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.

“Secondhand” reception

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

“Secondhand Rush” made its appearance at Baen’s Bar a few days ago.  Edith Maor was, as always, right on top of things and provided comments within hours of posting it.  She had some good points that really strenghtened my story.  She seems to have a habit of disliking my characters.  Either I really need to work on likeability or Edith and I just disagree.  It happens.  But when I disagree with an editor of a professional magazine, especially a gatekeeper like Edith, I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I also seemed to have been too subtle in a few places.  The ending made reference to something only mentioned at the story’s begining in passing.  I built up the emphasis and made the end reference more direct.  I also clarified a minor character’s involvement (Axel) and made him a touch more important.

The biggest change was to the protagonist.  He was subtly afraid of death in the original (despite being a bit of a daredevil) but without cause.  In the rewrite, [SPOILER ALERT!!] he has multiple sclerosis.  The illness doesn’t change the plot much but changes the reader’s perception of it.  This came primarily from a reviewer questioning how desperate Chang was. It also came a little from Edith’s plea to make Chang more sympathetic.  I know she didn’t mean “pitiable”, but it came from the same place.  Chang isn’t pitiful at all (how many pitiful people climb the exterior of the Statue of Liberty?), just defiant of his illness.

Anyway, I really think this rewrite is a winner, probably 90% of the way to publishability.  If Baen doesn’t want it, WotF is probably the next stop.  I think it will fit their tastes well, based on some past winners I’ve read.  But if I really knew these kinds of things, I’d be writing those stories anyway.

I highly encourage aspiring writers to join Baen’s Bar even if they aren’t ready to post there.  Izanobu can vouch for the benefits of lurking.  Looking at the short, blunt editorial comments left to other authors by the slush editors is enlightening, as is viewing the progression from one iteration of a story to the next.  Pages load a little slow; that’s my only complaint as it impedes my lurk-and-browse technique.

-Oso

Rewriting and revision

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 7 Comments

As I mentioned in a few posts, I’ve been rewriting an old gem I found on my hard drive from at least five years ago, probably more. I think I just finished that rewrite, at almost exactly midnight on May 2nd.  I’ll probably want to edit more in a few days, but I’m pretty pleased with the results.

I didn’t cut the massive opening sequence I had considered axing.  It seemed to start kind of slow, but it was more the fault of excessive wordiness than anything else. Maybe I’ll stick it in Baen’s Bar to get some feedback.

In ways, “Secondhand Rush” is simpler than “Leech Run” which got slapped around.  It’s simpler in that the protagonist’s motivations are perfectly clear from the beginning.  His needs are simple, his life is simple, his goal is simple.

The story’s structure, however, is oddly complex.  It violates Jordan Lapp’s rule that a first person POV story should have no scene breaks.  I, in fact, jump periodically to other characters to eavesdrop of their conversations.  The story wouldn’t work without miranda7 and LucAs [sic] popping in and out.  It’s the nature of the narration that it happen that way.  Trust me, it works.  Some people may not like it, but it works.

miranda7 and LucAs also converse a lot like my students do with text messages.  It’s a byproduct of their living situation (they are downloaded into computers for immortality).  It may make their dialogue tough to read, but it’s always short blurbs and it fits the story.

I’m proud of this little creation.  Sad that I shelved it so long ago.  It wasn’t ready for the public and I wasn’t ready to fix it.  I’m curious to see its reception.  If I don’t declare otherwise here, I’ll have “Secondhand Rush” up in Baen’s Universe Slush by the end of the weekend.

In related news, I have put my Critters membership on hiatus.  I still love Critters, I just don’t have time to keep up my crit count.  That, and I’m considering joining the “sff online writing workshop”, maybe next month when school is getting out for the summer.  (Tarcie, I haven’t forgotten.)  Hopefully I’ll have another story ready by then.

goal update

~ Scott W. Baker ~ Leave a comment

I have good news and bad news on the goal front. Good news: I accomplished every one of my school-related goals. Even those pesky tests are finished (don’t ask how they did…*shudder*). Bad news: Not one of my personal goals was accomplished. The kitchen looks better, “Secondhand Rush” is in the middle of an overhaul that might well cut the first couple thousand words (see my next post for details), moles are alive and well, invisible fence is still a worthless underground wire, and the laundry has claimed my bedroom in the name of its king. Most unhappily, not one word of new story has been written. I can use my real job as an excuse again, but the jobby-type job is not going away. I have to do better. I don’t have to do better every week, but my aims were low and I did not achieve them.

