Happy New Year!!! Plus some odds and ends…

Today is the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the new Liturgical Year in the Catholic Church. A day of new beginnings and preparing for the Lord’s coming! Also, with the secular New Year a month away, an opportunity to “warm up” for whatever changes in life one has planned com January.

New Years are just a artificial temporal construct, I mean, one day is much like any other along the calendar. Seasonal changes aside, when we actually start marking a new journey about the Sun is arbitrary.

But, it serves a useful psychological purpose. Like new starts and such. For example, my oft-repeated plans to “blog more.” 😛

The short fiction I mentioned in For the first time in about a quarter century… was rejected. I think I got a form-letter rejection email. I will submit it elsewhere, perhaps after reviewing it again. If it gets rejected again (I am unsure as to how many more times I’l try) I may self-publish the piece through Smashwords and Amazon for $.99, even though I said in a comment to that post that I wouldn’t.

The awesome writing website, Writing-World.com! has The Writer’s Year Datebook & Planner for 2014 as well as a submission tracker. They offer free spreadsheet versions to download. Don’t let the word “spreadsheet” be intimidating, it’s easy to write in and to keep to-do lists/journals/notes and keep track of story and article submissions.

Are you a creative Catholic? ""Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics," is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone who is an alcoholic or addict? "The Sober Catholic Way" helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety, and is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. . (Thank you!!)

For the first time in about a quarter century…

… I may be submitting a short story for publication.

I last did that back in the 1980s, without success. I forget how many stories I submitted, but it was a single digit number.

If this is surprising given all my talk about my writing aspirations, let’s just say that I probably expanded the frontier of reasons for “not having written,” at least successfully.

The last time I actually submitted anything for consideration was a spec script for the TV series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in 1991. I am not counting that in my quarter century mark as it wasn’t an original short story of mine (original story idea, yes. But not original to me as Star Trek is someone else’s universe.) The script wasn’t purchased by the Star Trek people, obviously. If so, life would have taken a very different path. But it was rejected and I subsequently became distracted by trying to achieve self-reliance and a decent income with real day jobs while living in Southern California. After 4 years I left, then basically gave up writing for over a decade. I also drank for most of that time. Writers stereotypically are noted for being drinkers. Leave it to me to give up writing and take up drinking, or take up writing while NOT drinking. 😉

Earlier this week I awakened from a nap with a vision and an opening line in my head. I decided to take and run with it, and the result is an 1800ish-word short fiction piece which I think is suitable for the online magazine Daily Science Fiction. I spent a considerable amount of time reading the stories they’ve already published (they’re archived) and I honestly think that “Cold Creations” is a fit, and is comparable in writing quality.

Nevertheless, I am faced with the raw, naked terror of doing this. What if it’s rejected? WHAT IF IT’S PURCHASED?!?!?!?!? At long last, my dream of finally being called a professional writer, and a science-fiction one at that, may be achieved. My heart may not survive the shock of the pent-up decades-long wait. 😉

Daily Science Fiction is a fine online magazine for people who enjoy reading good science-fiction, fantasy and all related subgenres. It’s free to read, either online or email subscription. They also pay well, $.08 a word.

Are you a creative Catholic? ""Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics," is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone who is an alcoholic or addict? "The Sober Catholic Way" helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety, and is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. . (Thank you!!)

It wants to be a novel

That short story/novellete that I’ve been working on, “Listening to the Lost Voices” has informed me that it wants to be a novel. And so I went through and did some major copy-and-pasting and inserting-of-pages for all the major scenes and sections.

Now it has been percolating, but I should be spending much more time on it, what with a three-day weekend coming up in North America. The weather for my area is calling for rain for all three days, which means extra time to write. (No yardwork.)

As I have been working on it, it seems to be requiring longer exposition of certain things. And I have come to the realization that for me to do it justice, I think a novel is called for.

I read somewhere that stories fall into the category they are best suited (short story, novella, novel, screenplay, stage play, whatever).

OK, off to do some rereading. 😉

Are you a creative Catholic? ""Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics," is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone who is an alcoholic or addict? "The Sober Catholic Way" helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety, and is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. . (Thank you!!)

Letting a plot develop in the subconscious

I’m going to kill off my main character in Listening to the Lost Voices. This is going to be a tricky operation as it will be rife with symbolism and meaning, and he deserves to die well.

I also have no clue yet as to how to go about doing it.

And thus I will place it in my “pondermatic” where it will incubate and develop on its own. This works for me. When I am not certain what to do with the story, into the pondermatic it goes and maybe in a few hours or days I have a glimmer of what happens next.

