Category: From The Editor

A New Emphasis On Developing Characters Because of Fleabag As I Write The Second Draft Of My First Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I find myself a bit startled by how good Fleabag is now that I’m watching all the way through instead of just watching clips on YouTube. The specific issue is I realize I really need to make my characters more real and sharp as I work on the second draft of the novel.

Fleabag is helping me write better characters.

Remember, I’m doing all of this in a fucking vacuum. I have nearly no one to talk to as I do all of this, so I have to stumble into new ways of looking at things on my way. And that’s exactly what has happened because of Fleabag. The first draft of the novel had an excess of plot while the characters were more just placeholders or moods that were made up of a collection of different traits that I liked or needed.

Now, however, with the second draft — because of Fleabag — I’m really giving my characters some thought. And that, in turn, is really changing the flow of the plot. I have long known, in general terms, the nature of the story, but the specifics have been changing and developing for years now.

And lot of what’s going on is I’m thinking a lot more about not only cause and effect, but also really giving a lot more thought about every possible twist or turn I can squeeze out of each character in a way that helps fuse the plot with character.

Anyway, it’s one of those things where I just won’t really know how successful I’m being until Beta Readers take a gander at it.

‘Shut Up And Write’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Watching Fleabag and Daisy Jones & The Six has really stressed to me the need for well developed characters. What’s more Fleabag and Russian Doll have given me a nudge to be a big more provocative with some of the changes I’ve come up with when it comes to fleshing out the novel’s characters.

Women are going to either love or hate what I’ve come up with.

I honestly, at the moment, don’t know which is reaction to expect.

All I know is things are getting spicy in the way that modern adult readers of thrillers expect. Things getting spicy is a way of keeping tings serious and thought provoking.

But because I’m doing all of this in a creative vacuum….I just don’t know. It could go either way.

If ‘No Hard Feelings’ Is A Hit After The Success of ‘Cocaine Bear’…Movies Are Back, Baby!

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

For what feels like an eternity, Hollywood movies have been bifurcated into two types of genres — woke and comic book. It’s still too soon to tell, but with the success of Cocaine Bear and the coming No Hard Feelings it seems as though it’s at least POSSIBLE that movies are back!

Double Dees, Double Deeze!

There is a lot to unpack.

One is, despite the rise of Netflix and Chill young people still need a socially acceptable reason to get out of the house and spend a few hours in the dark with a girl or boy that they like.

Also, movies are the background buzz of culture. Sometimes, a movie is just a movie and you go see it and don’t really think about the finer points of Critical Race Theory while you do.

And, in real terms, it’s be a very, very long term since we had raunchy hard comedies like Wedding Crashers and The Hangover in theatres. The premise of No Hard Feelings is enough to make any woke person clutch their pearls for a number of reasons.

I generally support the ideals of being “woke” but sometimes audiences just want to let off some steam watching a smoking hot chick try to seduce a 19 year old for a car.

It’s dumb and spicy and just the type of movie that was the cornerstone of the film going experience for generations until the fucking woke people began to believe there was something innately wrong about heteronormative monoculture.

Ugh.

The case could be made that the pandemic scared the shit out of Hollywood and, as such, they decided to go back to basics. Give people a movie about a bear on cocaine. Give people a movie staring a hot A-list actress trying to bang a 19 year old.

It will be interesting to see what the people on Tik-Tok think about this movie. I think, in a sense, they will make or break the movie.

The Real Reason Why Fox News Is A National Shame

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

The key issue about Fox News is if it started to actually be “fair and balance,” it would implode. Some new Right-wing media outlet would spring up to take its place.

A huge swath of the Republican Party is wilful in its acceptance of the massive lies that Fox News spreads. That’s why I grow so frustrated with people who seem to think if only Fox News could be eliminated then all of our problems would be resoloved.

Fox News, like much of the bullshit we have to deal with these days, is a symptom, not a cause, of what ails us. The actual problems like income inequality, racism and misogyny are intractable, structural issues that we simply do not have the political will to do anything about.

And, sad to say, I would go so far as to say that the only way these intractable problems might be solved is some sort of Second Reconstruction that took place after a Second American Civil War.

I know that sounds rather hysterical, but that’s all I got. My hope is, of course, that we’ll just keep punting these structural problems down the road and until they are blunted to the point that the risk of a civil war goes down to zero. But, lulz….who knows?

What To Make Of ‘TEXIT’

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I write a lot about how I think if there is any sort of National Divorce that it will be Blues, not Reds, who serve the papers. And, yet, here we are with shit like this:

So, here we are. There is actual move towards “TEXIT,” or Texas voting to secede from the Union. I continue to believe that this is just not going to happen unless something really unexpected happens.

I’ve beginning to believe that even if Trump is the 2024 Republican nominee that Trump will become president without a shot being fired. In fact, the only way I’m beginning to think that the only way this might happen is the following scenario: Trump is the nominee in 2024, but he loses and when he starts to demand a “National Divorce” people take him seriously about it.

Otherwise, it’s a lulz.

Either Trump wins outright and we just slide into some form of autocracy — especially should something happen to him and his veep become POTUS — or he’s the nominee and we become an autocracy that way.

