*As it seems like some people might have already noticed, it's probably high time that I tell you that last night I modified the description of Escapes again. However, I think I have firmly established that I am a revisionist, and I have made peace with that...
Which totally makes sense why I have worked towards completely changing my process.
More and more, in fact, I try to focus on doing a really good job and get my thoughts out, just trying to make it all connect and seem deliberate, and doing it all fewer and fewer times each time. I try focusing on different aspects of the piece as go along along until I reach a point with the project where I am satisfied with everything. Then I try to read the whole thing through without making any changes. If I can do that, then I am free to click that button and make it visible to the world.
Believe it or not, this actually cuts down on the length of time it takes me to write and publish something. I rarely ever have to go back and make changes... Rarely ever.
I have had some pretty amazing ideas lately, if I do say so myself. At least I think they are amazing, and that's really all that fucking matters (to me) at this point. Really, if you can't write for your own happiness then whose happiness should you write for?
I think this is the sort of mindset that I stumbled into during writing the first one. Ultimately, if I don't first focus on pleasing myself (pun partially intended) with what is written, then I try to take too much advice, and, believe me, there is such a thing.
At some point, you need to forsake the advice that doesn't fit and just go for it. Some advice just won't make the cut, and the people reading the final product will just have to deal with it.
Hopefully, your choices won't be an issue, but, if some or more of them are, you just take note of how you fucked up and make sure that you don't make those mistakes again.
Unless it's fixable; then, of course, you totally go for it.
He wakes up at 3 a.m. after having fallen asleep in his easy chair in front of the evening news. He was so soundly asleep that she didn't want to wake him. Last he remembers, he was sitting there, watching the talking heads spin. Now the TV is off and the room is dark--the world outside is quiet. He stands up, stretches, and makes his way to his study, to his humidor.
Outside, on the front steps, he watches the sun rise and wake the whole world, one thing at a time. He smiles, remembering all the times he sat out on steps in the middle of the night, smoking cigarettes, passages of Melville or Joyce swirling around his brain. He has spent most of his life since grad school trying to rest off all that sleep that he missed during it.
He makes a pot of coffee and lingers on the front porch all morning, working towards catching up on all the reading he has been trying to catch up on his entire life. The end is always far enough out of his reach that it remains invisible, and he realizes that maybe it's time to stop making the list, and just ride it out and see what happens... He realizes that'll never happen.
Someday, someone will come to find him, and he will look like a Tibetan monk in a deep, 1,000-year trance, with a half-finished book in his hands.
Sam, a college freshman, is taking a shower, getting ready for class, when he finds out about the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
If you are into music like I am, and you enjoy or even need it while you read, I have compiled a playlist in the spirit of Escapes. I am not sure how long it is, but it is definitely several hours worth of songs and should last for most of the novel, if you read at the right pace. Of course, you don't have listen to the playlist to read it; then again, you don't need the book to listen to the playlist. However you like it, ENJOY!
1. "Somewhere Out There" from the An American Tale soundtrack
2. "A Night in Tunisia" By Art Blakey
3. "Dakar" by John Coltrane
4. "Moan'" by Art Blakey
5. "All Blues" by Miles Davis
6. "Giant Steps" by John Coltrane
7. "Blue Money" by Art Blakey
8. "Serve the Servants" by Nirvana
9. "Attitude" by the Misfits
10. "My Name is Jonas" by Weezer
11. "Nice Guys Finish Last" by Green Day
12. "All Apologies" by Herbie Hancock
13. "The Great Gig in the Sky" by Pink Floyd
14. "Rusty Cage" by Soundgarden
15. "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen
16. "The Bear Song" by Green Jelly
17. "Knights of the Round Table" by Monty Python
18. "Government Flu" by the Dead Kennedys
19. "Super Charger Heaven" by White Zombie
20. "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes" by Marilyn Manson
21. "Raining Blood" by Slayer
22. "Unsung" by Helmet
23. "Bad Mouth" by Fugazi
24. "Linoleum" by NOFX
25. "Bedrock Anthem" by "Wierd Al" Yankovic
26. "Celebrated Summer" by Husker Du
27. "Los Angeles" by X
28. "Live Fast Die Young" by the Circle Jerks
29. Lexicon Devil" by the Germs
30. "Starfuckers, Inc." by Nine Inch Nails
31. "Push It" by Static X
32. "Freak on a Leash" by Korn
33. "Faith" by Limp Bizkit
34. "Faith" by George Michael
35. "Blue Monday" by Orgy
36. "Blue Monday" by New Order
37. "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit
38. "All the Small Things" by Blink 182
39. "Dammit" by Blink 182
40. "Pretty Vacant" by the Sex Pistols
41. "Bikeage" by the Descendents
42. "Soul Doubt" by NOFX
43. "Sparks" by the Who
44. "Money" by Pink Floyd
45. "Working in the Coal Mine" by DEVO
46. "[I Can't Get No] Satisfaction" by DEVO
47. "In the Garage" by Weezer
48. "I Can't Explain" by the Who
49. "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" by Led Zeppelin
50. "In the Light" by Led Zeppelin
51. "Down by the Seaside" by Led Zeppelin
52. "20th Century Man" by the Kinks
53. "Jenny Take a Ride" by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels
54. "Devil with the Blue Dress/Good Golly Miss Molly" by Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels
55. "Sex Type Thing" by Stone Temple Pilots
56. "Search and Destroy" by the Stooges
57. "Rape Me" by Nirvana
58. "My Vagina" by NOFX
