The poem stuck in my head

The Paris Review has a new series, called "The Poem Stuck in My Head." In each column, the writer explains a poem that they can't stop thinking about.

Today, the poem stuck in my head is actually song lyrics, after reading this article about Courtney Love.

I want to be the girl with the most cake
He only loves those things because he loves to see me break
I fake it so real, I was beyond fake.

Confessions from an Anxious Mind: A NaNoWriMo Writer's Story - Week 1

I had a plan. I was going to start at 11pm on October 31st: harvest some plot ideas, plant some seeds of character and reap some stalks of subject matter so that I could chow down on the fruits of prose come midnight. But even the best laid plans–and this was not one of them–can go awry, and so it ended up being 12:30am on November 1st when I launched full-force into my National Novel Writing Month endeavor. Which is actually more true to the spirit of NaNoWriMo, working in the moment and removing the bonds of self-censorship.

In that first sprint, I employed nearly 400 words, inventing less than 1% of them. After 3 days, I am now perched at 3,200 of the eventual 50,000 I hope to acquire. Currently, I don't have any significant plot developments, no real "story" to speak of–it's mainly character sketches and small moments, which is suitable coming from a short story background and having consumed that medium as a reader for the past few weeks. But that is the appeal of NaNo: freedom to write the way you want with the impetus to write more of it. I'm braving the impending storm of brain fatigue and laptop eyestrain, and I look forward to sharing more of the ongoing madness.

Kickstarting a publishing career?

Here's another alternative to the whole -find-and-agent-editor-publisher-game: Use Kickstarter to finance your writing.

PBS has the story about author Tim Pratt, whose book series was left hanging when his editor got laid off from his publishing house. He turned to a few different strategies -- like serializing the book, getting donations on kickstarter, and self-publishing the (digital) book on Amazon.

Sometimes I think we're in this new digital-Wild-West of publishing, a sort of pioneer world where you get to make your own path. Yes, it's harder and harder to squeak into the Big Publishing Houses, but there are thousands of people out there making a living by blogging, self-publishing, and finding readers through their own verve. It makes me want to saddle my horse and hope that I don't end up with cholera.

Just Kids

Jonathan Franzen with David Foster Wallace at the book launch for Infinite Jest.

Did you know that Jeffrey Eugenides and Rick Moody lived together in San Fran in the '80s?

OK OK, but did you know that Mary Karr and David Foster Wallace had a "stormy" relationship in the '90s?

Or that Jonathan Franzen spent his late 20s desperate for friends?

I learned all of this just by reading the first page of a New York Magazine story on what might be today's hottest literary cohort. And then I learned how it all ties into their work, whether they intend it to or not. There's love, betrayal, deceit, murder. Everything you also find at the average Thousand Fibers meeting.

Don't believe me? Read for yourself.
--KSB

Thirty days and nights of literary abandon

It's time for the annual wrote-your-heart-out extravaganza known as NaNoWriMo, a.k.a. National Novel Writing Month.
This is the first year I'm taking the plunge. 1600 words a day x 30 days = 50,000 words.
I am planning to bend the rules to suit me a little more. Bending as in, it doesn't have to be words towards the same novel. My goal is to just carve out time every single day this month for writing, specifically for a few different projects I've got cooking.
Join me, won't you?

Slashy*

Actress/director/writer Miranda July has a new book coming out, called It Chooses You. McSweeney's has the details, but in short: July sought people that posted ads in the all-classified publication the PennySaver, interviewed the prospective sellers, and got photos (taken by Brigitte Sire). The New Yorker has excerpts.

(She also has a new-ish movie out, called The Future. You can watch a short film and read an interview about the movie here.)

Photo above is from Miranda July's magical website.

*Slashy indicates that she's a multi-talented person for whom I have to use a bunch of these: word/SLASH/word/SLASH/word.

Back from the dead!

Let's get this started again.

Today's reading: A lively profile of cartoonist/writer/creative-workshop-teacher Lynda Barry.

One tiny scene:

“That’s perfect!” Barry shouted. “Perfect! I mean good, good! I had to remember I can only say good. Good good good good good.”

At the end of class, Barry put her hands on her hips. “Well, you little bad asses. How about that?”

Her book, What It Is, is on my wishlist. I'm going to start referring to people I like as "you little bad asses."

Listen up, cyboys and cybergirls

McSweeney's Internet Tendency is looking for columnists. Didn't you always want to share your thoughts with the world?

Readers! Writers! Books Galore!

This weekend is the Printers Row Lit Fest (formerly "Book Fair"). If you like books and words and writers and readers, it's a good time. Full schedule and details are here. Will I see you there?

And, with impeccable timing, New City released its "Lit 50" list, which is a list of "who really books in Chicago." You can read the full list here. Two thoughts:
1. It seems man-heavy (the top 10 listed are all men).
2. I need to read more Chicago authors.

Story time

Gaper's Block has a great roundup of Chicago's storytelling scene. I gotta get in on some of that action!

The full story is here.