Tag: writing

‘Vibe Shift’ Episode 2

Here you go. This is about the rise of fascism in the United States as well as the five novel project I’m working on.

Zendaya, Call Your Agent (Maybe…One Day…Eventually)


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m just about to enter the third act of the first draft of the first novel in what is projected to be a five novel project. And occasionally, I will stop myself with the realization that I’ve come up with a damn good concept.

And at the core of this concept is an American interpretation of the Lisbeth Salander trope. In my imagination, as I write these five novels, the person who would play my take on the Lisbeth Salander trope would be Zendaya.

But it’s not a one-to-one comparison for various structural reasons. Yet my dream is each one of the books will build your interest in a character that looks a lot like Zendaya and invokes the same type of affinity as Lisbeth Salander. At least, that’s my goal.

I want these five novel project to be an old brown shoe for the existing audience of Stieg Larsson. But I have to note that I’m, by nature, not nearly as dark as he is in his writing. Yet I am really working hard to flesh out the characters and to make them people who are, if nothing else, interesting enough that you want to spend enough time with them to finish five ~100,000 word novels.

Because these novels deal with decades of events, you get to see on the page as it happens why my heroine in the later novels — the one I imagine looks like Zendaya — is so fucked up. That’s what makes these project so different than Larsson’s stuff — the backstory isn’t back story.

But, I have to admit, that this is a massive, massive project.

A lot could go wrong. And as I keep saying, I have no idea what I’m doing. So, it could be that I’m writing such crap that no matter amount of re-writing will get me close to being good enough to sell any of this.

But, in the end, all I got is my dream. Just getting a positive reception from anyone that might read the second draft of the first book. The idea that I would not only sell these novels, but they would be popular enough that Zendaya would play the central character would be beyond a life long dream come true.

And, what’s more, there is another character in the series that I imagine being played by Olivia Munn as an AmeriAsian version of the Mare of Easttown trope. In fact, that’s the core of the project — the relationship between an Olivia Munn type person and a Zendaya type person.

Anyway. I have a huge amount of work to do. The key thing is for me is to simply get the first book in the project done.

‘Unwanted Hugs’ #lyrics to a #pop #rock #ballad

I’m really proud of this one.

Unwanted Hugs
lyrics by @sheltgarner
please give credit if you produce or perform

the break up was a year ago
we’re no longer a thing
in the end it was all a game
but what can I say I still
look forward to seeing you and the
unwanted hugs
unwanted hugs
unwanted hugs

if it wasn’t for unwanted hugs
what would we have
if it was’t for unwanted hugs
our relationship would be dead

here come close
close enough to smell
I need one of those
unwanted hugs
unwanted hugs
unwanted hugs

people claim we made a cute couple
maybe we did I don’t know
but all I know is how you feel
when I go in for one of those
unwanted hugs
unwanted hugs
unwanted hugs

if it wasn’t for unwanted hugs
what would we have
if it was’t for unwanted hugs
our relationship would be dead

here come close
close enough to smell
I need one of those
unwanted hugs
unwanted hugs
unwanted hugs

(bridge)
when the hugs were wanted
and things were going well
things were just so swell
but that was a long, long time ago
now all I’ve got are

unwanted hugs
unwanted hugs
unwanted hugs
unwanted hugs

Thoughts Upon Being On The Cusp Of The Third Act Of The First Draft Of My First Novel


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

After several years of struggle, I’m finally — finally — about to enter the third act of the first draft of my first novel. One interesting thing about this process has been how much my outline changes once I start to actually write scenes using it.

I compare it to the difference between using Google Maps and using Street View Google Maps. Once you plop yourself into the actual location first hand and walk around in the real world, everything changes. But, thankfully, it definitely seems as though I’m about to wrap up this first draft pretty soon.

If things go according to plan — and they still may not — I should wrap up the first draft of my this first novel by the end of May. Then I pause for a month, work on fleshing out the next two novels in the project (along with a “second track novel) and then throw myself into working on the second draft of the novel starting probably around July 4th weekend.

I already have a lot of ideas about how to make the second draft of this novel a lot — and I mean A LOT — better. I’m holding off reading and re-reading some how-to novel books because I don’t want to spook myself before I finish the first draft. Once I actually finish this first draft, everything, in a sense, will be thrown up in the air.

I’m going to deconstruct everything then throw it all back together in a way that is hopefully a lot better than the first draft.

Thoughts At ~100,000 Words, First Draft


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

For once, everything seems to be going according to plan with a first draft. At the moment, it seems as though I have a pretty good chance of finishing this first draft so I can pause for a month before turning around and re-write everything.

The story is structurally sound and I really do feel as though if you read this first novel in this five novel project that it will seem like an old brown shoe relative to Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Series. It’s something of a slow burn and the third act really takes things in an unexpected direction.

Because I have no one to tell me no, I’m going to throw myself into the second and third novels in this project during the month-long pause I plan on for (probably) all of June. (I really hope to finish the first draft of this first book by the end of May, but something could always happen to stop or delay that.)

