How To Fall in Love With Your Work, by Josh Stallings

Q: What hooks you into an idea enough so that you want to write it? Character, setting, plot, genre? Or …?

A: Anything I’ve ever written that I felt was of value, came from a place of pure intuition. My most intricate and well laid out plans inevitably led me to drivel. I wish that wasn’t true. If I knew how to come up with the big idea and then write it, I would. Just isn’t how my process works.

What pulls me into an idea? I am attracted to writing about worlds and genres I haven’t done before. The challenge of the unknown excites and terrifies me. But that is often a secondary consideration. First thing that gets my attention is a glimmer I see in my periphery. Stare too intently it will disappear. I will think about it while walking in the woods. With no pressure to develop it farther. 

I was eleven years old when I fell in love with the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I read anything I could find on the real life outlaws. In a book written by Butch Cassidy’s sister I discovered the true story of how it ended. After that famous freeze frame, Sundance was dead, Butch wasn’t so lucky. This tickled my pre-teen creative brain. Four years later I heard The Who’s Behind Blue Eyes. In a flash I saw a film I wanted to write. I wanted to tell the story of Butch’s life after Sundance was killed. How did he go back to ranching after all he’d seen and done? I never got that story written, but it still feels like a cool idea. 

Elvis Costello’s Oliver’s Army led me to write a screenplay about a young man who lies to a group of mercenaries, telling them about his demolitions expertise. It wasn’t bad, almost got made for a minute. Point is those two ideas sparked from listening to music. 

My most recent work came from driving with my son Dylan making up songs. By accident we came up with the theme song to a story that didn’t exist. So I decided I should write it. Like a faithful detective I have hunted that story down, following the leads where they take me. 

One of the concepts I felt strongly about in TRICKY was the danger of confirmation bias. Bad things happen when a homicide detective believes they know what happened before they have all the facts. The same applies to writing, but with less dire consequences. If I believe I have all the answers I will never discover the truth in a story. Knowing everything limits what I learn along the way.

Does this sound crazy? Yes, it does. But it’s the only way I know to access the intuitive part of my brain. The part that knows what I don’t know.

Sometimes I know a character from page one, Cisco in TRICKY was based on Dylan. But as I wrote he slowly morphed into his own person. Cisco has Dylan’s humor. But Cisco also carries a heavy load of guilt. Cisco worries that his past makes him a bad man. Dylan seems sure he’s a good guy who makes mistakes. I wouldn’t have discovered these differences if I had decided I already knew who was who and how they should be reacting. I try to take this into real life. Realizing I know very little about what other people are thinking or feeling, allows my view of them to evolve.  

Sidebar: Is there anything worse than having come up with a very clever plot turn only to discover that your character wouldn’t do what you have them doing?

My first book Beautiful Naked & Dead started from an opening line that I heard in my head. That opening line is the only thing that survived all the many drafts. And it is still the best opening I’ve written. It contained the entire DNA sequence of what the novel would become. 

Regardless of where the spark comes from, I am aware of how damn hard writing a book is. It’s also joyous and thrilling and frustrating and big fun and hard work. To take the writing of a book on I need to find a reason to fall in love with it.

A couple of days ago Erika and I celebrated our 44th Valentine's Day together. That’s a long time to love someone. And it all started when I met a pretty girl with a sweet smile, a wicked intelligence, and a strong heart that called to me. Along the way it’s been hard work mixed with long days of riotous joy. Sometimes we cut each other deep. Danger of pain from unintentional cruelty comes in equal proportions to how much and how long you love a person. I have felt loving support and tender words at the exact moment I needed them. 

The late night I asked Erika to marry me, I was a scared kid running from everything. There was no logical reason for us to expect getting hitched was a good idea. At the time I dreamed of making it in film or theater, but I had no job or backup plan. All I had was a deep feeling that this was the correct next move. Pure intuition. Faith in her. Faith that I wouldn’t irrevocably fuck it up. Turns out by trusting our guts we beat the odds. 

This is the same as falling in love with a story idea. Intuitively I have to know that it won’t be easy but the book will be worth whatever the cost it extracts from me.

All faith is blind. 

Following intuition is by definition illogical. 

It is also the only way I know to discover stories worth writing.

****** 

My latest reads: 

Chain Gang All Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. The New York Times named this one of the 10 best books of 2023. It is one of the best novels on incarceration in the USA. It is a dystopian world where prisoners can fight and kill each other for reduced sentences. But it is so much more, it speaks to the morals involved with who we as a nation are becoming. It also has flawless footnotes to keep you tethered to the factual basis of the not far fetched story. It isn’t for the squeamish, but damn it is important.   