Next week will be better after Tuesday.  I’ll even be able to do a bit of writing at school (don’t tell my principal).  My mother and grandmother are coming to visit next weekend, followed by my best friend’s bachelor party. And then: Mother’s Day.   Some combo, huh?  I’ll be bipolar by the end, possibly even schizophrenic.  But that basically gives me seven days to clean the house for Nana (who will try to clean for me if it’s not perfect…clean her way).  We’ll see.  But I vow, writing will be accomplished.

(Drat!  Ended in passive voice!)

Not too bad…

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

The goals were set high and I fell short on a few. That pesky kitchen is taking forever; people keep messing it up as I try to clean it. Couldn’t we all just stop eating for the weekend? And those tests are still untouched. I’ll set my goals for the week here, though that does technically mean it didn’t get done over the weekend.

On the upside, I breezed past my word count target last night.  A lot of those words may get cut before the end, but that’s irrelevant.  I got the contest entry out to coolstuff, got the living room clean (with help from my wife), filled a box with dirt, sent off the headset, saw some waterfalls, even replaced a leaky shower head with a cool two-head model (not on the list).  A successful weekend despite the unfinished list.  I’m a little disappointed with my eating habits for the past few days, but that’s a different post.

So goals for this week (outside menial day-to-day stuff):

  • remember my soccer ticket duty for Tuesday and show up
  • grade those blasted tests!
  • print and distribute the last of the review worksheets for my classes
  • get answer sheets for those worksheets printed and reserve time for the students to use them

Those are all school-related goals.  There’s a high-stakes test next week so these goals are at the forefront of my attention, but they fall within the school day and aren’t that big a deal.

  • write 500 new words
  • rewrite “Secondhand Rush” 
  • finish cleaning the blasted kitchen!
  • catch up the laundry
  • lose 2 pounds
  • fix the invisible fence

The fence might not get done, but I want to try.  I thing a mole chewed through it.  Speaking of…

  • poison those stupid moles

The low word count is practical considering the school pressure I’m under the next couple weeks.  That should jump after the big test.  Anyway, let’s see how I do.

Goals are good

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

A while back (like here), I set a goal to have five stories under consideration all at once.  I managed that today as part of another goal (set yeaterday, not bothering to link) to get my contest entry out to CoolStuff4Writers.com.  No, that’s not technically a story submission, but the scene is definitely a stand-alone story with a bit of a cliffhanger ending.  I’ll try to get another one out there soon — maybe as early as Tuesday — to make me feel better about the whole thing.  Anyway, here’s what’s out there:

Story Market Submitted
Glow Baby Writers of the Future 28-Mar-09
Excuse Me Rejected Quarterly 9-Apr-09
How Quickly We Forget Every Day Fiction 9-Apr-09
Brother Goo Beyond Centauri 10-Apr-09
A Game of Telephone CoolStuff4Writers Contest 25-Apr-09

Bad excuses

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

I have accomplished a paltry couple-hundred words or so this week.  Pitiful.  There is no excuse for my poor progress.  School has been hectic, but not unlivably so.  I have started this pesky diet, which leaves me feeling a bit weak and light headed at times (like right now) and makes it hard to concentrate.  The feeling will pass in a few days when my metabolism gets used to my lack of binges and severely reduced intake of both sugar and caffeine.  The diet is making it tough to focus today.  I’m going to try to get at least a thousand words in this weekend.

I need to brush up my all-dialog story and send it to coolstuff4writers.com (big thanks to Tracie and Jamie for their comments).  I also need to build some momentum on my brilliant brainstorm story.  And that old story I rediscovered that needs a rewrite.  Lots to do but it ain’t getting done.

