ideas, but I haven't picked a direction yet. My biggest fear is that it'll wind up being too spec.fic. for the Literary Journals, dahling, but too lit.fic. for the SF pulps, dude.
Siding continues apace. The south wall is now blue from bottom to top again; soffits & fascia will go up tomorrow. Then the only part left to tackle will be the west wall, up above the kitchen roof. We hope to be done by the weekend.
On the other hand, Greg Knauss's Devil's Dictionary v2.0 defines schedule as A fairy tale with a happy ending, told by the optimistic to the ignorant. So I'm hesitant to be too firm about end dates and ETAs and et ceteras.
Laters, gators!
–Pat J » Perma-Link™ »
4 Comments:
The spec fic mags & zines see themselves as purveyors of cutting edge literary fiction. Methinks they are correct. Unless you want to write boring pointless stories about characters with boring pointless lives who, in their inevitable epiphanies, find meaning in said lives, then forget about mainstream lit fic. My 2c.
Good point. I'll write it and submit it to where I think it belongs, then.
-pat
From How to Be a Canadian*, the section on how to write the Great Canadian Novel:
Plot—Avoid this at all costs. Narrative storylines, where things actually happen, are now considered "crass". Instead, the characters should just sort of mope from scene to scene, maybe staring into the distance now and then to remember events that happened long before. You don't want a sense of forward momentum in a novel. You want "atmosphere". Most Canadian novels are built around a series of unmotivated flashbacks. Let's keep it that way, shall we?
* A humourous look at your neighbours to the north, which even includes a bit on our fetish for extra U's in certain wourds.
Extra letters in certain wourds, you mean?
That bit on the great Canadian novel applies equally well to Amerrrrkan 'serious' fiction. I'll stick to genre.
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