Author: admin

There’s a quote in the movie As Good as it Gets, where the character is asked how he writes women so well. He says, “I imagine a man and remove reason and accountability.” That hit comedically, but it is no way to write female characters. As a male writer approaching the opposite gender always needs to be done with a sense of gravitas. It is one of the few ‘stay in your lane’ things a writer can get away with ignoring. Writing protagonists of a different race, for example, is often looked at as false, which is why so many white male protagonists populate the literary sphere. I say bollox to all of it, to be honest. I believe a writer is a conduit. We tell the stories of worlds that are not our own or are even approximate to our own. We cannot limit ourselves to characters who are just like us, less we become one dimensional in our writing. That being said, men suck at writing women. It isn’t say anime level bad where every female is oversexualized or turned into a whining infant. However, men do struggle writing women. So, how do we do it right?

Step One: Don’t imagine a man.

Step Two: Talk to a woman.

That’s it. I argue that all characters relate to the writer in some fundamental way. We tune into these characters because we know them on some fundamental level. However, knowing how they are going to act means talking to someone who knows the intimacies of that gender better than ourselves.

Labor day is meant to be a day of rest, which I find interesting because it is quite specifically named towards the opposite affiliation. I’ve never quite taken to the day as such. I tend to treat it as a day to watch sports and get a bunch of work done (i.e. labor). This year I don’t even know if there are sports going on. Clemson is playing their opener today, so there will be a touch of football (don’t know if I’ll bother to watch), though beyond that I have little to speak of. Perhaps I’ll do a fantasy league draft with the xbox S wielding children–starting that process of a league of our own.

No, this isn’t about writing this time either.

Well, kind of. I just finished a major project, so I am in the valley between jobs. I already have the next one due October 15th, and 10,000 words at that. I’m going to track this process as a model moving forward of how to convert these jobs into academic credit as a professor. It ought to count, and we will see if that is as such.

The valley is a scary place, because I’m in a rain shadow. I don’t feel the pressure of a due date quite yet and I do feel the relief of having just gotten work done. It makes me want to bask in the moment of completion when the reality is that I need to get back to work like yesterday. Having other stuff to do (new space adjustments, continuing the moving process, school…) makes it even more likely I will slack off, but I cannot. This is a big step for me as a writer to have steady work coming in and to be able to prove I can handle the juice. I can–It will be shown through the work. So instead of chilling hard today, I think I will Labor.

Some Thoughts:

1. Knowing what the film Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul is trying to accomplish doesn’t mean that it works or is actually an engaging construct. The film is a mockumentary about a superchurch pastor trying to battle back from a sex-related scandal. It’s 1 hour and 42 minutes of buildup to…. I don’t know. I didn’t finish it. TL:DR. Seriously, I’ll try to get back to it, but 40 minutes in the story is mid.

So we managed to get the office moved, and so far it is magic. I’ve moved to the three monitor setup and moved other computers into the space reserved for the kids. It ought to be a nice upgrade for them as well. The office is a downgrade in size, but the comfort and coolness is pretty solid. We are closer together, which I enjoy. I can also see the pool from my doorway, and that is a nice look. All that remains is some decorating and organizing that should be done by next week. This is a fresh start. I feel good about settling in here. I feel like I can write really good work here. I’m looking forward to doing so.

Some Thoughts:

1. The lighting is much better here too. That is something I didn’t think about going into it, but appreciate in retrospect.
2. We snatched the daughter’s room, which likely makes her feel like she cannot come back home. I hope that doesn’t lead her into situations that she should not be getting into.

So the football game in Cali happened and my kid’s squad was absolutely crushed. I’m talking Georgia v. Oregon level disaster. 34– was the final score, which is almost a victory for my kid’s team as they kept the opponent below their scoring average for the year. Penalties were insane and often not called. My kid was held and blocked in the back multiple times—I’m talking hands to the backside numbers level of nonsense. Yet, it continued unabated. He’s probably unhappy with the final, but he played well and made several tackles. He gave up a single TD and, in my opinion, outplayed the kid who starts over him this year. I even understand that truth–not politics but aggressiveness. He needs to get more aggressive in coverage.

Well, I am bone weary.

When I am this tired it is hard to construct anything of value in words. See, that last mess of a sentence proves my case. I’ve been moving houses today. I worked from 5:30 AM long past 2 PM. I’m worn to the bone and I don’t know how well these words are going or will go moving forward this evening. The trick of writing is creating a balance of mind, body, and spirit. My balance is shot tonight. All I want to do is play video games and think about nothing before I curl into bed with my partner and do it all over again tomorrow. This is the way.

Some Thoughts:

1. Football be starting at the college level. My Cyclones will try to thump on an FCS team at 11 AM. I hope to be able to watch a little–see what they got. Then at 4 PM it is High School ball as my son gets to play against a top California team. Life is good. I’m feeling good in my life. Tired. But good.
   

Nothing coherent here. Worked hard today, so I’ll drop in lightly with ….