City of the Beast by Isabel Allende, translated from Spanish to English by Margaret Sayers Peden. Published in 2002. A fun YA book set in the Amazonian rain forest. While on an anthropological search two teenagers come in contact with real magic and local gods. My only problem with the book was its use of the word “Indian” to describe the indigenous people. This may be from the translation, or it may just be that in the last twenty years we’ve learned to use more accurate language when speaking of first nation folk.   

Writing Undeniable Fiction, By Josh Stallings

 

Undeniable, is that even possible? 

Today is the fifth week in the month so we decided it would be blogger’s choice. I’ve decided to muse or mumble on what’s rattling around in my brain. 

As a reader I’m always looking for a book that surprises me both in content and form. It has been said there are only a certain number of stories, and Shakespeare already told them all. In a reductive sense that’s true. But here’s another truth, every human is distinctly different if you are willing to look closely at them. How would you have written Romeo and Juliet? Maybe she was raised in the 1960’s by feminist parents. Same elevator pitch but a very different play.  

No two writers have lived the exact same lives. When we write honestly from our heart and soul no two writers have the same voices. How we lived our lives effects the lens we see a story through. I was raised poor, by well educated politically aware activists. I can’t help seeing the humanity in all characters, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

How do we get to authentic writing? My experience has been that we all have wonderfully unique voices, AND we all have a very similar committee of critics in our heads. So if we want to write unique stories we need to kill the internal critics. You know, the ones that say, “That idea will never sell.” Or, “Great idea, but are you really the one to write it?” Or, a personal greatest hit from my early days, “You can’t even spell, why do you think you could write a book?”

Some of this is imposter syndrome. Ask most writers and you’ll find out they suffer or suffered from this in one form or another. For me I discovered that none of this rears its ugly head when I’m actually typing. I am filled with self doubt when thinking about a new book, not when writing it. I pay those intellectual bullies in my head little to no attention. It seems to help quiet them.

How do I find books that surprise me? 

I don’t limit the kinds of books I read. I follow my intuition from book to book. My siblings or other readers suggest books. What I’m working on effects what I read. The last MS I wrote was about LA, in it is a gang leader, part of writing him was discovering what books he would read. Through this I discovered Paco Ignacio Taibo II and his brilliant fresh take on the detective novel. I’ve now read every book of his that has been translated into english.

Part of my newest work in progress takes place in Ecuador and that introduced me to Poso Wells by Gabriela Alemán. An absolutely original voice, and must read for fans of weird crime fiction. I also discovered City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende, a fantastic Amazonian adventure tale where the old religions are real.  

How do I apply this desire to surprise myself to my writing?

By any means necessary.

How does any means necessary look? 

I was 10,000 words into my current work in progress, had it mapped out. Knew where it was headed, and then… I had a fresh idea. An idea that scared me and would take the novel into an uncharted direction. So I started reimagining, restructuring, and rewriting. Now at 19,000 words I’m excited to keep going. It is my voice, my kinda writing but not like anything I’ve written before. There are one million reasons to not write this book. I don’t care. I am willing to keep going purely on faith. I have a fragile belief that this is the book I should be writing. Fragile, i.e., it can be broken easily, must be handled with care.

Books all start with me in a place of fear. And I must keep slogging through — paying the fear no attention — until at some point the book takes on a life of its own. That is when it becomes undeniable. When it becomes a fully formed world, then it is up to me to shepherd it home.  

How do you write a book that sells? 

That's what we all wanna know. What’s the trick, where’s the secret? Wendy, a friend I walk dogs with reminded me, “Write the book you want to read and you at least know one person will like it.” That’s the truth. 

There are no sure paths to writing a NY Times best seller. You can write a book that's good, and maybe with editing and help you can make it damn good, but will it sell? That my friends is a roll of the dice.

I believe in the two universal forces, chaos and serendipity. Hard work and talent ups your odds of serendipity striking your book. But there are no guarantees. I also believe writing a good book needs to be its own reward. What denotes a good book is absolutely personal. 

My goals have become disconnected from sales. That’s not to say I wouldn’t love big sales numbers, it’s just not my goal. I want to write a book that thrills me to think about. Build a world that is fresh and doesn’t feel like drudgery to play in. And to believe that I have something to say worth saying. As do all of you reading this.

If there is a trick, this might be it:

Have the courage to speak your truth. Speak it well. Surprise yourself.