Soon to be Famous

Do you want to be famous?

Before you answer that I would suggest considering what it means. What it REALLY means. And how do YOU define famous? There are more definitions we can count right now. 

But if it's about recognition for your artistic self, acknowledgment of your work, and not fame defined by money or the Kardashians, then this is for you.

Write a book during National Novel Writing Month? Want now to get it published? Plenty of nontraditional ways to do that these days. I did it early on in my career with what is called a hybrid publisher. The process got my memoir Accidental Lessons out there. A good editor, a good designer, and good marketing plan sent me on my way.

Did I become famous? Again, back to my first inquiry: Depends on what you mean  by famous.

But, despite your thoughts on fame and all of its meanings, the Soon to be Famous Author Project has to be a consideration.

This is a wonderful initiative to give self-published authors a chance to shake things up, to make a mark, to get recognition for their writing. And who better to review these works and judge them than your local librarian? Who better to champion the self-publisher?

We are no longer in the world of your father's publishing. Librarians are no longer the geeky spinsters of the community. And writers are no longer keeping their manuscripts hidden away in desk drawers.

Check out the project. Pull out that manuscript, brush it, up and get it out there.
 
The Soon to be Famous Author Project is the subject of the latest episode of THE BLEEDING TYPEWRITER.

Creating...Because You Have No Other Choice

You've heard or read this quote in a lot of interviews with writers: I write because I have to. 

That has to be true for other artists. In fact, I would claim it is woven into the world of any artist. You write, you paint, you sculpt, you create music not because you want to, but because you MUST.
And this is especially true for artists who are just beginning to find their place in the world.

The members of Railway Gamblers, in many ways, seem as if they've been around a long, long time. These four musicians from Chicago's South Side are old souls; you'll find their creative hearts seeped deep in the traditions of blues, traditional country, Americana, and the passions of the best of the singer-songwriter generation. They are offering up their second album soon, recording it now at Kingsize Sound Labs where Wilco and The New Pornographers nurtured their early works.

I like Railway Gamblers' music, but what I like best is the band's spirit, their artistic sensibility and passion. These are the essential ingredients of creating an artistic life. And with that, anyone in any genre and discipline can learn a little something from Railway Gamblers.

They are the focus of episode five of THE BLEEDING TYPEWRITER. 

Books in a Bar

Martinis, beer, Manhattans, tequila — Rock-n-Roll, guitars, microphones — all these things go together well in a good music tavern, a venue rough around the edges but just right for edgy, down and dirty indy music.

Now...let's add literature.

If you're from Chicago, you know The Empty Bottle, a unpretentious corner music spot on the northwest side. Grungy, but inviting. And if you're from this Earth, you know that bookstores have a tough time making ends meet these days. So, what does an independent book publisher do to get its authors' works out there? It takes them to a Rock-n-Roll bar.

It's called a Pop-Up Book Fair —— a handful of indy publishers inside a gritty bar, selling stories. So different, and so, so right.

It's all pulled together by Curbside Splendor in Chicago. Earlier in November, I took part with my publisher Dream of Things. Four hours in a bar full of books.

It makes complete sense.

Hear more in Episode 4 of THE BLEEDING TYPEWRITER. 

A Museum...for WRITERS!

I've been to my share of museums and I'm not always satisfied when I leave them. Either I don't have enough time to immerse myself in all of its wonders, leaving me unfulfilled. Or the museum itself just doesn't ignite my curiosity for whatever reason.

There are big exceptions. The Art Institute of Chicago and The Louvre in Paris, to name a couple.

And without it even opening its doors yet, I'm certain the new American Writers Museum will be another one of my exceptions. In fact, I'm certain I will completely geek out on the place.

The AWM will open in the spring of 2017 in the second floor of the 180 North Michigan Avenue building. A prime spot with a lot of exposure. It's expected to be an innovative digital design and a museum dedicated to literacy. And although it will showcase and celebrate American writers, it hopes to inspire people, especially young people to put pen to paper, fingers to keys, or hands to a keyboard.

Museums, for some, can be boring or considered too academic. But the modern museum knows it must compete with an array of options for the consumer. Hell, you can Google an author's name on your smartphone and find massive amounts of information without ever stepping into a museum. But a well-designed venue for the curious can be like no other, providing an experiential space that can't be duplicated anywhere else.

Episode 3 of The Bleeding Typewriter is all about the American Writers Museum and why for a writer, a lover of the written and spoken word, this place is likely to be a Disney World for anyone who loves books.

