Shizophrenic’s Guide: Writing Literature Instead of Pulp

I, Dalton Lewis, want to write a work of literature — a novel that people say is of import, something that matters, something that moves college students for years to come. I don’t want to ignore fun, either — I want the novel to be fun and entertaining as it works. That novel matters to people. That novel becomes unforgettable. I haven’t yet written that novel. There is still time, though, and I really want to make it happen. I am working like crazy on a novel that will be my attempt to make that happen.

I sit here, at home, watching Starcraft 2 and playing Starcraft 2 and trying to get better at strategy gaming with the rest of my time. I am winning more games than I am losing — which is a plus. As terran in the current season I am 70–58. I have won seventy games and lost fifty-eight games. I’d say that’s not awful, not at all awful. It’s pretty good. I can do better. I know the strategies. I know the tactics. I just need to think about what is happening during the game. I understand that I didn’t play perfectly immediately, but I think that I don’t play perfectly because I don’t think about the world around me. I daydream about other things instead of focusing on the world as it is passing me by. I need to think about this life — not some life in my mind.

I digress. Literature is a sort of fiction in which someone expresses a truth about life instead of simply telling a fun story to entertain an audience. I want to write something that will inspire people and make them really think — and I wondered what would make that happen. It turns out that I could try to make my current novel into a work of literature by simply working hard on the rewrite of my current novel, Impressions of Suburbia.

Rewriting a novel is important; one can’t simply write one draft and expect to write something unforgettable. this rewrite needs to elevate the story beyond a simple scary story and turn it into something about characters who really resonate with the reader. I want to write something about suburbia — the world around us. I think that the setting of our lives has a lot of art, literature really, all around us. People need to realize that the world around us matters and has significance. I also want to show that this world can seem to crush us and make us suffocate in this safe, clean world.

What world do we live in? When we watch stories we watch murder mysteries in which someone needs to solve a murder. We watch superheroes stop nefarious villains from doing something unforgivable. We watch pretty people fall in love or make music that millions adore. We don’t watch very many stories which reflect a real world in suburbia. I felt the challenge to express that while showing a horror story — a story in which people feel like they are in real danger, in which there is a chance for bad things to happen.

I understand that a horror story has certain tropes, and I certainly want to acknowledge that. I want to have people killed, to have people in danger, and to have some confrontations with those bad guys. I also want to tell a story about more than merely a person killing a few people because he or she is evil beyond belief. I want something new and interesting. I want to tell a story that is significant. I want the reader to understand the villain and feel something about that character.

I need to do some research on my stories. I know that. This novel isn’t almost done. It needs a full rewrite and more work. I want to make a plan to spend another six weeks polishing the current novel instead of dropping it without any more work and letting an audience read a first draft. I hope that this will improve the quality of the product.

I also need to be ready for Adepticon. Strategy gaming is important, and doing one’s best is also important. I spent a lot of money on Warhammer 40k miniatures, and I don’t want to abandon the units I worked so hard to build and paint. I want the army to work as a cohesive unit. I want my army to win games and compete. I know that I need for my life to improve because, let’s face it, life is difficult and dangerous. People die every day. People fail to become successful at writing novels far more than they succeed. I need to create a memorable story and also show the world that I can write an unforgettable blockbuster. I need to do the work to be noticed. I sit, in my bedroom, ready to work on another novel, knowing that this one might be the one. Why wouldn’t it be?

Thanks, and take care, friends.