Edison Medicine
April 15, 2007 @ 8:21 pm
My bluff has been called: If I were ever to teach writing, The Postman Always Rings Twice would be my textbook, I’ve always said.
So then teach, they said.
Funny, I’d never looked at it that way before. Okay, I’ll teach.
“They” being Dennis and Mark from the Velvet’s progenitor, The Cult. They’ve been organizing a number of online writing workshops for some time, among them being a series of intensives with guest intructors from a certain school of authors– authors who delight in giving the current state of literary affairs their collective finger. First to shatter the champagne bottle against the forum hull was Will Christopher Baer, under the banner of the “No Escape Lockdown,” mimicking his method of writing under self-imposed house arrest in a cheap hotel room. Then came Stephen Graham Jones followed by Nick Walker, James Hannaham and Will Clarke. Still, Dennis and Mark would not rest until they had collected all three Velvet Author Action Figures.
Mark’s calling this one the Hotseat, referring to the red-pen scrutiny forthcoming to each student. I was hesitant about this at first, but the idea grew on me… this notion of strapping in, turning on the juice and clamping your teeth. Your prose might be smoking at the edges when the lights come back up, but the only words burned away will be those not serving your story.
I’ve written a brief intro on the thread following Mark’s announcement, if you’re curious. As the thread grows, I’m still shocked that my reputation for covering my windows with foil and hiding my clocks– two things I did when writing the Handbook and most of Dermaphoria– precede me to a much greater degree than I would have guessed. In truth, I still hide clocks (I find it easier to write if I’m not aware of time passing) but I don’t cover my windows any more. There’s a certain degree of focus needed to write, but when focus fades into solipsism, then one’s life suffers and consequently does one’s writing. Now, I keep my windows clear when I work. I’ve even found it productive to work outside and in public– parks, churches, subway trains, bars– and have had a goodly number of afternoons spent at the keyboard with Icaresse perched on my shoulder, spot-polishing her beak and trying to steal my pen. However, writing on a bright sunny day with a bird on one’s shoulder isn’t very noir…
As I said, I keep this blog quiet unless I’ve got concrete news, hence the infrequent posts. While I’m above ground though, I should spread the word that my bro David Corbett has just released his latest, Blood of Paradise, and I caught his release party a City Lights not long ago. David’s a truly formidable wordsmith and, as I write this, he’s on a reading tour. If you have the chance to see him, grab it, but otherwise get your hands on Blood.
I’ve got a book to write and a six-week course to finish planning, so I’ll duck out, now. More news very soon.
-Craig