But, for the time being, I’m hopeful.

I think there’s a decent chance that I won’t embarrass myself, if nothing else.

The emotional heart of these five novels is meant to be the bond between an AmerAsian Mare of Easttown-type woman and a Lisbeth Salander-type woman. The dynamic between the two of them over the course of a generation is what I hope will bring people back for all five novels.

If I had anyone to tell me no, what I would do is focus exclusively on this first novel in the project and try to use it as a calling hard for my career. But I’m stubborn and there’s no one in my life to tell me no, so, fuck it. Try to finish five novels it is.

And that doesn’t even include the ‘second tract” novel I have rolling around in my mind.

Though, to be fair, I do plan on using as much of my time as possible on the first book. I always thought my first novel would be scifi, but lulz, no. It’s something akin to a thriller. But I think that’s a designation I use simply to make marketing easier.

The first book is more a character driven novel about a woman’s relationship to her family and the people she loves in her life.

Anyway. We’ll see.

Rushing Towards ~100,000 Words & The 3rd Act: I’m Writing The Juicy Bits Of The Novel Now


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Finally, after months of work on this official first draft of my first novel, I’m nearing the end of the second act and heading into the third. I’m finally writing the juicy parts that might cause my gentle readers to check their watch at 4:30 a.m. on a Wednesday and push themselves to finish the novel even if it means being late for work the next day.

That, at least, is the goal.

But I still have a lot of work ahead of me.

I have to actually finish this first draft, then pause for a month, then re-write everything for a second beta draft that I can show beta readers.

That’s a lot of work, but it’s totally worth it.

I’ve finally seen land on the horizon, after years of feeling lost and wondering if I had totally misjudged what I got myself into.

Barring something I can’t predict, at a minimum, I’m going to finish a novel by the time I turn 50. Then, to try to sell it.

Tik-Tokers Are Really Adamant About Tinx Being Canceled


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

Let me be clear — I’m not really all that interested in Tinx’s fate. But given how “cancel culture” is such a big deal, it is worth talking about how Tinx has flamed out so suddenly.

So, as I understand it, Tinx — who was once called “the Internet’s older sister” is now persona non grata within the Tik-Tok community for being “fat phobic” and being a Republican.

But, that’s not really what’s going on — what’s really going on is she had apparently really aggravated Tik-Tok people by coming out of nowhere and rising too fast in the public eye.

She didn’t really pay her dues, in other words.

She was seen as too ambitious and fake and so some people took it upon themselves to kneecap her career. So, rather than some New Era where everyone is being canceled for 15 minutes, this is a far older story of ambition gone bad.

Anyway, it’s still possible that this will blow over and she will come roaring back. We’ll see.

At ~85,000 Words, First Draft


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I’m just now entering the latter stages of the second act of this novel. And, hopefully, I will zoom through to the ending by the end of the month. Then I plan on taking a break for a few weeks (maybe a month.)

Pray.

During that pause, I will work on the second book in the project as well as a second creative track novel.

I still have a lot of work to do.

I honestly don’t know how I’m going to afford a good beta reader. But, hopefully, something will work out.

It’s tough finding someone to read your novel who isn’t a fucking stalker or who doesn’t have some sort of twisted ulterior motive. I just need someone to read over the second draft and tell me how to improve it.

But I will need a pretty fast turn-around, which is, unto itself, another pain in the butt.

And, yet, here I am. This project is turning out to be exactly what I wanted when I started it a few years ago. Now, to lock things down and finish it so I can turn around and try to get a literary agent.

At ~70,000 Words At The Midpoint Of This First Draft Of This First Novel In A Planned 5 Novel Thriller Project


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

I finally took a deep breath and collected all the scenes that make up what I’ve written so far and at the midpoint of the novel I’m at about 70,000 words. That’s not bad for the midpoint.

Looking at this critically, this is both good and bad.

It’s good because I’m going to wrap up the first draft in the sweetspot of about 80,000 – 120,000 words. It’s bad because there’s a real risk that the second draft, which will be far, far better will completely blow past that sweetspot, which is what I’ve been afraid of from the beginning.

But I don’t know.

I probably am just overthinking things. I do that all the time.

The Thing About Getting Older & Undertaking a Huge Writing Project


by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner

As I continued to work on this 5 novel project, I also continue to realize that I have a very finite amount of time left on this earth. I’ve officially reached put up or shut up time.

I know I should be reading as much as I’m writing, but it’s really difficult. It’s difficult because I feel angst about reading when I should be writing. I need to wrap up the first book in this 5 novel project ASAP so I can start working on the next book.

I just feel a lot of angst overall.

I just feel like it’s too late. That I should just sit in my bed and stare at the ceiling and feel guilty. It’s really too late to make any meaningful change in my life because if I get what I want, I will be judged by when it happened.

You’re supposed to sell your first novel when you’re young and cute, not old a grizzled.

Every time this happens, however, I dust myself off and throw myself back into writing.