While the pondermatic is incubating the plot point, I will work on another story. I want to write, and don’t want to waste the desire. This is insurance against the dreaded “writer’s block,” which I mentioned in The writer as a god. I suppose I could do others things, but I am afraid that my new-found dedication to write is still fragile, and so I will write even when I am clueless about the current main thing I’m working on. I’ll just turn to something else…

To give credit where credit is due, I got the term “pondermatic” from my friend Sean McGaughey, the “Ductape Guy” over at For the Sake of the Song and Catholic Roundup.

Are you a creative Catholic? ""Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics," is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone who is an alcoholic or addict? "The Sober Catholic Way" helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety, and is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. . (Thank you!!)

The writer as a god

Being a writer is like being a god.

OK, I’m not advocating idolatry, just the idea that a writer can create entire universes, planets, people, places and situations. (I know, “Tell us the obvious, you hack!”)

And this is the kicker point in what turns out to be a series of posts on the creative process: the writer sees the whole story from beginning to end, as a whole. Like God does human history. He sees all of history, from the Beginning to the End, all at once. And naturally, He can see individual parts…

And in this creative process, the writer can do whatever is wanted, I don’t have to write the story in its chronological order (start at the beginning, then proceed on to the middle and finally wrap it up). I can approach the story in any part, scribble new stuff, edit older parts, and even rearrange things.

From a person who has had a bazillion hang-ups concerning writing, and who has really taken to the idea of “writing as therapy,” this is liberating.

As a side note, it can be a solution to “writer’s block.” My typical approach to preventing writer’s block is to have multiple fiction projects going; if I’m stuck on one, I can move to another. The differing parts of a story can have this same affect. Stuck on what to do in one section, move to another section.

I have the idea that “writer’s block” may just be a fear; a fear of completion, of success or failure. A fear of facing the writing process and thinking “Oh, crap, I can’t do this… I’m not good enough.” Hang ups get in the way and the creative process is stopped. I don’t know, I’ve never really experienced the phenomenon, my historic excuses for “not writing” never included it. But I’m thinking that if you “just write,” regardless of how you feel, and have multiple things to do, then it shouldn’t ever be a problem. (Remember the Hemingway quote. )

A god doesn’t get “blocked.” 😉

Are you a creative Catholic? ""Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics," is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone who is an alcoholic or addict? "The Sober Catholic Way" helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety, and is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. . (Thank you!!)

Meat and potatoes writing and other stuff

Some other rambling thoughts I’ve developed since starting Listening to the Lost Voices is the interrelationships between the various forms of writing I care about, namely fiction, blogging and posting.

I have the idea that fiction writing is the “meat and potatoes” of original writing. It is the oldest and most traditional of the three crafts. And probably the one easiest to earn money with (although if you can earn money posting to social networks, I’d be a member of the 1%.)

Blogging is dessert. It is an indulgence for the most part. Not much money, unless you’ve figured out that “pro blogging” stuff and also post enough to draw sufficient traffic and so hundreds of thousands of people can click on your ads. (Although my pride and joy, Sober Catholic is more a service.)

Posting to social networks is snacking. Unless you’re writing to certain Groups or Communities, and thus attract attention and possibly business offers and opportunities, there’s hardly any way to earn money. Indulgent too, but unlike blogging, no easy way to archive your posts. Google’s Blogger service does integrate well with Google+, so there is that… But otherwise what is said today is essentially lost and forgotten in several weeks by most. Snacking.

Setting aside any value towards profundity that this revelation may have, I am hoping my recently discovered dedication to fiction writing helps my blogging efforts. I don’t blog enough. Perhaps with enough good, solid, nutritional stuff being eaten, I can indulge in some dessert now and then. This is where the “interrelationships” part comes in from the first paragraph. Things feed on each other. You write a novel or short story. You blog about it and post about it to Facebook or Google+ while you’re writing it. Audience building, in part. If your blog is a lifestyle kinda thing, stuff from it may work its way into some fiction.

It should be easier to be a writer today. So many tools at your fingertips that were unavailable decades ago, especially in interacting with readers and potential readers.

Are you a creative Catholic? ""Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics," is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone who is an alcoholic or addict? "The Sober Catholic Way" helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety, and is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. . (Thank you!!)

Laying down track…

One of the things that I have learned about myself and writing since starting Listening to the Lost Voices is that in keeping with the Ernest Hemingway quote, “The first draft of anything is shit,” I have to “get over” the less-developed quality of first drafts.

First drafts just do not have the same depth and breadth of the final one. That may seem obvious, but for whatever reason the shallow, boring nature of all of my first drafts had dissuaded me from writing. “This is crap.” And I couldn’t see through to what a nice piece of fiction it ultimately might be. Self-doubt? Low self-esteem? Stupidity? And I’d stop, sometimes for years. There were other things going on which stopped me from writing for long periods, perhaps I’ll get to them someday. But concerning the nature of this post, I had serious problems with first drafts. At once exciting (“Could this be the one?”) and scary (“I’ll be humiliated.”)

