Cocoon

I've been a bad creative

I had some aspirations for this newsletter. I wrote some interesting pieces (I thought they were interesting), but this fall, I stopped writing them.

Not for lack of wanting - the inspiration went and hid itself - and when that happens, I don’t bother trying to chase it around.

The good news - on the writing front, I’ve been working. I’ve entirely outlined my fifth novel. My experience with my fourth was…unique, and I’d rather not repeat that anytime soon. The fourth novel was a troublesome and tiring journey through personal trauma (yes, I know, I’ve said this before; bear with me). I had an outline, but that outline, by the end of the writing, was utterly useless. The book was like a zombie, walking by itself, eviscerating any plot. I don't remember the last part of the book. I usually edit as I write - it didn’t happen this time. So…this means I have a lot of editing in front of me - a complete deconstruction of the script so that I can take stock of what I wrote and craft it into a cohesive whole.

So, lesson learned.

This book is wholly plotted before I head into it. I am over-preparing. I know the beginning, the middle and the end. The only other time I’ve had a plot this well thought out was when I was working in a writer’s room. It made the script I wrote extremely easy. So, I’m hoping to repeat that with this novel.

The initial plotting document numbered 45 pages.

So - that’s my world of writing.

On a more personal level - I am back home and enjoying being in Vancouver. I spent five out of six months traveling with my wife. Sounds exciting, and in some ways, it was, but it was also tiring. I’ve been in half the Canadian provinces this year - and other places. That is odd.

So, sleeping in my bed is a joy.

Let me turn you onto some things that I’ve loved recently.

Hellebore magazine. A British/Canadian magazine that covers Folk Horror and the Occult. Exciting articles on ghosts, vampires and everything spooky. The articles are well-written, and the magazine is well-designed. I bought every issue they published.

The Babysitter Lives by Stephen Graham Jones is an audiobook that took me to places I had no idea I wanted to go. It is a unique idea that captured my attention - which is quite challenging nowadays. A young woman babysits for a family, and the hijinx ensues when the children manifest in places they shouldn’t be able to.

I went to see Saltburn in theaters. It was the first time I had been to one in a while. The movie was written and directed by Emerald Fennell, who had previously made Promising Young Woman, which I immensely enjoyed.

If you’ve seen PYM, you know Emerald doesn’t make ‘safe’ movies.

Before you rush off to see this with your mother, Saltburn challenges the audience, and I love that. It is twisted, dark shit. It is sexually devious - the audience I saw it with was repulsed again and again - so fair warning.

That said, I smiled for most of it. The performances are a lot of fun. Barry Keoghan is a generational actor. It feels like The Breakfast Club in college but with more sex, drugs and murder.

Musically, I’ve been making a playlist to listen to while I write the new novel. It is titled The Goth because it is made entirely of Goth music. Very clever, right? That said, I’ve realized, at 44, that I’ve been a secret Goth my entire life. Depeche Mode, The Cure, Joy Division, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Yeah. Plus, a couple of newer artists, because because.

So, happy holidays and good cheer to you all.

If my mind lets me, I’ll try to be more regular, but I make no promises.

Martin J.