Humor Metamorphosing into Horror Metamorphosing into Allegory

Of all the books I’ve written, my current work-in-progress is by far the most fun. Part of it, I am sure, is due to the past months of reviewing and being reviewed. I am more confident of myself as a writer, more accepting of my style, and even though the words still come slowly (I average about a page of keepers a night; the rest ends up in the trash) they are coming easier. They don’t fight me as much as they did in the past. I don’t spend as much time agonizing over the perfect speaker attribute or trying to come up with an original metaphor, which I would end up getting rid of anyway, because they always sound trite to me.

Another part of the fun comes from knowing where I am going. Because of the blogs I did on creating the character, I know who is his, what he wants, what his internal and external conflicts are, which in my previous works didn’t show up until after I’d written about fifty pages.
But the most fun is how the mood of the story keeps changing. It started out as a whimsically ironic apocalyptic novel, metamorphosed into horror, and now it has become something completely different: an allegory. A biblical allegory, which is itself ironic because . . . well, just because.

Chip, my hero, and the torments that beset him are reminiscent of the book of Job, or so it seems. It’s been many years since I’ve even looked at a bible, so I can’t give you specifics. But the overall feeling is the same.

How did this happen?

Details. Although I know the story and my character, I don’t necessarily know the day-to-day minutiae until I write them, and the story is in the details. Each action, no matter how small, has a reaction. Each reaction is motivated. How does Chip react to what is happening to him, and why? Why are the things happening in the first place? By such little steps – the hows and the whys — the story builds. And deepens. And metamorphoses.

The Art of Procrastination

It seems as if lately the only art I’m practicing is the art of procrastination.

There’s no art in going about your daily life and telling yourself you don't have time to write. The art is in pursuing other activities to keep from going about your daily life and telling yourself you don't have time to write.

Thus far in my procrastination, I have:

1. Read several books about writing.

2. Invited a dozen authors to guest host my other blog. Some ignored me; some accepted. I don't know why any author, particlularly those just starting out, would pass on the opportunity. Publicity is publicity, right? If you are a published author (self-published is fine) and would like to guest host Bertram's Blog, let me know.

3. Left comments on a couple of online writing forums.

4. Joined a writing discussion group (this is in addition to my own writing discussion group.)

5. Entered a writing contest even though I said I would never enter another one.

6. Researched book marketing for when/if I get published.

7. Signed up for Facebook, MySpace, and Shelfari. Wandered around the sites trying to figure out what to do with them (still have no clue). If you belong to any of these sites, please add me as a friend so I can procrastinate more!

8. Published an article about What Your Car Color Means on Squidoo.

9. Sent emails to a couple of epals.

10. Started this blog.

It would probably be easier just to sit down and write the novel, but where’s the art in that?