It is different now. Why, I don’t know, except perhaps exposure to other writers on social networks has given me insight as to how others work.

I now liken first drafts, and second, third and beyond, to the laying down of track. Just like in building a railroad. You lay down the firm framework to get you to your destination (completed draft) and then afterwards you add the things that always followed when they built railroads out to the American West. At first there’s just the barebones story, and then things develop. As you go over the story in subsequent drafts, you expand upon it: flesh out characters and backstory, build up the world they live in, all sorts of things that would make the story “complete,” and unique to you. Just like in the development of communities along the railroads, hardy, rough “pioneers” settled first, and then more “civilized” types until finally what was Tumbleweed Gulch is now Denver.

In “laying down the track” of this story, I am actually looking forward to the process, at least so that I can get it done and start fleshing out the details. 🙂

Are you a creative Catholic? ""Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics," is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone who is an alcoholic or addict? "The Sober Catholic Way" helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety, and is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. . (Thank you!!)

Listening to the Lost Voices

“Listening to the Lost Voices” is the working title of a short story I am writing. Oftentimes the story “seems to be writing itself.” Which is quite nice as writing can be painful, if the story can help out, great!

In short, it is a story involving a guy named John who can talk to people in Purgatory.

A few nicely odd things about this story: The self-doubt that normally defeats my fiction attempts is noticeably absent. I’ve taken to the notion that writing can be a form of therapy. I also think that pretty much all writing is autobiographical. Perhaps not so much that a writer picks an episode in their life and dramatizes it, but stuff from one’s life can serve as filler or material.

Another is that I am taking to heart some writing advice, which helps defeat the self-doubt I mentioned above. One bit of advice is from Ernest Hemingway, who said “The first draft of anything is shit.” That makes me feel better. Another is “If it ain’t on the page it ain’t on the stage.” I am not sure who said it, but it is something I picked up wayback when in a failed attempt at becoming a television and screenwriter. It originally meant the basic power of writers in an industry where they traditionally are disregarded: Hollywood. Directors, producers, actors get all the glory, but they can’t do diddly-squat until the writer writes and finishes. I have altered its meaning to be that “It ain’t gonna get done unless you get it written.” Profound, I know.

Are you a creative Catholic? ""Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics," is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone who is an alcoholic or addict? "The Sober Catholic Way" helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety, and is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. . (Thank you!!)

In the Land of My Exile I Praise Him…

I’ve renamed this blog. Why? because I thought it was a little conceited to name it after myself, even though it is mine and is intended to be “my home on the web,” for general “woolgathering, sharing and writing.”

The new name is from the Old Testament Book of Tobit, Chapter 16, part of verse 6:

Tobit 13:6

“When you turn back to him with all your heart, to do what is right before him, Then he will turn back to you, and no longer hide his face from you. So now consider what he has done for you, and praise him with full voice. Bless the Lord of righteousness, and exalt the King of the ages. In the land of my exile I praise him, and show his power and majesty to a sinful nation. “Turn back, you sinners! do the right before him: perhaps he may look with favor upon you and show you mercy.”

(Via USCCB.)

As a faithful Catholic who reads the Bible, I fully understand that life on Earth is a life in exile. Our true home is Heaven, and that land is where we trudge towards on our daily journey.

As a writer and blogger, I seek to employ my talents, whatever they are, to Praise the Lord. He gave me what talents I possess, and therefore I hope to use them to glorify Him.

Hence the name of this blog.

Are you a creative Catholic? ""Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics," is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone who is an alcoholic or addict? "The Sober Catholic Way" helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety, and is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. . (Thank you!!)

Me, on the radio!

I was on the “‘On Call”’ with Wendy Wiese” radio show yesterday. It went well. Wendy Wiese is an excellent host and made me feel at ease. There was a 10 minute interview with me followed by my fielding calls from the listeners. “Faith and Sobriety” was the topic, which was why I was called to participate.

This link is the archives of previous shows, including mine. Just follow the instructions on the page to download the show. Or, just use this link to listen (it starts playing right away, so be sure to have headphones or else be alone: Paul Sofranko appearance for May 1, 2013.

There’s a chance I may reappear, if so, information will be posted here.

It is really strange hearing yourself on the radio, I wanted to shout once or twice, “What the heck do YOU know, buddy?” until I realized I was only yelling at myself.

Are you a creative Catholic? ""Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics," is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

Know someone who is an alcoholic or addict? "The Sober Catholic Way" helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety, and is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life. . (Thank you!!)