Some Thoughts:

1. Began the office tear down in preparation for the combination of houses. Really good to be doing this with my partner. Honestly, the space is more cozy now than it was before.
2. Let’s see if I can get ten of these off tonight–more or less one per minute ought to be the speed required to make that a reality, nes pas?
3. I’m speaking french(ish) because I am ready to go to France. I’ve never been but I think it is long past time we get out of the country for real and do legitimate explorations of the world. Yes, I’ll be writing there too. Yes I’ll be featuring a book there if I go there, because why the heck not? I want to be able to go everywhere and write about it and learn about it and experience this lovely blue planet firsthand. Not many people explore far beyond their states let alone their nation.
4. No, Mexico for spring break doesn’t count. Neither does Vegas. The places people go under those circumstances aren’t even real. They are fabrications drummed up by people with money and an ambition to create a space of debauchery.
5. You bet your ass I’m jealous. I’d love to be fantastically wealthy or even mildly rich. I’d do good with the money. I’d help people. Right now I live well enough to avoid drowning in debt all too often. I’m reaching for that life preserver right now though.
6. Yep, I’m definitely slowing down.
7. That one was just to keep me on track.
8. So was that one. Seriously, the time it takes me to write sentences varies extremely. I can vacillate between 140 wpm to 7. It is 100% about where my mental energy level is. Right now it is under half full. Lower than my gas tank even.
9. Football note: Giants released Blake Martinez, the toughest defender on the team. It was a mutual parting of the ways. He isn’t the right fit for Martindale’s defense or for the influx of new players. This team belongs to Julian Love and Xavier McKinney now.
10. In spite of all that, the Giants are still woefully over the cap. They need to find a trade partner for Golladay. Don’t quite now how unless they can convince San Fran to bite.
11. I always leave the last one blank.

I think the Giants have a legitimate shot to be a good football team this year. Everyone is talking about the Eagles, and rightfully so. They’ve put together a squad that should win the NFC east, but that won’t happen with the starter. It could happen with the backup, but they’ve designed an offense around a player who simply doesn’t make enough good choices under pressure. I believe in Minshew, and that is terrifying to think. If he’s that guy, then the G-men need to get in by wildcard. The G-men simply aren’t that good yet.

How about them Cowboys, you ask? Under the new offensive regime they’ve lost all semblance of a dominant run game. Cowboys are Packers lite, and that isn’t enough. I won’t even get into the mess that is the Commanders. They don’t deserve that much attention. Who does? Probably Miami. That team is the most unpredictable in the league. If Tua is the guy they say, they have a better chance of coming out the AFC east than the Bills, though safe money says both teams make it. I’m counting out the Patriots, because they aren’t the same offense as a year ago. They need more than the ground game. Only the Titans and the Ravens can be that one dimensional.

Speaking of the Ravens, I’m here thinking the Giants may get Lamar. If Baltimore doesn’t pay, this man ought to slide up the coast a bit. We need to shed considerably more salary to pay him, but we need to do that anyway. G-men are -4+ million in the hole. That Golladay guy is 14.7 in dead money if they cut him after the season. 35 if they cut him now. So, basically unless G-men can figure out a restructured deal, there is no chance to get players until that bust is bussed out the door.

Sigh. Welcome to football season.

Starting next semester I’ll be teaching writing for comic books and writing for video games. These are narrative heavy forms that have huge differences. I’m going to be brushing up on the best way to teach these. I’m excited about the opportunity to teach forms. It is not a thing I thought I’d enjoy–particularly after being involved with poetry for all those years–but it is a way of doing forms I believe I will enjoy and I believe my fuel my heart in a new way. It could be a really good spring… If the classes fill up.

Some Thoughts:

1. I’m a bit on the drained side this week. Moving again. Trying to settle into the idea of this new shared household and what that looks like as well as figuring out how to make space for everyone and make the environment something we adults can be happy with and not a boy cave.
2. That being said, I am working hard to develop ideas for a space for these two teens that preserves their privacy and a space they want to stay in.

Beginning of week two of the semester and I think I am, slowly, developing a sense of how I want this to go. I have trouble starting semesters. In truth the summer is a very different way of life for me and I find that it is difficult to shift from one to the other. I am doing it though. It stalls the brain, creates long and terrible moments of stress and anger, and I lose track of what I need to be doing. This is not a sustainable way of transitioning and I need to get much better at it. FAST.

Seriously.

You never need to think about these things until you realize how much they impact the people around you.

I put forward my theory to my Mythology class and they basically finished for me. I started by saying, “Consider memes. How are they like Myths?” To which they responded with an explanation of myths as being a shorthanded form of communicating what people should know and understand but often being hijacked by other people who reshape them over time to suit their individual needs. So, I said, “Yes.” That was all I really had to offer them at that point. I have not developed the ideas beyond that, but I find a certain truth in the relationship between memes and myths. I want to explore it more in my writing, but I haven’t figured out a form in which to do that. I haven’t found the story.

I need to find a way back into the story I’m supposed to be writing for myself. I haven’t found that either, and the more and more I wait, the less relevant and interesting it becomes.

Some Thoughts:

1. Week two of school is rolling in, and I am not ready.
2. I’ll be ready by week 4…. I think.