TRUMP IN HELL – Chapter 1 – FREE PDF eBook Download

The Writer's Life

Readers often want to know “how writers write,” and I have gotten (and probably will continue to get) questions about my way of doing things.

Every writer goes about the writing process differently. The process can even vary within a project or across projects. Some days go well, others not so much. Some days, the whole process is daunting—even overwhelming—and very frustrating.

Writers block has been known to kill many a work. Fortunately, this writer does not suffer from these issues (generally speaking). In fact, the real problem for me is not a dearth of ideas or lack of inspiration, but the exact opposite! I suppose if one is going to be frustrated, it's better to suffer an abundance of riches rather than a total poverty of ideas or crippling indecision.

Some writers drive straight through, beginning to end. Others (I think most) write piecemeal, working on different parts of the story simultaneously or in succession. Eventually, the whole story starts to round into form, and it gets stitched together. I am one of those guys, actually. In some cases, it even takes an intrepid editor to bring all the pieces together into a semi-coherent whole. Alan Ginsberg did that for William S. Burroughs, author of NAKED LUNCH, which I discuss below. I don't think I'll need one of those, but we shall see.

For a complex yarn like TRUMP IN HELL, it seems to me that the piecemeal approach is the only way to go, as what happens in the middle and end of a story has an effect on the beginning. Believe it or not, and perhaps even more so than in other novels, the writing of this piece seems to be going like that, since it exists in a world—the underworld—where many of the normal rules don't apply. Anyway, things which occur to me while writing this way might not occur to me if I forced myself (which is what it would take) to go in a more linear progression. But it's also for this reason that a novel outline is more of an aspiration than a game plan.

Above aspiration, inspiration matters. For me, it often strikes at odd moments and not according any set plan or schedule. Further, jumping around as I write keeps me interested and excited. This is kind of important, because if I can't maintain my interest, the project won't get done. How can I expect the reader to be interested if I'm not?

Finally, this method saves a lot of time in the long run. Adjustments made along the way can be more easily integrated than when following an A to B path. As a result, there is less time wasted in re-engineering the story, and fewer revisions.

The above is important, because it bears on the TRUMP IN HELL project going forward. New content I make available to readers should, I think, follow a linear sequence, more or less. However, I make no guarantees on this, and I reserve the right to take you as far into the past as I go into the future, as well as down any side roads or diversionary paths, as the story leads me. Like those who read NAKED LUNCH in it's earliest drafts, there may be some unexpected time and perspective shifts. Be advised.

NOTE: Having worked for many years in the ad biz, where what you write is carefully vetted—depending, to some degree, on the size of the account in question—by not just principles, but quite often whole teams of people, focus groups and worst of all, law firms which have to justify their retainers, I have to say it's incredibly freeing to work on one's own projects without having to worry about any other opinion than your own.

This is not to say I don't value the input of others. I do. It just means I don't have to go against my gut, or change the work to suit some snooty jerk, or bow and scrape before some bean counter holding back a check until I comply.

Burroughs, Tolkien, Censorship & Stupidity (in Publishing)

William S. Burroughs found out how hard it is to both push the envelope and find a publisher. NAKED LUNCH, the world famous counter-culture classic from the '50s, was never published by a major house in the USA, and was originally published in France so as to avoid U.S. obscenity laws. The content of NAKED LUNCH so upset the stodgy, repressed American patriarchy of the time that attempts were made to ban it entirely.

Now think about this. Americans, who supposedly so cherish the 1st Amendment, attempted to ban a book. For words. Just words. Letters strung together on a page. Of course it was for words they didn't like, but that's the whole point. If you cherish free speech, it means you defend it even if you don't particularly like it.

Then again, this is the same era as the USG persecution of “radical” groups (you know, those darn civil rights activists) and the worst excesses of the Cold War.

Attempts were made to remove NAKED LUNCH from American culture entirely. Fortunately, the efforts failed. The book later went on to become not just a culturally significant milestone for the Beat Generation (along with the works of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Cassady, etc.) and an inspiration to other writers, but an inspiration for an entire generation of creatives, from visual artists to musicians.

Along the same lines, J.R.R. Tolkien—yes, sweet old J.R.R. Tolkien!—had a terrible time finding a publisher for LORD OF THE RINGS early on. It's now hard to believe that one of the single most successful written works of all time very nearly went into the rubbish heap of history, but it's the case.

At the time Tolkien was attempting to get LOTR published, fantasy was seen as a “children's genre” and not taken seriously by publishers. None of the big houses could see that there was much call for a “fairy tale” with the weight of the Bible. What 10 year old kid was going to read it? What parent of a 10 year old kid was going to wade through it?

Of course, these titans of publishing completely overlooked the rising interest in imaginative fiction of all stripes, as exemplified by the success of the pulps. After all, highly educated literati considered popular fiction trash for the most part anyway.

Well, in the end, who got the last laugh?

As it happens, a tiny publishing house in England (Allen & Unwin) was willing to take a risk—and ultimately enjoyed the rewards! What started out as a weird little niche book with a small but dedicated following soon became a world-wide phenomenon. The estate of J.R.R. Tolkien did pretty well too. 😉

Sure, the big guys eventually saw the light and made money on Tolkien, but it wasn't due to their courage or vision—it was mainly because they finally saw that fantasy was profitable and had the distribution!

NOTE: While the creator of Middle Earth did live to see and experience some of the success and respect his works rightfully garnered, it wasn't until many years after his death that his works went from geek's guilty pleasure to a perennial best seller. The same, to a significant degree, can be said for the author of NAKED LUNCH. Sadly, neither Tolkien or Burroughs lived to see the movies made from their most notable works.

It's Not What You Say Today (or Even How You Say It), But How Much Hype You Can Hustle!

While the style, substance and message of the works of these two seminal writers could not be more different, the problem was the same. They wrote works which challenged the accepted standards of cultural and publishing “normalcy” at a time quite different from our own. They both had to overcome many a “NO!” and keep believing in their work when it was not easy to do so, quite often in the face of jeers, scorn, disapproval and worse.

While I don't expect to face the same hurdles Burroughs and Tolkien went through—and I'm grateful for that—self-publishing is not without it's many challenges. So while I don't have to worry about being censored by a publisher or even banned by a government (at least not yet), reaching an audience as a new author is even more difficult in an age where anybody and everybody (and their brother) is vying for attention.

It's all about eyeballs these days, especially early on. Get enough eyeballs on your stuff and you're on your way. Fail to do so, and your work, no matter how great, is destined to sink into obscurity—perhaps (probably) for all time.

Which is why, if you like my work, I encourage you to contribute towards it's continuation. Help spread the word if you can, too. Be a part of Team Trump (in Hell). 😀