Author: Scott W. Baker

Like every other superhero, I have more than one identity. By day, I am Mr. Baker, not-so-mild-mannered high school math teacher. By night (and weekends, holidays, a lot during the summer...) I am Scott W. Baker, science fiction author.

Movie Review: Shutter Island

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

Scorsese teams with DiCaprio again in this  asylum mystery. Not everything is what it seems (shock!) and it doesn’t take long for hallucinations to start (double shock!).

Face it, the asylum mystery has been done to death.  Same old same old, right?  Wrong.  Well, a little right and wrong.  It’s hard to go all wrong with brilliant acting (DiCaprio will get an Oscar nod for this, and may win), brilliant dialogue, multi-layered yet seamless plot lines, and phenomenal cinematography.

Some of it gets a little heavy handed sometimes, I’ll admit.  Parts of the soundtrack were flashbacks to Kubrick and the main scene with the warden seemed a little off kilter, but all in all it was a brilliant film.  Make that brilliant and deeply disturbing.  Bad stuff has gone down that comes back to like in the flashbacks.  There was a mother with a ten-year-old kid there; she should be flogged for it.  I’ll have that kid in class one day and he will be too warped to learn math because he has too much Scor-psycho in his head.  But I digress…

This film is not for the faint of heart.  It’s one of those films you watch and say “that was brilliant,” then never watch it again because you just don’t want to go back down that dark road.  Every horror writer should watch it.  Suspense writers, too.  It’s dark; it’s disturbing; it’s excellent.

Now I’m going to bed with the nightlight on.

Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself…

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

Wow, yesterday was huge on this blog.  I don’t recall ever receiving so many hits or so many comments.  I feel like a celebrity.  I know I’m not, but I feel like one.  I’m sure the curiosity over the new WotF stud (term used very loosely) will die down quickly.  I’m sure Laurie’s getting more of this than I am.  Lael would be getting a lot of attention, too, if anyone knew how to find him.

But with the incoming swarm, I decided I should offer a little more content than “me, me, me.”  I do that from time to time.  I should update my “useful posts” links so people know that.  Anyway, I decided — upon seeing it mentioned in blogs and message boards elsewhere — to comment on the perceived weakness of leaving stories unfinished.

Heinlein’s second rule of writing is to finish what you write.  Who am I to argue with Heinlein?  He’s Heinlein, for crying out loud.  So I won’t argue, rather offer my interpretation.  My slow, erosion-like interpretation.

I’ve discovered recently that I am susceptible to writer’s block.  I think I catch it from my students, though theirs seems to be a plague-caliber strain of homework block.  They need to vaccinate for this.  When it catches me, it usually means there’s something wrong with the story I’m trying to write and my subconscious writer is acting like a seeing eye dog and saving me from venturing further into danger.  (I’ve commented on specific cases in earlier posts.)  Those kinds of blocks are good for me.  They’re pains to get past, but they are good.  It suggests I’m an even better writer than I think I am (and with the swelled head I’ve gotten from WotF, that’s saying something).

For example, I intended my WotF story, “Poison Inside the Walls” to end with my protagonist making a huge discovery about the nature of her alien enemies and gain enlightenment and return home to try changing her society.  I kept stalling in the process.  It was a beautiful story idea, but it wasn’t the story I was writing.  The story wasn’t about the aliens, it was about the protagonist and her family.  Spending  four to five thousand words on the aliens at this point (which was what it was becoming) was going to rob the story of its power and bore whatever readers had been interested enough in the story to get that far.  So I set it aside while I stewed on it, eventually isolating the protag and letting the alien inspire her ultimate decisions.

Stewing on a story is like letting the dishes soak in the sink, it can soften things up but don’t leave it too long or it rusts.  I probably have a rusted story or two that have been stewing way too long.  I have others getting close.  I have a story on the complacency of religion that needs something I can’t quite place…maybe a stronger speculative aspect to suit my taste.  I have another that I’ve painted with too much culture and not enough theme, to the point that I’m having trouble recalling the theme.  (Maybe I’ll do a post on my definition of “theme” sometime soon.)  One of my most promising novels (yes, I have a half dozen brewing…shame on me) stalled out because I got to part of the story I didn’t really care about.  So why write that part?  Well, it’s an important part of the coming-of-age story; I just need to find a way to make me care about it.

So yes, it is important to finish a story.  If it ain’t finished, it ain’t a story.  If you have no stories, you ain’t a writer.  But it doesn’t have to get finished right away if you’re willing to return to it with fresh eyes later, be it a week or a month later.  It works for me, so far.  In the interest of full disclosure, I hate this system.  I want to be able to start the story, work on the story, finish the story, then move on to the next.  So far, my process doesn’t work that way.  I’m hoping the crucible of Clarion will help me with this.  But for now, I’m slowly cranking out stories I’m proud of, one postponement at at time.