So, in a sense, a lot of things would have to go wrong in a specific way for there to be a National Divorce. The question is — how possible that that specific series of events might happen?

It seems as though we’re still too far out to know one way or another. We don’t know Trump will be the Republican nominee. We don’t know if he will win the 2024 election and we don’t know if Trump loses and starts to rant about civil war if anyone will take him up on it.

A lot of this an issue of the economy. If the United States defaults on debts because we won’t raise the debt ceiling, then that sets up a situation where the economy is doing so badly that an already unstable United States would be primed and ready for strategic political violence.

Another issue is Biden’s age. There are a lot — A LOT — of nightmare scenarios dealing with Biden being out of the picture suddenly at just the wrong moment during the 2024 presidential cycle. I wince even thinking about any such thing happening, but history shows that sometimes once you’re in a crisis a lot of bad things can happen in quick succession.

So, should we take TEXIT seriously? Maybe. But maybe not YET. It could go either way with either there being TEXIT or there being, alternately, being CAXIT.

Things are very much up in the air at the moment.

Shooting For A June Deadline For The Second Draft Of My First Novel

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

After giving myself a April – May deadline to finish the second draft of my first novel, I’ve to make that deadline around June instead. That’s as late as I can make it and still hope to query agents in early 2024 after the holidays.

I’m really impressed with how much better this novel is getting. It’s getting really good! While my actual writing may still not be all that great, my storytelling ability has improved a great deal.

It’s becoming clear to me that I’m beginning to enter a new phase of this project where my ability to improve it is not entirely within my power. I think given that I’m doing all of this in a vacuum that the only way I can take things to the next level after I finish the first draft is through the beta reader process and maybe hiring an editor to give me some suggestions.

Anyway. Things are kind of getting exciting, in their own way. I’m finally where I want to be in real terms as a storyteller and now it’s just a matter of putting in the hard work.

The Second Draft of My First Novel Is Lurching Forward

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

While it’s definitely slowing me down significantly, I’ve decided to pick the weakest scenes the first draft of this novel and rewrite them completely. Things are really falling into place, however. I’m very pleased with how my characters are beginning to take shape in a professional manner.

My dream title for my first novel.

Two things are influencing this development. One is, I’m finally doing, like, research and shit that I can use to flesh out my characters. Also, I’m making my way through Fleabag and I definitely feel the need to up my game some. The Fleabag characters are so well constructed that I feel obliged to make my own characters better.

Also, I’ve finally, finally, finally figured out motivation. I understand what makes my heroine tick and now that I have that down pat, a lot of other crutical elements to the story can now flow from it.

I have tweaked some elements of the character to make her personal history more spicy and engaging. One thing I’m paying close attention to is how people would actually react to someone as interesting as my heroine if she was a real person.

I’ve set June as my deadline for finishing this second draft. That’s about as late as I can put it and still hope to begin querying agents in early 2024 after the holidays.

I Now Have A Hook For My Heroine

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve transformed my heroine into something a lot more interesting by leaning into the idea that she’s a Second Wave feminist. Some of the evolution is just the result of being the second draft of the novel.

And some of it has come from me coming to grips with the cold hard fact that I just have no assurances that I’m ever going to be able to complete this projected six novel project. So, I’m beginning to draw from some of my ideas for my actual heroine that I dream would be the basis of a open-ended series of books like the Lisbeth Salander novels.

Now that I’m 50, I also realize I need to really work on second and third tract creative projects as well. It’s really beginning to sink in that if I’m lucky, I could be in my mid-50s before I’m a published novelist.

So. Ugh. I have to really be a lot more aware of time moving into the future and act accordingly. I’m not going to live forever. I’m just not. And that doesn’t even begin to address quality of life issues.

I keep thinking about how Stieg Larsson died of a massive heart attack at — you guessed it — 50. I need to lose some weight and I probably need to stop drinking so damn much.

Lulz.

Sigrid Reminds Me Of How I’m An Old

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’ve long said that singers from Scandinavia have a lot of soul. And, in fact, that’s probably one of the lone parts of the world where rock n roll remains pop music in the traditional sense.

I come to grow fond of the Scandinavian singer Sigrid. Her music is in the sweet spot of pop-rock that I really like. And, yet, something about how young she is gives me pause for thought.

She’s only 26! (Oh, to be 26 again. Sigh.)

Now that I’m 50, I find myself feeling uneasy even listening to the music of someone so young.

I suppose some of it Sigrid represents youth culture and, alas, I ain’t young anymore. But what am I going to do about it? Age is immutable. I can’t change how old I am.

Anyway. Being old sucks.

Angst For The Fletcher

by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I try to be hip, you know, a cool kid. So, I’ve found myself listening to lesbian twentysomething vocalist Fletcher. She’s really good. And, yet, being an Old, I sometimes feel a bit lost.

Fletcher

She talks about the angst associated with being around 25 and I feel like smoking a cigar and turning to her to say, “Uh huh. Is that so.”

Then there is all her pining for hot chicks. Fletcher, herself, is a hot chick, so I feel a bit out of place listening to her talk all dreamy about some hot young woman she wants to fuck.

But her music, unto itself, is really good.

Anyway, I’m a Fletcher fan, even if I am an Old.