59. "Last Caress" by the Misfits
60. "Blitzkrieg Bop" by the Ramones
61. "Beat on the Brat" by the Ramones
62. "No Substance" by Bad Religion
63. "Copacabana (At the Copa)" by Barry Manilow
64. "Muskrat Love" by Captain & Tennille
65. "I Can See For Miles" by the Who
66. "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" by the Dead Kennedys
67. "Urban Struggle" by The Vandals
68. "99 Red Balloons" by Goldfinger
69. "I Wanna Be Sedated" by the Ramones
70. "Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes
71. "Here's to the Night" by Eve 6
72. "Black Betty" by Ram Jam
73. "Burnout" by Green Day
74. "Up All Night" by Unwritten Law
75. "Special" by Garbage
76. "In the Meantime" by Spacehog
77. "Lump" by The Presidents of the United States of America
78. "Peaches" by The Presidents of the United States of America
79. "People That are Going to Hell" by the Vandals
80. "American Jesus" by Bad Religion
81. "Surf City" by Jan & Dean
82. "Surf City" by the Ramones
83. "Electric Funeral" by Black Sabbath
84. "All Apologies" by Nirvana
85. "Funeral for a Friend" by Elton John
86. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" by Elton John
87. "If You've Got the Money I've Got the Time" by Willie Nelson
88. "I Will Always Love You" Dolly Parton
89. "Justify My Love" by Madonna
90. "Jesus Freak" by DC Talk
91. "Psycho Killer" by the Talking Heads
92. "Road to Nowhere" by the Talking Heads
93. "Once in a Lifetime" by the Talking Heads
94. "The Downward Spiral" by Nine Inch Nails
95. "Goodbye Stranger" by Supertramp
96. "Sleepwalk" by Santo & Johnny
97. "Immortality" by Pearl Jam
98. "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead
99. "Karma Police" by Radiohead
100. "Fitter Happier" by Radiohead
101. "No Surprises" by Radiohead
102. "Out of My Head" by Fastball
103. "Miserable" by Lit
104. "The World I Know" by Collective Soul
105. "86" by Green Day
106. "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve
107. "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by The Rolling Stones
108. "West Side Story Medley" by Buddy Rich
109. "Found A Job" by the Talking Heads
110. "Blank Generation" by Richard Hell and the Voidoids
111. "Requiem for a Dream -- Lux Aeterna" by the London Ensemble
112. "Oops I did It Again" by Britney Spears
113. "Cotton Eye Joe" by Rednex
114. "The Way" by Fastball
115. "I Swear" by All-4-One
116. "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men
117. "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day
118. "Come on Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners
119. "Every Breath You Take" by the Police
120. "Silent Lucidity" by Queensryche
121. "Add it Up" by the Violent Femmes
122. "Time of the Season" by The Zombies
123. "Where is My Mind?" by the Pixies
124. "Fundamentally Loathsome" by Marilyn Manson
125. "Change" by Blind Melon
126. "Look on the Bright Side of Life" by Monty Python
127. "Pennyroyal Tea" by Nirvana
128. "Brain Damage/Eclipse" by Pink Floyd
129. "Garageland" by the Clash
One thing I have noticed since officially declaring myself an indie author and going it alone by self-publishing is that many, if not most, of my fellow DIYers write genre fiction: sci-fi/fantasy, contemporary romance, and every sort of cross-genre you can imagine are all well-represented.
However, it seems like there is a lack of self-published literary fiction. Maybe I am just not aware of it and I just need to do my due-diligence, but I am especially noticing this on social media, particularly on Twitter, and also among book bloggers and review writers.
I have a theory about why this is the case. Last summer for my Digital Humanities class, I wrote my final paper on self-publishing, and what I found then is that people who tend to read literary fiction tend to support fiction published more traditionally as it has to go through a series of gatekeepers before it reaches the public, which helps ensure a higher quality of work.
Literary fiction is supposed to go beyond merely being well-edited and telling a good story, but the conventions are less clearly defined. The books are supposed to be more intellectually stimulating and have a more finely tuned sense of style. It is acceptable for the prose to call attention to itself, and experimentation is generally more welcome. In fact, it is often encouraged.
Which is why it is easier to self-publish and sell works of genre fiction. The only gatekeepers are the book bloggers and review writers, who are more focused on readability and entertainment value than on literary merit. What matters is whether the characters are interesting, the plot is evident, and the story is entertaining. It is your goal to conform to the conventions of the genre and appeal to its fans.
That doesn't mean there is no room for indie authors to write literary fiction. In fact, I would like to think that, as an indie author, you have more freedom to experiment and push boundaries than you would at a traditional publishing house. The problem is, there doesn't really seem to be anyone telling our audience that it is safe and acceptable to read our work.
Those of us who want to self-publish literary fiction need to band together and start reviewing each other's work, and be our own gatekeepers. We do have an audience, and our audience needs to trust what they are purchasing, which means that we need to gain credibility somehow. By working together and using the knowledge that we have developed through our studies, we can show people who would potentially read our work that it is worth their time and money.
That means going beyond mere reviews and actually writing in-depth criticisms, building theory around our ideas, and arguing in favor of the direction(s) we are taking. We don't need traditional gatekeepers who represent their own corporate interests anymore than authors of genre fiction do. We can create our own scene, and draw people to it.
Which is what indie authors of genre fiction are doing, and by taking their model and making it work for us, we can be successful.
