Greetings, friends.
I'm going to apologize first and foremost for my absence of late. I did not mean to leave for such a lengthy amount of time but, as it turns out, Write Club can do that to a person. Even a person with such a free schedule. I won't make any excuses (though that last sentence certainly sounds like an excuse). Just know that I've been working to write as well as I'm able, and I'm hoping to show you all the improvements I've made as a result of the Club's rigorous...
...training?
I'd call it training, anyway, or, at the very least, enforced practice. If you didn't make the deadline, regardless of circumstance, you were given the boot and a rude gesture. Okay, maybe not a rude gesture but certainly a swift kick in the arse. So far I've written seven...serviceable...stories. Monday and beyond will mark the eighth and final session.
I did end up writing a few thousand words of my novel, but I came up with another idea and I've been playing with the two to see which one I want to spend time on the most. We'll see how that goes.
As for the title of this post, you've read correctly: Cormac McCarthy will be the spotlight for today. Who is Cormac McCarthy? Only one of the most celebrated living literary authors in America. If you haven't heard of him, I don't blame you. I didn't either till I randomly stumbled upon The Road in a bookstore whose name I can't remember.
The Road
A tale of a nameless man and his nameless son in a post-apocalyptic world, merely trying to survive. Each day they inch closer and closer to the coast, hoping to find some semblance of peace and prosperity. It is a tragic tale, filled with violence and despair. The minimalist approach McCarthy utilizes for this book bleeds through the pages in a way that deeply reflects the characters' struggles as well as their setting.
It is a book that captured my heart and made me actually enjoy literary fiction. He is, by far, my favorite. The Road earned a film adaptation with Viggo Mortensen as its lead. I've seen it and I have to say it's extremely faithful. After reading this bleak story, I decided to buy his other books. Those that I own are as follows:
Blood Meridian, or The Evening Redness in the West
The Border Trilogy
Outer Dark
He's published ten books in the past forty or so years, and I intend on collecting every single one. He also has another book upcoming called The Passenger. The man is quite simply phenomenal. Every word seems to serve a purpose.
His Influence
His writing, in some ways, inspires my own. While I'm fairly certain I would never be comparable to the likes of him, I'm content in the thought that reading his prose helps better my own. His works are well outside my wheelhouse (namely fantasy and science fiction) but all the same, to be a better writer, you should probably read better writers.
He often uses conjunctions instead of commas to lengthen his sentences. He refuses to use quotation marks to distinguish dialogue. And that's what makes him special. Despite his frequent rule-breaking, he gets away with it because he's so good at what he does and what he sets out to accomplish.
Lately...
I've been reading for entertainment again. With far more frequency than I had in the past several years. I realized if I want to get better and eventually publish, I need to read authors I respect the most. And while some of them may not have mind-blowing prose, their other strengths more than make up for the deficit. So recently, I finished The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan (just last night actually), the second entry in the Powder Mage Trilogy. I'm now on my way to finishing the third. After which I will take a five minute break and read Blood Meridian as well as the rest of the McCarthy books I own (I've put it off for far too long).
Then it will probably be the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski. And finally, as far as this plan goes, I'll munch on the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. I'm all in, folks.
Thanks for reading this wall of text. I'll catch ya'll next time!