Re: "Can Steampunk Look Toward the Future?"

Information about a new documentary about the steampunk "subculture" (or "not") and a New York Comic Con panel discussion at this Tor Publishing blog page.

My answer?  It will have to look toward the future, just like all the rest of genre fiction, and non-genre fiction, too, for that matter.  Relevance requires that the elements of all fiction, including genre fiction, speak to the current consumers of those works and their lives, needs and desires at the current time.  That doesn't change no matter whether you're talking about Tolkien-esque fiction, the latest Terminator movie, or The Brady Bunch (see my Knews Not News post on why that works).  You have to reach your customers with the things that matter to them or they won't buy what you're selling.  But is that really about the future?

Sure it is, especially for adherents of the steampunk movement.  These are folks who take great interest in modding current technology to a visual standard that doesn't exist in most current design elements of consumer goods.  See, if product designers tap into that DIY/make-it-yours-alone element and allow for ready modification of their products, that's the Holy Grail of design:  the personally designed and adapted tool that practically guarantees satisfaction.  You don't have to dig goggles and airships to want that, do you?

Relating this to a work of fiction involves the same design considerations.  A book has to end at some point in order to be printed (electronically or physically), so the content is fixed.  The design, however, really doesn't have to be.  Offering the consumer a choice of differing elements that they can mix and match (fonts? cover art? page colors?) to "create" something more pleasing is an interesting possibility.  But how does the author/designer know what their consumers want?

Sounds like a job for social networking.  Ask your market.  Offer samples.  Pick your favorite, and release it, but be sure give your customers what they want.  That always makes for an interesting future, don't you think?

The Update for October 24, 2011

Okay, so far it's been an autumn of tremendous personal upheaval.  And back again.  And more upheaval.  On a personal level, I'll be glad to see the back end of this year heading away from us all.

Professionally, I've been in a sort of stasis for the past seven weeks (!).  I've done a little work on all four projects, but nothing you'd really call advancement and nothing too earth-shaking. 

That changes this week.  I'm planning to work a double shift on writing today, just as a way of getting back into the swing of things.  Maybe a double on Wednesday, too, but I won't know that for sure until tonight.  Today's work starts with a post to Knews Not News, the location for which you can find in the sidebar to the left of this post.

I have a couple of steampunk links to add, but I'll do those either after the KNN post today or later in the week.  Pretty nifty stuff.

It's very calming, the unspent day rolling out before me like rails leading home over grassy plains.  I think this is what I like most of all about writing:  heading in a direction I've planned and knowing that I'll get where I want to be.

I'll get going now.  Thanks for stopping in.

The Update for August 24, 2011

After a tumultuous ten days (whoo, boy, was it!), I'm back to report some real progress on a number of fronts.

I rediscovered in the Long Project work that beginnings are not always hard.  I expected problems visualizing the scene, as I really hadn't "seen" it in my head (scenes of my work tend to go though my head like movie trailers; it's how I roll, especially early in the process). The notes I had taken were enough to manage and I blocked the first scene of the work at surprising speed and dexterity, complete with OS and OHS moments.  Now I see it all right, including lighting and costumes and I can hardly get it out of my head.  I'll be filling in some of the supporting notework next time (useful in the rest of the work, so I don't have to watch for detail slip-ups in editing) and it's on to the next scene.  I'm especially pleased about this as it's a sort-of rescue of a work that has been manifesting itself in fits and starts since November of 2009.  I knew the project was important (both to myself and the Turning Springs world) and kept hacking away at it until it became what I wanted it to be.  Don't give up; change it until it becomes what you wanted.  Here endeth the lesson.

The Short Project progresses apace, and I'll be working now in the last part of scene five.  I can see the end of the tunnel there.  I'm having a lot of fun with this project.  Though I don't write in dialect for foreign English speakers, I try to portray the words and rhythm of the language that a foreign speaker might use.  Throwing in bits of the native language helps, too, which is why I took some time to research Swedish while writing.  When dealing with familiar accents, that works, but if I was to make up a nationality, I'm not sure how I'd proceed.  Probably the same way.  Solutions do present themselves to the things that require doing, it seems.  Hmm.  Guess the lesson wasn't quite over.  Eth.

I'll close this update with the Marketing that I've been doing for Turning Springs.  I've enlisted help from my wife for ad placement (thankyouthankyouthankyou), which will help a lot.  Primarily, I've been working on a re-release/re-edit of the book to be issued at the beginning of September.  How close to the beginning is anyone's guess, but that's what I'm shooting for.  I don't plan any sweeping changes, just a few word choices, closing a hole or two, and adding a bookmarked table of contents (a feature not available at Smashwords dot com for the first release).  I'll then use that version to issue a print copy (!) through WordClay.  That will take me a bit of time, so, in the meantime, I've got a few ideas for a coupon-for-review program.  Do a review, get a discount on the next book.  Don't know how I'll work that, but I'll make it work somehow.

