Chapterella 7

Chapterella 7 is up and I couldn't be happier. This chapterella came about as I was sitting in a class, and suddenly I got the tune to Jack's lament stuck in my head. I started inserting lyrics about the tree, and one thing led to another until suddenly I had a chapterella with a musical interlude. Originally chapterella 7 also had time marks so that those members of the audience unfamiliar with the Nightmare Before Christmas could sing along as well, but I nixed that idea.

You'll also see at work some foreshadowing, which I don't do often but...well it's there. As always, enjoy.

This is Water

David Foster Wallace, author of books such as Infinite Jest, and known for his absurd yet brilliant humor, is not surprisingly an inspiration of mine. Like many of my inspirations, he's one I've only read one book from, but I loved Infinite Jest and will gladly read more Wallace in the future. But that's not the point.

The video above was created from an abridged version of his famous speech "This is Water," which he gave to a graduating class in 2005. I'm going to let you watch it, and then we'll talk it.

Finished? All right. Let's begin.

The video begins with one of my favorite stories, which is the one about the fish, swimming along, when the older fish swims up and says "hey boys, how's the water." The boys ignore the older fish and swim away, until one of them turns to the others and says, "what the hell is water?"

This simple story leads into the rest of the video where Wallace discusses the water of our every day lives, that is, the default way we view the world. I won't retell the brunt of it, that's what watching the video is for. Instead I'm going to tell my own "This is water" story. Which I'll then end with a poem about said experience.

If you didn't know or just forgot, I grew up in Michigan. There's a million different ways that growing up in Michigan is exactly the same as growing up anywhere else, but here is what is different. It snows there. A lot. It not only snows it gets cold and it stays cold. All of which were things I was tired of at about age high school. I spent most of my high school and college years hating the snow, hating the cold, and wanting nothing more than spring to arrive.

My junior year of college I started taking poetry classes. I took them because I needed a third creative writing course, after fiction and non-fiction writing. At the time I was planning on being the next Steven King so poetry was just the better alternative to play writing, which I had no interest in. But something strange happened. I loved it.

I not only loved it, but it changed the way I looked at the world. Suddenly I realized there were people out there looking intently at their lives and writing about it. Not just making up stories, but painting beautiful interpretations of things which I had always thought just were.

Well it turned out that wasn't the case. Things not only were, but they could be viewed. And so, after my first poetry class ended in the summer of 2007, I made a decision. I couldn't wait for winter to arrive. I couldn't wait to see the snow with new eyes, to see the world in a different way. I waited, and waited, and that winter I got my wish. Winter came.

I'm not going to tell you about how I viewed it differently, like I said, I'll show you. Here's the poem.

Snowfall

Past the second month of sunlight only during working hours, past the slush-mucked crosswalks

darkening pants just trying to do their jobs, past asthmatic walls. So to hell with the potential wet cold and to hell with the known cold, there is nowhere to go that isn't cold so there is a field and there is something across it so might as well walk through the, of course-

Untouched white

reflects the black,

holds up the night.

Exhalations linger,

static between the self

and cold.

Ground absorbs the sound.

Each step

crunching out your

firstness.

When I finally got out of my "I hate winter" mindset, I realized it was a hell of a beautiful thing which is going to give me a lot more poems in the future. And it's a mindset which I've adopted through most of my life as well. Which is the weirder part of my life I think. What my normal mindset is. And this part begins with a question a student asked me once.

It was after I had established myself as a sub at one of the high schools I work at, and a student asked me what I thought the meaning of life is. And I gave a simple, one word response.

Happiness.

And it is what I believe the meaning of life is. Happiness is my static state, except when I'm in the car which is a different story. But I view the world through a different lens then being frustrated by the normal grind of reality and it lets me have the experiences like the poem above details. It feels damn good.

So I encourage you to take a moment and try to see the water around you. Maybe your water is fine, but maybe it's a little murky and you might need to find a different view. Who knows, maybe you just might see the snow for what it is if you do.

The Editing Process

For those of you who've never written a novel (I know that this is my first) one of the biggest parts of the process is editing. Now I'm sure this is true for many other forms of art, but I'm going to stick to novel editing because it's a particular type of monstrosity, so let's jump right into it shall we.

I'm often asked if I've finished my book by people who I've told I'm working on it. This question is so tricky to answer both because I suck at answering questions, but also because it's a multilayered question. Have I finished writing it? Technically yes. I finished writing it in January when I pumped out a rough draft in a month (not counting the previous rough drafts and the five years it took to get to that first draft.) But judging by the fact that there is no novel up on this site, nor is it for sale anywhere, can I say that it's done? Oh no. Probably not by a long shot.

And the reason for that is editing. And editing doesn't just mean fixing the typos.

Just yesterday I posted what has to be the 10th version of those first two paragraphs, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's still not the final, final version. The reason for this is because those first two chapters need to be strong enough to convince someone to read the remaining forty two give or take chapters in the novel. They simply have to be the best.

And as they get edited, so too do things need to change later in the novel. Things reference those first chapters, as they reference things later on. Phrases are repeated. Introductions that are cut need to find their place elsewhere. And the more things change...the more editing.

So how does editing work on a novel? I don't think I really clarified above. It sounds tough, but that's just the first two chapters right, followed by some touch ups? Ah, if only.

At this point in time I have read through this novel at least four times, and each time there are a lot of small one to two line changes, but occasionally there are huge sections that get rearranged, cut, or added. Each time I read through the novel I'm getting a different perspective, and while I fix the little typos, I'm also getting a better sense of how everything fits together, which is important for a novel like this which can occasionally get off track. Of course, with each read through the earlier chapters also get more solid, but it also means I've read the first twenty chapters far more often than the last chapters.

