How I Feel About Taking a Decade Off

 

For some, the year 2014 might conjure up memories of viral challenges or the rise of ride-sharing apps. For me, it marks the year I went silent; a bad case of writer's block slammed the brakes on my writing career.

Ideas, though? I had them. A dozen stories buzzed in my head, notebooks, index cards, digital note pads filled with thoughts that refused to turn into narratives. The frustration was immense. I would struggle, just to produce a paragraph, but produced nothing. So, I gave up. I quit. I never used those words (even to myself), but I wasn’t publishing. It was terrible.

For a decade, I accomplished nothing, as. time passed the nagging sense of "what if" lingered. Then we hit 2024 and it was like a spark has been lit. I have to stop with the mental punishment I put myself through, wondering what the hell happened. Perhaps, I needed the break (for whatever the reason). The important thing is that I have the stories and I’m a killer on the keyboard (my wife tells me I, “type mad”). I’m writing again.

I’m viewing my 70^th year this July, but longevity is a gift that runs in my family. There's time, I tell myself, time to spin those thoughts in my head into readable tales (I like that). The key, I believe, lies in organization. As I mentioned, my fingers still fly across the keyboard, and I'm setting a (slightly ambitious?) goal of 5,000 words a week.

This blog serves as a promise not just to me, but to you, the reader. Here, I'll share my ups and downs, the triumphs and tribulations, the characters, and the worlds I will build. This will be a front-row seat to the resurrection of a writer.

Got to stop. I apologize for the ramble. I get into these moods. I need coffee. Come back soon.

Where Ideas Come From

 

OK, where do story ideas come from? Anywhere, everywhere – totally out of nowhere. Since I began writing I’ve constantly said, “Anyone can write a story.” Possibly, but not anyone can write a good story. To do that, one needs to come up with an idea. Can you learn how to do this? You can probably learn anything, but not everyone will be good at it. I believe I am. This is not bragging, because I have so many weak areas. Creating a story isn’t one of them.

A story idea can come to you at the least expected time, and sometimes it takes years to go from idea to writing the story. Here I’ll briefly share where some of mine came from:

Gifted Trust – began watching a made-for-tv movie about the murder of Adam Walsh (son of America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh). That led to a poem for a college class and 20 years later it was turned into a short story for another class and 18 months later it became a 100K novel.

Hello Neighbor came to me watching a news reporter interviewing conservationists. I turned them into a radical tree hugger who threatened to kill my main character after killing his cat.

I rented a room to a guy who used to live in his girlfriend’s bedroom in her parent’s house. When he told me that I thought, what if the girl was seriously injured in a car accident and living on life support in her bedroom. That might give the boyfriend a reason to stay.

I wrote Prader-Willi after doing volunteer work with someone who suffered from it. This is a terrible syndrome where those who have it will eat anything. This became a frightening story.

Little Miss was inspired by a friend of my 2^nd wife, who forced her daughter to take part in beauty pageants. The mother would do anything to help her little girl win.

On a vacation to New Mexico, I visited a Native American reservation and from that visit wrote Runs Like Rabbit. I created a character who keeps calling home and imagines his family being murdered.

Monkey Love began as a 3-beer joke. I would drink and when asked what I was working on I’d say, “A story about a woman who believes her husband is a reincarnated gorilla.

I wrote Marquee when I was asked by a publisher to write something totally different from Monkey Love. Of all my stories, these two have more of me than any of the others.

The point – ideas come from everywhere. One needs to look at an idea and think “what if…” and add to what they have.

 

Later

The Bucket List I Never Planned on Writing

 

I just completed a Lifespan Calculator assessment, and the findings suggest that I shall live to the age of 90. Considering my mother and grandmother made it to 92 and 99 respectively, it makes sense. I don’t use tobacco, rarely drink alcohol and there are no Biden signs in my yard. If my wife doesn’t rent a woodchipper I am probably safe.

 I am approaching my 70^th birthday and for the last 45 minutes I’ve been contemplating writing out a bucket list, because in the future I might not remember what I wanted to do before I die. I will post it below – with extremely little thought. That is how I roll. Let’s have it. My list in no order (although it would be cool if some of these things happened while I still can enjoy them:

 . Spend an afternoon (morning or evening would work) with all my grandkids (at different times) so I could really get to know them and let them know me better. Eventually they might read my stories and want them to know I wasn't as creepy as I appeared to be.

. Travel – if it has a beach and the sun, I’d be happy, but I would love to visit DC with my wife or any place she might suggest. We haven’t traveled since the Pandemic, and I miss it.

