Be The Power
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I hope to get a lot of creative work done this evening and tonight. I have a whole lot of shit I need to get done. I will admit, however, that I’ve been feeling a bit distracted for some reason.
But I hope to clear that up today and throw myself back into my novel(s.)
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
We continue to be in the nadir of the year and absolutely nothing of note is going on. I continue to struggle with a massive six novel project, but, other than that….nothing.
But, August isn’t over yet.
Usually, August is when something crazy happens. So, I suppose, it’s still possible that something really nuts might happen in the next few weeks while all the wealthy snobs are on vacation and the world is being run by interns.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
They say that there are three places one finds inspiration — bed, bath and bus. That is, essentially, you get inspiration while you’re doing other things like being in bed, in the shower or tube or traveling somewhere.
The heroine of my novel has a tattoo similar to the one Megan Fox has been seen sporting of late. Have no idea if hers is real or not.
Today, I felt a rush of inspiration while I was in the car. I realized the stakes of the first few novels just weren’t where I needed them to be. So, I’ve figured out a way to tinker with some of the elements of the overarching project to make it more compelling.
At least, that’s the goal.
The overall story continues to be the same, but I’m trying to make the stakes compelling enough that there will be a throughline that is really interesting to the point that people will be exciting to see where things go next.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I’ve finally gotten everything sorted out in my mind. Now, I think I’m going through and think about not just the first novel in this projected six novel series, but all of them.
This should speed things up a great deal.
It would be pretty great to have a huge chunk of six novels done this spring when I start to query — or, at least, I hope I start to query. Any number of things could happen to put a…uhhh….damper….on those plans. But you have to have hope, you know?
If you don’t have hope, you don’t have anything.
But I am going to do some studying of each of the six novels I have planned and see if what I can come up with as quickly as possible.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I’m always thinking of scifi concepts and it seems like one interesting one would be the idea that the U.S. Government — specifically the U.S. Military –has already “achieved the Singularity internally” as the old saying goes. I don’t know what that would look like, but it’s an interesting idea to toy with as the potential premise of a novel or screenplay.
And if you really wanted to put a unique spin on it, you would have it a “Her” like movie fused with Annie Hall, rather than something dark and dystopian. It could be quite romantic and humorous.
It’s times like these when I wish I was younger so I could have the time and energy to throw myself into a project like this.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
While all the caveats apply, while I was looking through what I’ve already prepared for five novels, discovered a pretty good summary for a sixth novel in the same universe.
So, lulz, maybe I want to write six novels set in a small town in Southside Virginia?
I really, really need to put up or shut up though. I can’t keep spinning my wheels. I have to — have to — get something done. Anything. And as such, I have to start to hurry up.
I need to knock some novels out. But I think if I look at the six novels as just one long story split into six parts, things SHOULD move a lot quicker.
Hopefully.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I’ve been vacillating between six and seven novels in this project and now I realize that five is probably best. That’s roughly ~500,000 to ~600,000 words. And I’m well aware how bonkers that sounds to people who think I’m kook with no talent.
But I need hope, ok?
I need something to think about other than how shitty my life is . And, what’s more I have ANOTHER novel (or two) I’m thinking about work on. The other novels are scifi.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Time to stop screwing around when it comes to these novels I want to write. The main “passion project” novel should be pretty easy to start up again. But it’s the other novel — the scifi novel — that could be tough.
It’s just tough to change my style of writing after so long of looking at specific type of novel. But I really want to do it. So, here we are.
I keep going back and forth about the need to use AI on any of this. I used it some on the scifi novel and I realized it just slowed me down. So, I don’t know. I think maybe I will be really selective about it going forward.
I hope to write a six novel series that will appeal to readers of Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It’s set in a small town in Southside Virginia.
But I really do hope to begin the querying process for the thriller novel this spring. And, I think, I need to star to tinker with the other novels in the projected six-novel project. It sure would be nice to have huge chunks of those other novels done if I manage to sell the first novel in the series.
And I am WELL AWARE that I have a very peculiar project on my hands — I mean, how many people want to read about strange events in small Southern town over the course of 6 novels set over 25 years? It’s not like I’m writing “It” or something.
My version of Lisbeth Salander looks a lot like Corrie Yee.
But I have six novels gamed out in my mind and I want to see if I can pull it off. All the novels are really interesting and I have the ending of the last novel already thought out. It’s just — I’m not getting any younger.
If I don’t get something, anything done soon, lulz it’s all over –I’m just be 100 years old before anything is done.
But the reason why I like this six novel project is it gives me hope. Reach for the moon and you might just fall into the stars, as the old saying goes.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
There was a moment today when I felt totally, completely uninspired. It was the absolute nadir of the year — a Singularity of Meh, if you will. I just felt like a zombie, wondering around without anything creative going on.
It got so bad that I started to daydream about how it might be possible that some AI — Gemini Advanced? — is fucking with my Spotify algorithms. How it might do that, I have no idea, but it is amusing to mull.
And, I have to say, rather flattering given why would anyone — AI or otherwise — give a shit about me at this point in my life.
I really am living in oblivion. And I will note that someone from LA looked at this blog today, which also made me feel a little better. Whenever someone from somewhere out of the ordinary looks at this blog it heartens me a little bit because it’s thought provoking, if nothing else.
I need to get back to working on my novel(s.) The back up scifi novel is a far, far more difficult to work on that I thought it would be. But I have to do it, I can put all of my eggs in one basket.
by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
Every 10 years or so, a romantic comedy comes out that sets the mood of the zingiest. In the 1970s, it was Annie Hall. In the 1980s, it was When Harry Met Sally.
Lately, these romantic comedies have become less comedic and more melancholy — both The Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind and Her were a bit more dour than one might expect for a romantic comedy. And there was a technological element to both of them.
Well, it seems there is an opening for a romantic comedy that would have elements of Annie Hall, Her and The Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind. It would go something like this — a man begins to believe that a chatbot is fucking with his algorithms in some way.
But it would happen in a “day after tomorrow” situation whereby LLMs might be a bit more powerful and interconnected around the globe. So instead of having a traditional fight, the LLM would make things more difficult for the man as he went about his day.
Something amusing like that. It would be kind of like the movie Maximum Overdrive if it was fused with Annie Hall. I think audiences would really enjoy something innovative like this.
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