Maybe displaying my goals for the weekend will help me attain them.  Here they are:

  • 1000 words minimum of new writing [1300 baby!]
  • polish and send the story to coolstuff4writers.com [done]
  • fill my wife’s garden with a load of dirt [done]
  • get the kitchen and living room clean [1 down]
  • grade my stack of long-ignored factoring tests
  • send back my mildly defective headphones [done]
  • take a hike [done, but shorter than planned]
  • set more goals for next week

So it’s not all about writing.  Knowing what’s there helps me schedule.  I’ll update Monday to let you know which goals I achieved…and which fell short.

-Oso

It’s time…

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

One of my Facebook friends — my former college roommate –today posted his intention to start losing weight.  He weighs only a small Thanksgiving turkey more than m and I decided to join him in his endeavor.  I think doing this together will be beneficial; neither of us is the type to let the other run away with all the success.  As long as one of us makes progress, I suspect the other will tag along.  If we both shrug our shoulders at the first donut, well then we fail together.

I am no stranger to weight loss attempts.  I got down to 240 a couple years ago (shortly after my daughter’s birth) while my wife was losing with me.  It took longer to gain the weight back than to lose it, which was comforting if only mildly.

For Lent, I pledged to get back on my diet.  That didn’t work.  The stress of waiting to hear from the Clarions was my excuse to falter.  I am the kind of person that eats when he is stressed…or happy…or tired…bored…awake…

I feel better when I am lighter.  Imagine wearing a 40 pound jacket that you have no need for.  It makes me slower, I tire easily, I’m always hot.  It sucks.  Does it suck more than I like donuts?  It might, but it’s a close race.

Food is my drug of choice.  I’m an addict.  Compulsive overeater.  They don’t make a patch for this.  They make pills, but no thanks.  I’m not exactly quitting cold turkey (still have to eat), but I’m doing it on my own (well, me and my old roomie).  No rehab, no Biggest Loser, no electroshock therapy.  I’ll approximate the Weight Watcher’s plan that worked so well for me before.  (Wikipedia has the “points” formula posted.  I would link to it, but I  question the legality of their sharing.)  That combined with some not-too-tough exercizing should melt the pounds away at a steady rate.  I’ll be hungry as my dog is scruffy, but I can do it.

I hope.

-Oso

Long time, no me

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 1 Comment

I was disappointed to see I got zero hits on this blog the other day.  Then I checked and saw it had been a week since my last post.  Ack!  Sorry about that, folks.  I wish I could say I’ve been too busy writing to make my blog posts, but I can’t.  My writing has been slow and in tiny fragments.  It is life that has kept me busy.  Not a good excuse for someone who calls himself a writer, but it’s true.

So what’s been going on?  A lot of teaching (not sure how much learning has occurred), a lot of time with my daughter (fun time and fussy time), some sleeping, some gardening (yuck), and…I don’t know, stuff.  There have been other things neglected, too.  I have a very old stack of tests that still isn’t graded.  My house is a wreck (I did attack some of that last night but not enough to downgrade the wreck to mess).  

On the upside, I received a package I’d been waiting for: my wireless headphones!  My daughter’s bedroom is about six feet away from the living room television, so the wife and I had to watch with a thumb on the volume.  Turn it down when people yell, guns fire, things blow up; turn it up when people are talking normally or whispering.  We often had subtitles on so we could tell what was going on.  With the headphones, we can both listen without difficulty and without worrying about waking the toddler.  The headphones are Sennheiser 120s: big, on-ear (as opposed to over-ear or in-ear) models with rechargeable batteries and a nice charging stand.  Comfortable, too.  One pair does seem to have a weak speaker for the right ear, but I often find this the case with headphones and wonder if that’s a typical thing.  Or maybe my right ear is where the problem is.  I’ll compare the two headsets again tonight.  If there is a significant difference, I may return the suspect pair…if I can.  The one giving me trouble was refurbished, so I may be stuck with it.  We’ll see. 

I’m setting a goal to put something significant on here this week.  Nothing monumental, but some sort of useful insight I have gleaned from a decade of floundering as a writer.  Check back soon.

