All Oiled Up And No One to Wrestle

I apologize for that newsletter title but I'm also not taking it down so am I really sorry? * laughs * Probably not, given the choice between that and something about the mist coating the mountains I figured the silly one was probably more likely to get you to click and maybe even read a bit.

So I'm sorry but I'm not. I am a professional liar after all. (one of these days I'm doing my business cards with that because it will be funny)

Anyhow, the weather is shifting. I did buy oil from a cool little company called Seance Perfumes the other day - The Mummy is vanilla and herbs and I love it. A little dusty, dead things but with an overtone that will make you pause just enough to get killed. I was not as impressed with Dead Man's Party but then it's hard to one up my very favorite (and very old) BPAL El Dia de los Reyes (hot cocoa with cinnamon, coffee, and brown sugar). I have been hoarding my bottle for over a decade and constantly have an eye out for something similar.

One of the best pieces of writing advice I've received, second only to "don't read reviews" is to make sure that you're not only talking about the things your character sees. You want everything engaged, so mentioning scents and sounds, what things feel like, and even intuition are all equally important. You don't need to (and shouldn't) overload every single paragraph with endless details about every single sense, but you should take a moment more often than not to give your readers something to grab onto. The best books do it without you even really noticing, but the worst books either drown you in it or leave it out entirely and thereby leave you with an empty space where something important should be.

And it's okay if you don't get it on the first pass. I say that as someone who's rough draft is pretty consistently just visuals and people. Those lucky (?) enough to read those get blank rooms, maybe some clothing, hair & eye color, something plot related noticed by the hero, and little else. It's on the subsequent passes that I add things like the smell of a ship, the way the sun looks setting over the canyon wall, the crowded market stalls and all the shoppers.

I have gotten a little better as the years go on to where I save myself some trouble on the back end and get these descriptions in earlier, but largely it's something for future me to deal with. And really that's fine, rough drafts are there for a reason and anyone who claims their works are perfect the first time are full of shit. These things take effort and care, planning and backtracking, the willingness to edit something you love (or remove it entirely), and knowing when to step away. Or, you know, wrestle something into submission.

Ha, look at me, tying it into the title somehow. I am a professional.

I've had a rough couple of weeks mentally, putting on a good face for people when they ask how I'm doing is just part of the gig. Mostly because I'll either a) start crying or b) involve some poor sucker into an entirely too long discourse about life and being a struggling artist and how not writing when you're a writer is a bit like being buried to the neck out in the desert and left for the sun to bake. Boredom and impending doom is a terrible combination.

Then a little voice reminds me that I am writing, it's just sort of scattered and all over, lacking the "normal" metrics where one can show off their productivity like a trophy. Fuck productivity, my burnout recovery says, and just keep making things.

Take care of yourselves and make sure you get out and vote for a better tomorrow.

Love,
K

Currently Reading or rather Just Finished (both of these are very good books that I highly recommend if you’re at all interested in what’s going on with the internet)

Stolen Focus by Johann Hari
Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Umoja Noble

Currently Listening: 
Last Train to Nowhere - Ghost Hounds

Where you can find me these days:
Bluesky: @kbwagers.com
Instagram: @midwaybrawler
Patreon: kbwagers