In the process of re-editing Turning Springs, I have to re-read it, of course, something I haven't done since I finished it over a year ago.  It's been a surprisingly positive experience, a reminder that the reason why I'm selling this is because it's a good story with captivating characters and exciting situations.  Not just worth buying but worth the work to sell it.  Don't forget to re-read your finished work every so often; it restores your faith in your abilities during periods of flagging sales and indifferent response.

Okay, now I'm done.  Eth.

The Update

The system seems to be working very well.  And I'm making tangible progress.

Long project hit an important milestone.  I've finished all the notes.  Next session starts blocking and filling reference docs.  This is going to be fun!

I finished another scene in the short project (finished 4 of 8), but I'm really feeling the absence of some of the reference docs I didn't fill out ("it's a short project, I can muddle through without them").  Muddle is right.  I'm having to update them as I go, which is a PITN.  Slows me down a little, but still plugging away.

Still working on marketing, too, press release nightmares notwithstanding.  Got some help, though, so I'm wading through that.  Just waiting until I have enough time to get the cards done.  I'll post the design to my Public Access site once those are finished.

Gotta mosey.  This other stuff isn't going to do itself.  Thanks for watching!

Not Springpunk, but I Still Want the Kamaro

Steampunk car mods.  Lots of geeky numminess here.  Thanks, Wifey!

http://walyou.com/steampunk-antique-cars/

How's the New Process Working Out?

Thanks for asking.  I LOVE it.  It is, as you might remember, working on a single project each day I have time to write, instead of working on a specific thing on a specific day.  I was trying to get too much done at once and not getting enough done of anything.  What I was missing was the sense of accomplishment.  I didn't have enough time to accomplish anything.  I'm happy with this; I'm getting more done and I feel like I'm getting more done, which may be more important.  I know it takes two weeks to make a habit, but I'm liking this a lot.  Specifics?

The long project has a little tweaking left on the notes before it's ready for blocking, but by little, I mean little.  The basic structure is there, I'm just tweaking a few details.  I'm anticipating that should be done by the end of the month if not sooner.  Best of all:  I figured out the OS moment and it's a goody.  Can't wait to write it!

I finished section 3 and just started section 4 in the short project.  The planning is holding up pretty well and, when I finish section 4, I'll be half-done.  The length is looking pretty good, too, but I tend to not look seriously at that until revisions.  I want it to go faster (of course), but I'm happy with what I've done so far (before revisions).

Marketing is proving more of a challenge.  I need to do a little more research on what press releases sound like (and end like) before I can pronounce that done.  I have a lot of ideas, so many that I could do this full time.  Wednesday will be my next session and I'm going to price out find-it cards (where to find the book for those who ask me directly) at a couple of box stores and a local print shop.  I also have some ideas for ancillary advertising/promotional artwork for T-shirts and the like.  I'm sure those will end up in the Public Access file, or at least the sketches will.  I plan on selling these things eventually, so I'm not giving away the golden goose.  And then there's the paper copy to be set up in WordClay and all the other stuff I've got planned, including coupons and specific campaigns aimed at maybe schools?  We'll see.

So now I'm off to work on a KNN blog post.  What's it going to say?  What, you can't go here and find out for yourself?  :)

Thanks and TTFN!

Where I am thus far

I get points for persistence, right?  Checking in every six weeks or so (!) is good, right?  Better than not at all, rather.  This summer has been rough on my writing time, but I'm looking forward to a calm week.  Yes, I wrote that aloud and have surely damned myself to complication.  Just like the last...six weeks?  Well, I lived through that, so no harm in optimism.  At least it's too hot and dry to mow.

Little progress on any of the four parts of my projects, except for little dribs and drabs here and there. 

The long project is still sticky with the details, but it hasn't left my consciousness completely.  I keep having thunderbolt revelations about one or the other of the characters, so it's still building in the musty recesses of my brain.  It's just big and without a lot of attention, things are going to happen this way.  Remember, the ideal for me right now is to spend just one and a half hours on each project per week.  Tough to get a lot done that way, but I'm happy with something.  With my schedule, I pretty much have to be.

The short project is just the same way, although the dribs and drabs are producing more wandering from the plan than I like.  My last writing session involved scrapping much of what I'd done the session before and getting back on the plan.  Perhaps for the actual writing of a project, I need to set aside a full day's 1.5 hours rather than split it up, in order to maintain focus. 

And since I tend to focus on the writing before marketing Turning Springs or posting to the blogs (ahem), nothing whatsoever has been done on those, except some half-hearted work on a press release.  I'm not really comfortable with projects, so I tend to push those to the bottom of the pile.  Both of those items could benefit from a big chunk of time once a week rather than a couple of small chunks twice a week. 

Seeing a pattern here?  I am.  All of my projects could potentially be better served by working on them once per week for the full hour and a half allotted.  It's not like I'd lose track of what I did last, since I do keep a journal of what I do in each session.  And here I am at the start of a new week.  No better time to start to make things better than today.

Since I've nominated today as Blog Post Day, I'd better get cracking on Knews Not News, too.  Thanks for listening as I dissect my work habits to uncover the obvious.