The Confabulator Cafe

Category: Influence

  • The People You Know are a Well of Knowledge

    If my current hobbies end up informing my writing, it’s mostly on an accidental basis. For instance, I started out the last novel with the idea that I wanted to write a cyberpunk retelling of a fairy tale. That didn’t really happen, once the novel was edited to focus more on what it actually was. Instead, it turned out to be a sci-fi novel that was influenced by a lot of my thoughts on Internet culture and computer use.

    It makes sense; I pretty much live on my computer. I love the inside of it — I love the outside of it. I have a lot of feelings about it, and the way it shapes us as people. I don’t have nearly as many feelings about fairy tales.

    But you know whose hobbies I do like to use? Other people’s. All of my friends and family have interesting, varied hobbies (and lifestyles) that work as a knowledge base. Sure, I could Google information that’s relevant to my characters, but I would rather make a phone call or send off an email. For instance:
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  • Get Out of the House

    To the Moon, Alice! (Image from NASA, obviously.)

    Us writerly-types like to hole up with a keyboard and bang away at a story. It’s the rare genius who can do only that and be successful.

    It’s my experience that a number of writerly-types aren’t terribly social people, either. This isn’t necessarily good or bad nor is it something that should be worried about. Some of the best writers all over the world aren’t  really social, don’t understand how best to interact in real life but can write about relationships like no one’s business.

    Observation is the key, I think.

    Having just watched HBO’s Hemingway & Gellhorn (which may be my favorite role of Nicole Kidman’s and one of my least favorite of Clive Owen’s) it can be unequivocally said that getting out of the house is the best way to inform your writing.

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  • Hobbies, Work, and Process

    On this week’s theme, I wouldn’t say that I seek out new hobbies through writing. Rather, writing informs my extracurriculars, and my extracurriculars inform my writing.  Side note:  Labeling any productive activity as a “hobby” is a  loaded observation.

    I consider hobbies to be the things we really care about that capitalism simultaneously tries to convince us are the reason we work so hard all day, and then also requires us to dismiss in favor of work that is productive to someone or something else. This frustrates me, but it also reminds me of important anarchist principles (I know, really? Something ELSE reminds me of important anarchist principles?). We don’t always work for pay. Sometimes we work, and we do hard, important, vital work for love.

    Could the whole world survive on work done for love and need, for work done without coercion, work done in the spirit with which most of us pursue productive hobbies? I invite you to contemplate the possibility.

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  • Wis[h/t]ful

    I began my long-form writing efforts early in my career as a college-level educator. I am very fortunate: my job provides me with ample extra-curricular time, and my wife and I take full advantage of our situation by traveling to interesting places every year. I’ve traveled all over the United States, including most of the major cities on both coasts as well as multiple trips to many of our amazing National Parks. I hike in the Rockies every summer with my dogs. I’ve also been able to take vacations to Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Europe. I love to travel, and I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to do so.

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  • Right Brain, Left Brain

    I don’t use existing hobbies as part of my writing because they fulfill a different need. For example, I knit but I don’t write about knitting because my knitting mind is different from my writing mind. My knitting mind is calm and analytical. Sometimes I think about mundane problems while I’m knitting and this helps me sort things out. The act of knitting exemplifies problem solving through tedious repetition and slow progress. My mind while writing is totally different and may literally be using the other side of my brain. When I am writing I think in an excited way and can make big jumps between ideas. Like this…”Hey, wait maybe I could write about knitting. Perhaps a series of mystery books where the heroine is the owner of a local yarn store and each book comes with a pattern.” Note to self. Write that.

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  • Eavesdropping for Fun and Profit

    Not the real Stonehenge, but the photo got my attention. It looks a lot like a gorilla jumping off the stones. I feel a story coming on.

    I am not a very physically adventurous person. You won’t see me running any marathons, climbing Mount Everest, or parachuting out of a plane. The truth is, I’ve had serious back problems since I was about twelve. That was when a drunken Boob Fairy visited me in the night and couldn’t remember how many times she’d hit me with her wand. I fear there are a lot of flat-chested girls out there who never got their turns that night.