Second Place, Baby!

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 8 Comments

It’s official, I have a professional fiction sale.  Better than a sale, a win.  Writers of the Future XXVI, fourth quarter, second place.  (Oddly that sounds less impressive than it should.)  My story will be in a book in bookstores.  A book people will buy and read.  I get an all expense paid trip to California for a week long workshop and award ceremony.  My story will be illustrated by one of the talented winning artists.  How cool is that?  How cool is all of it?

I talked to Joni Labaqui, the contest coordinator, for about fifteen minutes.  She seems quite nice, even laughed at my jokes.  It’s not set as to when the workshop will be, but it’s a good bet I’ll have to take a week off school to attend.  No matter; I’m going to the workshop.  Meeting other winners, rubbing elbows with pros, making connections that are worth their weight in gouda…yeah, I’ll be there.

The best part of the whole thing is the sense that I am good at this writing thing.  Small press sales are nice, but I’d never sold a story somewhere that made me say, “that’s proof I have a future as a writer.”  Now I have.

Despite some suggestions that WotF’s workshop (combined with the status of the win) might be a sufficient repacement for Clarion, I am still planning to go if I’m accepted.  It has changed my mind about which to attend.  I had been heavily leaning one way (not to be revealed) if given the option, but now I think money will have more to do with the decision than anything.  CW is cheaper, but if there are scholarships to be had, I could go either way.  If things come out fairly even, I guess I resort to my old leanings.

It is eye-opening to see Clarion and Odyssey grads competing in WotF, many doing well time after time without winning.  My only workshops have been the online variety.  My winner, “Poison Inside the Walls”, was workshopped at SFF OWW as well as Baen’s Bar.  I have no MFA…no formal writing training at all.  I do have a decade of experience with token sales along the way (starting with the ProMartian turned Sam’s Dot Publishing zine, _The Fifth Di…_), a masters in math (which I don’t think came into play in the story), a bookcase shelf full of writing and science books, a deep vocabulary, a pretty solid mastery of punctuation and grammar, a solid if smallish list of SF readings, and enough humility to accept constructive criticism.  Oh, and the drive to keep doing this for a decade.

Winning WotF can be done.  It takes time and work, but the odds are a lot better than the lottery and the sense of accomplishment is much greater.  I’ve never been the guy that wins things.  This is a huge boon for me.  I just hope I can build off it.  I refuse to let this be the pinnacle of my career.

An ugly draft is still a draft

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I buried myself for an hour or two in the basement today and finished a first draft of my End of the Rainbow story.  It took some wild diversions from the original outline and feels a bit disjoint now, but it’s finished.  I’ll set it aside until the weekend and rework it then.   really need to trim it down.  It’s a pretty simple storyline.  I also need to do more with one of the important characters.

This is probably the sloppiest story I’ve written in quite a while.  Maybe that’s why it went so fast.  It still took the better part of two weeks.

No school tomorrow for me.  I stuck a rake in the snow out front; it sunk in eight inches.  I think I hit a deep spot, but still, that’s a lot of snow.  It’s enough that it’s over my miniature dachshund’s back.  I may be out all week.  We Tennesseans don’t cope well with snow.  No chains, no snow tires, few plows.  We stockpile salt, but that only does so much.  They usually clear the main roads pretty quickly, but it’s a backroad world here.

I’m going to scrounge up the notes I made at Starbucks the other day and see if I can grind out a flash story inside 24 hours.  (That reminds me, Jack Bauer’s on tonight!)  We’ll see if I can make those kinds of schedule holes.  After that I’ll target one of the two stories I have up at OWW.  Neither have gotten many comments, but enough that I have some direction to wander.  A character to cut out of the comedy; a transition summary to add to the tragedy, as well as a more defined character arc.

So much to do, so little time.  Oh, I have lots of time if you add up the three minute blocks my daughter gives me.  She summons again.  I must fetch a Fruit Roll-Up.  Bye for now.

Similes. Not to be confused with Smilies.

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I was rereading some writing advice at Nathan Bransford’s blog and stumbled across the old adage, “Don’t use too many similes.”  I can tell you now, don’t use too many anything.  But I suspect I am guilty of the “too many” similes offense.