Now for the biggest issue though. I've just told you about the small edits, and the larger edits, but the hardest part about editing?

I can't do it and then go back and do it again. There has to be time between each edit. The problem is that if I just read the whole novel front to back and then go through and do it again, I can't give an honest look at things. I might just say "this is good enough" because I just read it two days ago and can't stomach it again. Or I might cut something really good because I just edited it and decided that it's still not good enough, only to find two weeks later that it really was good enough and now I'm back in a corner (which is one of the disadvantages of digital.)

But with all of that beings aid, don't take this to be anything near a complaint. I am loving this editing process. Each time I read through the novel I marvel at some of the things I've written, and at how the whole thing is coming together. Which leads me to my last part of this post. Getting the damned thing published.

Obviously right now I'm writing to a small audience, and sometimes I doubt that any of that audience would stick around to buy it, but I'm researching methods of publishing the novel digitally, and it seems like going through Amazon and Nook will be easy enough. I can't give you anything more than that about where it will be, but I'm pushing to release this book sometime before the end of June, if everything goes according to plan. And as it comes closer, I'll be going into further detail with my experiences using these services. What will happen, I don't know, but expect an official announcement day soon.

As always thanks for reading you crazy people, and look for Chapter 7 to be up as well soon. After all, the more I get up here, the more I can entice you.

The Update

If you look above you, you'll see that the Forward Slash Introduction has now been included, though again this is a second draft of that part. We're on to at least draft four of the first two chapters, but they are up as well. I hope they are a little clearer, and welcome any input as to the changes which have been made.

As always, enjoy.

An Update on the Novel

There will be a longer post on the state of the novel forthcoming, and Chapterella 7 tomorrow. In addition, look for a new beginning, and by that I mean I've revised the beginning of the novel to be clearer. So yeah, there may not be much from me today, but tomorrow there will be presents. Presents the likes of which you've never seen!

Are Video Games Art?

The debate over whether video games are art has extended beyond the classroom into the mainstream, with such greats as Robert Ebert and Stephen Spielburg weighing in their opinions on the matter. So I'll throw my own into the ring and see how it stacks up.

First off all, we're just going to gloss over the question of what is art. That's a conversation which has gone on for thousands of years and which I don't want to weigh in on. Yet. I'm just going to assume that if you're here with me, we can agree on some basics like the fact that there is art, and it's something separate from mere entertainment. I'm also going to assume you read my post from yesterday. If not, then click on yesterday and you can go read it. This will help in the coming discussion.

So then, let's crack some knuckles and begin.

Can video games be art? I'm going to go ahead and say yes, and here's why. Similar to architecture which also faced an uphill battle to obtain legitimacy as art, video games have certain rules they must follow (they must be playable), they serve a multitude of functions, and people create them. I think we can all agree on that. And if someone is creating them, if they are considering rules while creating them, and so long as the game lives up to the number one rule, then we can call it art, I should think.

But here's where it gets tricky. What do we need to consider in legitimizing the artistic nature of a video game?

Do we focus only on plot? If that's the case, then it seems like all the video games I mentioned yesterday which don't feature heavy plots or any at all don't fit our artistic category. Nor would modern games which seek to emulate those games. But if you look at current discussions you'll often see the old greats included in people's list of artistic video games.

In which case is it innovative game play that makes them art? Well if that's the case aren't we looking at games more as something akin to a building? Something which might be visually appealing but which also must conform to certain functional ideals as well? If that is the case then do we look at a game like Bioshock Infinite which is simply repeating the old gameplay elements of its predecesors and negate its artistic integrity because it's not trying to think outside of the box? What about the RPG genre which tends to focus on plot over gameplay innovation? And does that mean games which are not utilizing the technology of the times are simply not art?

Speaking of art what about the visuals? Visuals have been an integral part of not only gameplay, but also storytelling in games. Do we negate the pretty visuals of newer games in favor of older styles which serve a specific purpose? Or celebrate the newer visuals and downplay any game which does not appeal to our visual senses? Can I possibly say visual a few more times?!

The problem with video games as art is that they are a combination of mediums, a problem shared by film as well. Speaking of film, this guy right here is a friend of mine and editing is his game so if you are interested in seeing some interesting film work, go check him out. Shameless friend plug. Anyways, back to my point. Film contains visuals, music, editing, and I'm sure a lot of other things that I don't know about because I haven't studied film. It's easy when we just talk about writing as words, art as pictures, and music as sounds, but when we start combining things where do we draw the line? Do all of the things need to be great or can a soundtrack carry a movie. Or a game?

All interesting questions. Without exploring them let me just try to define how I view video games as art. And that is the same way I define anything as art. Does it move me?

One of the interesting emotions that video games can draw from us is frustration. Modern games like Dark Souls, or the good old games like classic Mario or Pac Man, or...the list goes on and on, but they were challenging, something that goes hand in hand with so called high art. Meanwhile we have games which visually push the limits and can downright be described as beautiful. Skyrim and Fallout are two examples which come to mind, due to the sheer immensity of the landscapes they present.

There are games which create such engrossing atmospheres that we become transfixed. Shadows of the Colossus gets thrown around a lot as a video game which is art and it deserves the claim. Shadows presents a bleak world which tells its story with all of two cut scenes, and which challenges in game play as well. Survival Horror games do a better job of being scary then most horror movies, and often contain complex stories which play out alongside the descension into almost literal madness. And as I mentioned yesterday, the plots of some of the RPG's out there rival novels in their complexity. Just another element to be considered.

As is my way with these posts, I could go on and on, but what I'm essentially getting at is that there are no easy answers for what makes video games art because there is too much at work to narrow down any one thing. Which makes the ultimate decision about whether video games are art or not up to the only person who it should matter to.

You.