    After I had kids, the Ass and Belly Fairies came by in a well-meaning, but poorly conceived attempt to even out my proportions. Thanks guys. I appreciate your help. Didn’t help my back any, but at least I don’t need to buy dresses that are four sizes bigger on the top than on the bottom.

    All this is to explain that I do not try a lot of daring or adventurous things for the sake of my writing. No martial arts classes, no standing in a field learning to aim and fire a gun, and no jarring car chases in the name of research.

    But none of those things show up in what I write (so far), so it doesn’t matter.

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  • The Unfaithful Hobbyist

    My number one hobby is writing. The rest are really all just to inform my writing, if I’m frank.

    I have commitment issues when it comes to other hobbies. I pick up a bunch of hobbies long enough to learn about them but never master them, then move on to the next thing. I love to learn about everything, but I’m never dedicated enough to become an expert in anything.

    This does help me as a writer, believe it or not. I can include these hobbies in my story with just enough detail to be convincing, but be able to get away with not being proficient. Usually I use writing as an excuse to learn different hobbies more than I use my hobbies to inform my writing.

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  • Experiential Writing

    Writers are often encouraged to “experience” life in an effort to make their work more compelling. Well, experience doesn’t always mean living through a tragedy or performing some heart-stopping thrill. Some experiences are more … sedate.

    Overland Park City Hall
    Overland Park, Kansas, City Hall

    When I was in high school — back before the Internet Age — my English teacher tasked the class to encounter a new experience and write about it. He provided a long list of suggestions and said he would be willing to entertain other ideas.

    Now, my life up to that point had been pretty sheltered. I hadn’t traveled much. I had yet to land my first job. And my idea of a big weekend was going to the mall on Friday night and hanging out at the arcade. In short, my life was pretty devoid of new experiences.

    I had planned to spice it up by asking my parents to let me attend a wrestling match in Kansas City. I figured the visceral experience in the ring would be equally matched by the rabid fans in the cheap seats. I wanted to be a part of something truly outside my comfort zone.

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  • The Care and Feeding of Obsessions

    I don’t have a lot of hobbies any more. I think as you get older and life gets busier, it becomes difficult to make time for the things you aren’t required to do.  Maybe that’s a bad thing. Most likely it is. But it’s a fact of life, and from what I understand, I’m not in this boat alone.

    That being said, not always having time for your hobbies doesn’t mean you let your curiosity go to waste. If there’s a subject that piques your interest even a little, you need to get yourself online or to the library or buried in a reference book, whatever it takes to scratch that intellectual itch.

    It’s easy as a writer to categorize these fishing expeditions as going in search of story ideas, but I think that’s selling the process short. What you’re really doing is satisfying a need to know. You’re curious, so you’ve gone exploring. Even if it’s just along some nameless digital highway, you’re covering ground that’s new to you, and that’s never a bad thing.

    In your search for knowledge, you may or may not find the answers you’re looking for, but in my experience, you always come away with more questions. And more areas that need investigation.

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  • Interdisciplinary Love Song

    “People are inclined to say I am Ramona. I’m not sure that’s true, but I did share some experiences with her.” – Beverly Cleary

    If you are a writer, you have heard the saying, “Write what you know.” With all due respect, that is hogwash. What if you don’t know about something? Does that mean you can’t write about it? That seems unnecessarily limiting for a craft that is about constant evolution and experimentation.

    I have always preferred John Gardner’s concept. Write in the style that you love. If you love science fiction, write it. If you love fantasy, write it. If you, like me, love a variety of styles, you will find yourself writing in many different ways.

    I refuse to be confined by what I know. Instead, I liberate myself with learning. It isn’t difficult to pick up enough about any subject matter to give your writing a sense of authority. You don’t need to be able to write a dissertation on molecular physics to have a physicist appear in your story.

    I am an artist, not a scientist. It’s a waste of time to become an expert in pointless things when I could be practicing my craft, which is writing. All I need is enough spice to make the story taste real.

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