The Randomness of Creativity

Where do ideas come from?

How the hell would I know! I laugh when I say this, of course. When I'm writing fiction, it just kind of flows. I never know where the story is really going until I start to write it. No outline. No plan. That's a dangerous way to write, some believe. But Joan Didion said, "I don't know what I think until I write it down." I subscribe to that. It's still dangerous.

It's the same when I write memoir or personal essays. I really don't know what I'm trying to say until I say it. This can lead to long roads down dead ends.

And this led me to thinking about the randomness of creativity.

In a recent interview with Karl Ove Knausgaard—the Norwegian author of My Struggle—he suggested the writing of his groundbreaking autobiographical novels was steeped in abandon. He was simply writing it all down. No story. No plot. Just the randomness of his life, in many ways. And other creatives have talked about how ideas for stories or art or songs have come to them out of nowhere, from the act of living, and sometimes the ones that resonate the most are the ones that they created just for the fun of it, for themselves, for their own amusement.

The Wild West of the Internet seems the perfect place for this kind of random creativity. Take Kevin Droniak—an 18-year old web sensation who started a YouTube channel of videos based on the time he spends with his grandmother.

He has more than 35 MILLION views.

How he get started? He simply liked videotaping his time with his grandmother, introducing her to new things, teasing her, and in an odd way capturing this sweet and interesting relationship. It's funny stuff, yes. But it's also heartwarming.

A random idea, produced because he loved doing it. And now Kevin has more views on his YouTube channel than some cable television shows have on their networks.

Whatever it is you do—write, paint, dance, play music—don't dismiss doing it for you, doing what you love,  and embracing a random act of creativity.

More on this in the latest episode of THE BLEEDING TYPEWRITER podcast.

The Bleeding Typewriter -- The Podcast

A new adventure is underway. It's the debut of a new podcast entitled THE BLEEDING TYPEWRITER.

The title is a riff on the famous Hemingway line about writing not being so hard—you just "sit down at the typewriter and bleed."

However, THE BLEEDING TYPEWRITER podcast is not all about writing. It's about the creative process, about what it takes to pour your heart out—bleed, if you will—and be an artist, whatever that might mean to you. Part time, full time, freelancing, or maybe you've jumped right into the Bohemian lifestyle and are the real thing—a true starving artist. Maybe you're a musician, a painter, or photographer. Maybe you keep a journal and you see it as your creative output. Any of this requires a little blood, right?

That's what THE BLEEDING TYPEWRITER celebrates. Take a listen. See what you think. You can subscribe at iTunes or listen right here. And certainly, drop a comment here or email me. Love to hear from you!

Best,
David

Are You Really Going to Read That?

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All of us have confided in a friend about something we did or experienced that we know was—how do I put this—not so flattering, maybe incriminating, illegal, dumb, something we are not proud of. But what happens when you write about that “something” and then you read it out loud at a literary event in public?

Been there. Personal essay writers are goofy people, you know.

Tonight, I’m planning to read a story at a live literary event that doesn’t shine the judgmental light on ME, but on someone else. Someone I love.

Yikes.

The story is part of a manuscript, a creative nonfiction book. At this reading, I’m segmenting a part of the bigger project to offer up a 10-minute story of music, love, and weed. Marijuana. Ii think it’s a good story. But what responsibility do we have as writers to tell these stories, especially read them, out loud receptive people when the stories are not solely about us—the writer—but about someone else?

We have tons of responsibility. We have to ask. We have to let the person who is the focus of the story hear our side, read our work, and allow them to respond. Do they want this out in the open? Are they okay with this? I’m not saying you have to change what you write. After all, the story is yours. It is your recollection and memory. But they have every right to tell you they don’t like it or don’t want it read to a large crowd at a bookstore. Then, you—and only you—have to decide what’s next.

Luckily, in my case, the person in question is quite willing to be the focus, to take the heat, to be the center of attention in a story that, well, doesn’t necessarily flatter her.

All of this on my mind at the Hemingway House as I write in my borrowed attic office. Hemingway penned mostly fiction, but much of it was autobiographical in many ways. And yes, he made plenty of enemies using real people as characters. And in his creative nonfiction work—Death in the Afternoon, A Moveable Feast, and others—he wrote about real people and real events, and many of them loathed him for it.

Write the truth to the best of your knowledge. But tell your story as you see it, as you remember it factually and emotionally. Be honest, be fair, and offer it up for scrutiny. But always go out and tell it with everything you got—confidence, meaning, and passion. It is the only way.