I like comparisons.  I teach math by metaphor, using something as common as a stop sign to get across the importance of the order of operations.  (Dying to know?  Running that stop sign may be okay nineteen out of twenty times, but there’ll be that one time when a three-year-old rides her tricycle into the intersection and things aren’t all right any more.  Graphic but effective.)  So when I describe things, I tend toward metaphor and simile.

But I write speculative fiction.  If I say that Janine has a horse face, I may mean she has elongated features and large teeth or I might mean the front of her head is actually equine.  A simile is much safer and less confusing in this context; “her face was long like a horse’s with teeth that made me want to feed her an apple.”  In either case, the cliche is unforgivable.

I try to stay conscious of my similes.  Often a good simile is being used to make an unnecessary description.  But when it fits, it fits.  Sometimes I do have stories that require reworking to avoid sounding like a valley girl (like…like…like), an offense best discovered through reading aloud.

The best advice, though, is never to use a simile where it doesn’t feel necessary.  Similes do not spice up language, they don’t enhance imagery.  They actually do the opposite in my hands, giving abstract or tough to explain actions or images a very concrete and concise description through comparison.

A good simile subtracts words rather than adds them.  If he ran fast, don’t say he ran like a cheetah; more words.  If he ran with his arms flailing, elbows out, head bobbing, steps without cadence or consistency, maybe you just say he ran like a hyper kindergartener; fewer words.  And if the simile doesn’t quite describe it, axe it.  Better undescribed than ill-described.

That’s my expert treatise on similes.  They’re like donuts; I love them, but too many will cause bloating.  Oh, and unless you’re after the comedic effect, don’t use a simile that requires explanation.  (What made me think of that?)  Now go forth and compare cautiously.

Snow waits for no man

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 3 Comments

Another couple days out of school (the today that is ending and the tomorrow about to begin, it being after 11PM and all).  How much writing have I clocked this week?  100 words?  Maybe 200?  Honestly the count may be negative since I’ve been removing cancerous cliches from my latest endeavor.

But I have some energy now and most of my best work comes in the wee hours (at least I believe that in those wee hours).  When I get done here, I intend to power through to the next good part and build some steam.  My afternoon/evening is still booked with some training tomorrow (free laptop, baby!) but morning and early afternoon are free enough to squeeze out some words whenever my daughter is reasonably distracted (which happened seldom today, so I have that much excuse).

I’ve been trolling Icerocket for other people’s comments on Clarion/Clarion West.  It’s interesting what I find.  Apparently Clarion is a computer language or something and I get mostly drivel about that, but what real hits I get run the gamut from “I’m pretty sure I’ll get in” to “is it even worth my effort”.  I fear I would likely fall on the arrogant side of this, though my close shave with CW last year is at least some sort of pedigree, as is my WotF finalist I used to apply (more on that below).  Still, I don’t feel confident at all.  I screwed up my application length — even the format — for CW.  I had to cut 500 words from my story to submit to Clarion, 500 words that were mostly character-building or fleshed out the milieu (a word I’m trying to use more often), so maybe I stripped the story of some of its strengths and/or charm…and it was still a nibble above the word count.  (As if that story could be called “charming” at all.)  And the second Clarion story was a bit experimental in form, only an HM from WotF, and really represented my abilities from years ago, when I wrote the first draft without the Multiple Sclerosis angle.

So no, I’m not certain I’ll make it.  If people have more reason to expect to make it than I have (they may have pro sales or better semi-pros, for instance), then more power to them and I hope I see you out west.  If they have less reason to think they’ll make it (I have no formal training, no pro sales or even especially braggable semi-pro sales, I type slow and read slower, and I went five pages over for my CW application, for goodness sake!), then there’s still reason to apply.  For instance, I know Clarion (SD) has a tiered rejection system.  (If it says you were close, you were.)  And you might just get in anyway!  It’s not a magazine, it’s a workshop.  They are looking as much at potential as they are skill.  A clever writer with an obvious flaw might be a better candidate than a pretty-good-all-around writer that doesn’t stand out anywhere.  What will that person do, increase his/her mediocrity?

This isn’t to say everyone should apply.  It’s not worth it to every Joe/Jane that wants to write.  Six weeks away from work often means quitting a job.  Six weeks away from a spouse/fiancee/boyfriend/girlfriend may mean coming home single.  Six weeks away from my daughter is going to be devastating.  If it happens, I’ll have at least one major breakdown.  It will happen.  Not to mention I’ll also be away from my wife.  And the financial cost…  How many Clarion writers actually recoup that money with writing sales?