. Quick working away from home – not today, or soon. I feel healthy enough to work, but I’m not always going to be young and the drive to and from Nashville is 45 minutes each way.

. Take a trip to my hometown (Coldwater, Michigan) and have coffee with old friends. Social media is great for bonding, but I’d like to make an extra effort.

. Take myself seriously as a writer. If I accomplish this, others might follow, but what I think about myself is most important. I am working on this.

. See my brothers again without involving a funeral. Sorry for how I put that, but we’re all “getting up there” and although we got together last year, I miss them.

. To win a Bram Stoker Award – testing to see who reads this. I don’t want to swamp you with items connected to writing, but with 20 years left this is important to me. I write daily (or plot out pieces of stories) and plan to have 3 novels completed in the next two years. Hopefully some shorts as well (that means available for readers).

. Be a better husband – in case she reads this I will make it short. I’ve got a wonderful wife and want to make her happy. I can be quite irritating at times.

Stopping at eight items, otherwise it would be forced, and I can always add more (I have 20 years). I’ve always thought bucket lists were stupid, but I think we all have them. We just don’t write them down.

 

Have a great day.

Creating an Antagonist

 

Writing my first story (working title: Gone) in a decade, and I’m attempting to put more consideration into character building. In the past, less thought was put into them. I went with my gut, which doesn’t tell you much beyond if it felt good, I used it.  I have learned that if you want to create multiple levels, it pays to consider the nature of your character.

I’m considering the above in reference to developing an antagonist for Gone. Let me give you an idea as to what I had in mind in the beginning. Who is my antagonist? The villain? Not necessarily. It’s the character or thing that stirs the story up. When I wrote Gifted Trust, it was Virago (a badass evil entity who made the lives of most of the other characters hell. In Jaws it could be the shark or even the mayor, who wanted to keep the beach open. The antagonist can be a bad storm or the feeling of loneliness. It is something that if you took it out of the story, there wouldn’t be one.

The original idea of Gone was simplistic. I had my protagonist, a husband and new father, who is forced into remaining in a relationship for his daughter’s sake. As a teen, the girl dies in an accident and the man offered (by the antagonist) the chance to return to the moment that changed his life so he can make corrections.

 I ask again, who is my antagonist? Originally, I saw this as a “deal with the devil” sort of plot – trading for a soul. I wasn’t sure if that was the direction I wanted to go with the story. Still not sure of everything, but I’m not leaning on an evil antagonist, although I am looking at a character like Mephistopheles from Faust and did a pre-Christian search on Pan for personality.

I'm going with Mephista Abendroth ("evening red" in German. It has an air of mystery. Possibly nicknamed Meph or Misti and though she's going to shake things up I don't see her as a source of evil. Although she has a finger in on what is going on.

That’s a start. I’m putting together notes now on her.

Have a good day.

Story Ideas

 The following are possible story ideas:

Working Title - Gone: Years in an unhappy marriage, when a man's daughter dies, he is allowed to repeat life from the moment things went wrong.

Working Title - Friend Request: A man receives a social media friend request from an old high school friend he doesn't remember. Creepy memories are shared, and he is not allowed to break up the friendship.

Working Title - Obeah Man: With a tool kit filled with good ju ju, he can fix any kitchen appliance or something else if you pay the price.

Working Title - Horror Writer: On their first date, he shares a frightening story idea with her. Twenty years later it appears to be coming true.

Working Title - Changelings: Fairies, elves, mermaids, nixies, goblins, imps, demons, trolls and otherworldly creatures are secretly swapping with us.

Working Title - A Different Love Story: A relationship ends when a doctor's wife passes. Or does it?

Working Title - Virago: a continuation to the novel, Gifted Trust.

Working Title - Moving On: Two years following his wife's death, she gives her blessing when he wants to begin a new relationship. There is one condition, of course.

Welcome Back or Something Like That

 A few of you might realize that I opened an extra Facebook page, also titled Semi-Complete Unknown, about a week ago. The intent was to keep posts on my writing to a minimum on my personal page and allow curious individuals (or those who gave a rat's ass) a chance to be a part of my attempt to return to the Horror/Dark Fiction market. For those who don't know, I took a decade off due to some sort of artistic block. 

Well, I went over to my newly created Semi-Complete Unknown page on facebook and discovered dozens of posts I didn't approve. Feeling lack of control I decided to move to his space and go the blog route.  Let's see how this works.

Soon.

John