Finding the Method in Your Madness

"All is change; all yields its place and goes."
-Euripides

"Change is the only evidence of life."
-Evelyn Waugh


This week my school is beginning a new quarter, which means new classes, new students, new preps, and new minds. Without a doubt, this has to be the most exciting and nerve-wracking portion of the quarter for me. With a new class I try to remind myself that all of the conceptions/notions that I may have should be thrown right out the window. A new quarter and a new class mean a fresh start. When approaching something new, even with writing, it is important to make sure you approach your writing in an innovative way. Otherwise, there can be baggage from the previous piece that makes its way into others. This can create dull writing.

For example, once I finished writing Demon in My Head, I began writing The Modern Prometheus, a “follow up” to Demon. In the initial stages of the writing, I found that the manuscript was very much like Demon. The protagonist was going through a “step-by-step” process (for tracking down a serial killer). It was eerily similar to Brimstone’s quest. When I discovered this (mercifully after writing only twenty pages), I scrapped the project immediately. I was still writing Demon in My Head! My major discovery was that even though I finished and published a “rewarding” novel, I was no longer finished telling the story of Gabriel Brimstone. I looked at this as not being finished telling a story. There was more that I could write.

As such, what I did was tell the story of others touched by Brimstone and his quest. The end of Demon placed Gabriel Brimstone in a very precarious position (that is all I will say). However, there were others who were affected by the events in that novel. So I decided to write a piece that follows up on the events in that novel. Due to this, Prometheus does not really act as a “sequel”, but it tells another story in that world. Many writers have a single character who acts as the protagonist. This protagonist continues to narrate throughout many books. Gabriel Brimstone, the “protagonist” (although I hesitate to use that word to describe him) that narrates Demon, is barely in Prometheus; yet, his presence is felt through the entire manuscript. Now when writing, I try to “breathe” between projects. Each piece that one writes should be different. There should be a different texture within a project, even if one is writing with the same character. In both manuscripts, the theme of family is present, which makes a lot of connections; however, it expands on the Brimstone mythos. Demon acts more as a horror story, whereas Prometheus (as it stands now) acts as a very dark (and horrific) mystery story.

I encourage writers to expand their horizons, write about something that is interesting to you, yet is different from you (or at least what you have recently written). Mystery fiction is a major passion of mine. However, when I wrote Demon, I wasn’t writing a mystery. It was outside of my element. With Prometheus, I am returning to my love, however, I am doing it in a different way. Writing involves growth and I encourage every writer to expand outside of your comfort zone.

In the Composition classes that I am teaching this quarter, I assign three major essays and a smaller essay at the end of the course. Each essay focuses on a different essay, and with each one, it stresses a different component on writing. I encourage those writers to choose a different approach when writing on that topic. If you are writing something persuasive, try writing it from a different point of view. When editing your text, how many times do you refer to yourself (using the first person)? Try cutting back on that in the next essay (or draft). Diversity is the spice of life!

Only when experimenting in your own writing will you discover what works and what doesn’t work with your own writing. At the very least, you will find out what not to do, this does nothing but narrow down what to do with your writing.

No matter what you do, keep writing!