-Oso

Ever feel brilliant?

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 2 Comments

Some days I feel like I am a genius.  This usually happens on days where I don’t get a lot of actual writing done.  Today is one of those days.

I was once an outliner, using the whole Roman numeral system and everything, just like they taught me in middle school.  I eventually regressed to a bullet system, but even that is often too rigid for my short fiction.  Now I do almost all of my story planning in freewriting exercises (also something i learned in middle school).  It usually just helps me find character motivations, flesh out plots.  Today it worked a miracle.

Okay, it’s probably not the freewriting.  Only so much of it is even me.  I got my inspiration from, of all places, a reality television show.  The rest came from about a dozen of those writing books that line my bookshelf (many described here).  I kept asking myslf the right questions.  Like what?  The biggest: What human truth am I revealing with this story?  According to Kate Wilhelm’s Storyteller, triviality is a regular problem with stories, even at Clarion.  I suffer that problem a lot.  I am pleased to say that this story isn’t planned to be trivial.  How about that, huh?  (Sorry, watching Leno as I type.)

Other questions: Why do I care?  Who’s viewpoint is the most dramatic?  Why would she do that?  How would I accomplish this or that goal?  It’s all basic stuff, but I finally feel like I’m asking the right questions at the right time.

I realize, this late in the post, that most of you probably don’t care.  I sound kind of like I’m bragging.  Maybe I am.  It has seemed recently that everything I’ve been writing has either slipped out too smoothly or bogged down in attempts  be relevant only to end up monotonous.  People keep telling me that making the Clarion West waitlist this year means I’ll surely make it next year (unless lightning hits Jordan Lapp before June).  But I hadn’t felt like the ideas hitting me had the potential to be any better than “Leech Run” or “Glow Baby”.  This one could be.  I’m excited about my good idea and I’m taking it out on you.

Reality check: I haven’t written the first word yet.  I have my main characters (mother and daughter named Evelyn and Kelby Abrams), an opening scene idea (think the opening of The Great Gatsby set in a CEO’s waiting lounge), a POV (Kelby’s), the antagonist’s motvation, the SF plot points, comuppance, a major foreshadowing element, a few minor characters, and that great human truth that so many of us endure…but they are all ideas in paraphrased forms that may or may not play out in words the way I envision them.  Basiclly, I’ve done the easy part.  Next comes the gruesome act of spewing this into narrative form, followd by the painful art of revision and editing.  It’s like I’m looing at Everest from basecamp praising myself for making it this far.

Still, I am thrilled that my brain has returned to me.  I go through phases like this, where I don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere just to come out of it a long way ahead of where I fell off.  My monkey paw touched the monolith.  Now let’s see what I can do with this bone.

I should be ashamed of myself

~ Scott W. Baker ~ 4 Comments

I am just shameless enough to use my blog for this.  Maybe someone can help me out.  I knowthere are a few competent writers out there reading my blog (no names so I don’t put anyone on the spot or leave anyone out) and I am looking for a favor.  First, some background.

I stumbled across a contest at coolstuff4writers.com that challenges writers to write a scene using only dialogue.  I sat down and started playing with it.  I started out with some detective and lieutenant talking about a perp and bored myself sufficiently to delete the whole thing and start over.

I’m much happier with what I have now.  It’s more than a scene; it’s a one-scene story…I think.  It takes place over the phone and I really felt the need for a line of explanation as to who hung up.  The contest (which I haven’t conclusively decided to enter) seems to prohibit even that much.  I think I managed to end things (a bit of a dangling ending, but that works sometimes), I just want some feedback.

I guess what I’m (shamelessly) asking is: anyone got time to skim a 1200-word story just to let me know if it has an ending?  Let me know and I’ll send you a copy.  Other commentary would be welcome, but the ending is mainly what I’m looking for.

Normally I’d take it to Critters or maybe Baen’s Bar, but it’s not technically a “ready” story.  That and the contest has a deadline.  I’d be happy to offer a reciprocal critique to any takers.  No pressure though; I know how my schedule gets.  Just thought I’d ask.

-Oso