The Boobahdore

It’s about time I get down to the business of it, since five posts is just a little too much waffling for a thing like this. Despite the common opinion among friends, family and those who know nothing about me except that which is on this blog, I do actually do other things except stare at old people and read far too much manga. Since quitting English manga, in fact, I’ve done quite a lot of other things (since distraction is the best cure of addiction). What have I been doing? Writing creative!

Well, thinking about writing, at the very least. My discipline is far from regimented (more like craftily enforced by a drunkard asleep on a snowy patch next to... okay, let’s put an end to that simile before I get all writer-like up in here). The point is I’ve had a lot of stories running around in my head but due to time restraints and lack of energy (I swear young adulthood should be medically recognised) I’ve been very slack in pulling them from the air to the page. And maybe the fact that I use phrases like ‘pulling’ which are completely synonymous with a withered donkey trudging a wagonload behind him is not the best way to enthuse myself back into it. No, let’s use dainty words like ‘plucking’ or ‘cajoling sweetly’. That sounds much better.

What has become most apparent in my writing creative (and this has strangely been somewhere between consciously realised and subconsciously ignored) is the inclusion of two things: magic and tragedy. This might sound as unreasonable as drinking red wine from a gravy boat, but I assume that one or two people are out there who just might be into that sort of thing. Rejoice, the strange few who have finally been given a voice! Or at the very least a story or two to read and enjoy in some small amount.

Of course, there is a lot more detail involved in both of those elements than that which I’ve given you, however really the only reason I mention this right now is to give you an idea why I am currently obsessed with fairy tales.

Question for the writer: Is this the world you are looking for?

Now I’ve been fascinated by fairy tales for years – and I hardly think I am alone in that – and have been waiting for the chance to give it a go myself. Other projects have been keeping me so busy that only some three years after deciding that I desperately wanted to try the form have I finally been able to give it a go.

And some may have noticed that fairy tales are EVERYWHERE right now. Snow White has popped from the Hollywood archives twice in this year alone, and Once Upon a Time is doing something or other with fairy tales, I’m sure (I still haven’t convinced myself to watch it. What do you people think?). An optimistic me would say, “Swell! The market is already preparing itself for your long-awaited foray!” The real me hopes to hell that I don’t miss the peak and become ‘that’ writer that could have been big if they’d just been a bit quicker.

In any case, I am at current working on a series of fairy tales with somewhat of a long-term plan in action. It works like this:

I think it seems fairly reasonable, give or take a few minor details. The plan is to try and get some of these stories published in journals/online/wherever people will accept them, so I am hoping that you will actually get to read them and be able to experience the world as we move towards the big project at the end.

Maybe this should be what I'm going for. Exactly how I remember Hansel and Gretel!

I am currently figuring out my answer to the first question (and ignoring my personal issues) as well as starting the short stories. This follows my rash decision a few weeks ago to scrap the six stories I’d written so far (none of them being what I was really aiming to achieve and probably being fairly dodgy quality) so subsequently, I may post a few of these up on the blog for you guys to read. It occurs to me that some of you might actually want to read some of my writing, so whenever I can I’ll find ways to give you an idea of where things are sitting at current (I have some ideas of how to get around the whole 'previously published' problem - although nothing devious, don't be alarmed).

Alternatively, I think I will start updating my Facebook and Twitter accounts fairly regularly once I get a bit of a schedule developed, so any super keen readers are welcome to tag along for the ride (and comment from the back-seat, if you so wish!).

Hopefully this gives a little bit more of an idea what I’m getting up to between these posts. I realize after typing it all that this may just be a tad on the boring side. If so, I sincerely apologise on behalf of all now-fired employees responsible.

Cheers

P.S. Is it annoying when I say ‘writing creative’? I can’t decide if it’s annoying, pretentious, stupid, grammatically incorrect, or if I’m breaking new ground here.