If I vanish from view for a long time, it'll probably be because I'm writing a book.
I've got a novel germinating in my brain lately. As time goes by, thinking about it takes up increasing amounts of space in my head. Which, when it comes to big projects, is usually an indication that it will be happening, one way or another.
Most of the writing I've done has been in the form of songs and essays. Both are wonderful for what they are -- to share some recent news, to introduce people to a subject, or as a community-building exercise.
But as I think about trying to explain what a contemporary or near-future revolutionary social movement could look like, of the sort that might succeed in mobilizing forces in a society like the US to transform it and its politics and create something beautiful in its place, I find myself gravitating towards trying to tell this hypothetical story in the form of a novel.
I guess it's obvious why this calls for a long-form type of storytelling. The idea is to tell the story of the process through which the world got to the dismal state of affairs that will be the 2030's, in my imaginings, and how, in the 2040's, it begins to dig its way out.
I want to tell this story from many different angles -- centering in the tale the social movement participants and leaders, and many other elements integral to developments, such as press, politicians, intelligence agencies, and all sorts of other people from the many different countries that will be essential to the telling of this tale.
I've done enough writing to know how daunting this task is -- how time-consuming, and all-consuming such a project can be. I find the idea of embarking on it enthralling, but also overwhelming.
One of the factors that tend to diminish my enthusiasm about spending inordinate amounts of time researching and writing and rewriting for a project like this is the prospect that it will never get published after it's done. Another is even if it ever does get published, it still may not be widely read, and I may wonder why I isolated myself so long to work on it.
Other worries that may seem strange include the fear that I'll stop doing all other kinds of writing, once I embark on this project. That's what happened when I started writing children's songs back in 2007 or so. I didn't write anything else for about two years. I could only think in terms of children's songs.
Of course, if I just keep going with writing more songs about Israel's genocidal bombing campaigns, or I write a novel, it probably doesn't change the world either way. Or if it does, I wouldn't know which pursuit might be more or less worthwhile.
I feel like I'm circling around the edge of a volcano before I go jump in and see if it's hot in there. Or perhaps it's more like standing on the edge of a lake before jumping in. That sounds more reasonable. Or tying up loose ends with relations before going off to work at the space station for an open-ended, long assignment. Or perhaps the mines.
In any case, I guess this is just to let you know that if I disappear for a long time and you barely hear from me, it's because I'm writing. Along the way I'll likely be looking for all kinds of help -- people to ask about cultural or technological questions, people to read and give me feedback, people involved with publishing, writer's retreats, and who knows what else. Advice welcome!