But face it, Clarion is my American Idol.  If I can make it as a writer, this will help (not make, but help) it happen.  It will open doors whose keys I might never reach by other avenues.  So for me, it’s worth it…perhaps for the last time. Let’s just say that after 2010, I intend to have too much to leave behind for six weeks to be reasonable.  So this is my Clarion shot.  The darts are away.  I should find out where they land in the next four to six weeks.  (If anyone thinks six weeks isn’t long, send off the application and wait those six weeks to hear back.  It’s a freaking eternity!)

And I know Clarion is not the only path to Publishing Parnassus.  Writers of the Future seems to be a good train, and more evidence that four to six weeks can be interminible.  (Come on, judges, declare my victory/defeat and get on with it!)  Lots of people just keep submitting until that one sale happens.  Then it’s off to the snail races.  And if it’s not what but who, networking can be done at conventions, via blogs, through mutual friends (found at cons or blogs), or any other number of ways.  Success is out there, waiting for me.  Waiting for you.  Many roads lead ther; they all have their own toll booths.  Get your exact change ready and get driving.

Ouch…the agony of that last cliche metaphor is killing me.  Avenge me!

More rainbow

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

Another late night, another scene down, another thousand words (some probably cuttable if the story runs long).  At this rate I’ll have the first draft done by the end of the weekend.  Cranking out a story in a week is quite an accomplishment for me.  That’s why I need Clarion…

I know a little more about where the story is heading.  I need to get the characters to bond a bit, and maybe make the jeopardy a little more real than it is so far.  The next scene will likely start out boring and end up intense.  I’ll need to make that jump quickly, 300 words or so is my target.  We’ll see.

Off to bed.  Full day of school tomorrow.  Yay.  😛

End of the Rainbow

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I’ll try to make this short since it’s midnight and I have school tomorrow.  We open late, but we’re scheduled to go.

My biggest paying sale to date (crosses fingers for WotF) was to Triangulation 2004, a semipro anthology put out by the PARSEC, a sci-fi organization out of Pittsburgh.  It was something like 84 bucks.  Woohoo.  Since then, Asimov’s has started saying very nice things about them.  (No, to my knowledge they never reviewed my issue.)  The theme for the 2004 issue was “Hard Port”, which wasn’t a stretch for my space fuel tanker story, “Chasers”.

This year’s anthology has the theme “End of the Rainbow”.  After a little dictionary and thesaurus time with the word “rainbow”, I came up with a story idea.  What’s more, I’ve now written almost a thousand words for the opening scene.  (I hope my other story doesn’t develop abandonment issues.)

Competition for the anthology is probably a lot stiffer than it used to be.  The theme used to be very loose, really just a carryover from their con-related fiction contest.  Now anthology and contest have different themes (contest theme: The Color of Silence) and the good press surely brings in lots of hopefuls.  Still, I’m inspired to give it a try.

The one reservation I have is, what do I do with the story if it doesn’t make it?  It won’t be right for WotF since the speculative element isn’t even hinted at until the bottom of page two and still hasn’t been expressed explicitly a thousand words in.  I guess I can make rounds at the regular zines, but I might have to strip the story of its rainbows so it won’t look like a failed anthology piece.  The rainbow connection will be a little tenuous despite it being the inspiration for the story.  But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

I’m just happy t be working on a story that has some momentum.  I don’t expect this one to get long enough to bog down.  And I have an outline.  Anyway, I’m off to bed to dream of sci-fi rainbows and unruly math students.

[I’ll add some links tomorrow]

Bad story. No soup for you.

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

I am in a very bad place with my current story.  I get the feeling it’s a place I never should have ended up.  It’s a slow place.  I’ve writtem and rewritten this place at least five times and it’s still not working for me.  I need to check my story notes (I think I have some…somewhere) to see exactly what direction it’s supposed to be going.

My most recent attempt employs the age-old advice to use narrative summary to push through the boring parts.  It’s time to put in the plot twist that drives most of the drama.  I also have a fear that I’ll need to cut half of what I’ve already written.  *sigh*

This one will probably take some time to work through.  Wish me luck.

New personal record!

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Not a record I’m thrilled with, by definition, but something I discovered while updating my submission tracking spreadsheet.  (I make sheets sorted chronologically, by title, by market, and by wait time…most of it copy and paste).

Anyway, I discovered that this WotF finalist is actually the longest I’ve ever waited for a short story response.  I waited almost a year to hear back on a novel…but that’s a way different issue.  It’s not like I’ve heard nothing over these 130 days, but I still don’t know if it sold and I can’t get it back out on the market until I hear.  Still, definitely worth the wait.

Just imagine if I’d sent it at the beginning of the quarter!

I still prefer long waits on possible sales to quick rejections.