Writing Above the Writing
The writing projects that occupy my mind at present
This is another introductory post. Below are summaries of my writing projects. Some of these I have had in my head for years; others are more recent. Sometimes it feels like I enjoy writing about these projects more than actually working on them. (Of course writing about them counts as writing, too!)
The Lesser Light: Alien machines take over Earth. A teenage boy survives with the help of a sci-fi book that seems to be telling his own story. At a crucial moment, the book fails him and he discards it. How does he survive without the magic book? He is told to rewrite it.
Themes: writing, rewriting, revision, time travel (maybe?), memory, truth and fiction, reading, race, computer science
A Darker Travel: a bereaved father begins having dreams about visiting heaven. He gets a tour of the afterlife (similar to Dante) through nightly dreams. He longs to find his son, but must journey through everything else first.
Themes: this is where I’m working out my theology, exploring new dimensions and perspectives of it. Also where I will process some of my own grief, being a bereaved father myself. I’m still deciding if the story will only take place in the dream, or if it will have “waking” chapters as well.
Monsters in Seattle: After I first read Frankenstein, a friend recommended I read Frankenstein in Baghdad. I loved it. And it made me ask the question: what monster stories could I retell in the context of urban Seattle? So far, I’ve written 5 short stories, started a few more, and have ideas for several others. The idea is that it would be a “short story anthology”: all the stories happen during one summer in Seattle when people start seeing monsters. There may be overlapping characters or storylines, but each story will stand on its own. While I intended for each story to be some sort of “retelling” of a monster story, only two are “closely” retold. One is based on a nursery rhyme, and others loosely allude to biblical passages.
Themes: monsters, monster theory, perception, fear, love, emotions, psychology, sociology, retellings
Writing About Grief: Since my firstborn son died in 2017, I’ve been learning what it means to write about my grief. Most of the wisdom I’ve learned is from others, and some I’ve learned through reflection on my own writing. Others have written books on “griefwriting” craft, and someday I would like to contribute to that genre. For now, I’ll occasionally write about it here.
ReTellings: I love retellings, when an older story is “retold” in a new way. I especially like retellings of ancient myths, Bible stories, and fairy tales. I have developed some sketches of what I call “ReTellings Theory”: what counts as a retelling, and what effect a retelling has on the audience’s perception of both the retelling and the “original” (or previous) telling.
Those are the major writing projects that take up most of the creative space in my head. I also write poetry and short stories, and have been occasionally trying out flash fiction. Sometimes the themes of these “other” pieces intersect with the above projects, and sometimes they are completely separate.
Writing Under the Writing posts will focus on a variety of topics, but most of them will relate to one of the above categories. I will indicate that in the tags. Feel free to message me if you want to hear more about a certain theme, or if you come across books or other media that relate to these themes. I’m always open to book / article recommendations.
Okay, preambling is all out of the way. Next it’s time to post some writing under the writing!