I quit my job today . . . yeah.

(And I hope my Dad is not reading this. But if he is--don't worry Dad, I found another job. I'll be working with Nick Eldred, the guy who designed my websites. I'm going to handle the marketing for his company.)

There have been few moments in my life when I felt as satisfied as I did today. I'm reminded of John Updike's famous short story, "A&P".

"Christina, I'm not coming into work today."

"You're--"

"And I won't be there next week or the week after. I quit. But before you say anything, I want you to know--and I'm not directing this at you specifically--but is it any wonder that so many people quit customer service jobs. In fact, I think it's a pretty good reflection of how they're treated by their employers and how poorly they're paid."

"Goodbye Chris, have a nice day."

A lot of people hate their jobs. A lot of people hate their bosses. I feel compassion for the ones who can't quit because they need the 8 dollars an hour to survive. Luckily, I have another skill: blogging. I'm not kidding. Here is the letter I sent to Automattic, the business behind Wordpress, asking them for a job:

Hello,

I have significant experience in the following areas: journalistic writing, editing, website design and maintenance, social media sites, blogging, and viral self-marketing.

Having graduated from DePaul University in English, I went on to aid teachers and students at Heartland Community College, proofreading papers and giving writing instruction. During this transitional period, I also started my own editing/tutoring business and worked on independent writing projects.

In the last year, I've devoted almost constant attention to blogging and social media. I have a preternatural grasp of Web 2.0 and publishing on the Net. I run six blogs, a literary arts webzine, and an online comic. I also maintain a vast network of connections with website designers, bloggers, writers, and illustrators. My in-depth knowledge of the social media environment on the Web, along with my skills as a writer and editor, could be an asset to your company.

Chris Al-Aswad

You might think I'm kidding with this, but I'm not. I've gained more skills in social media and blogging software than I think I've gained in anything else in my entire life, with the exception of editing and writing. The reason for this is I have spent the last six months working on blogs, 7 days a week, 12 hours a day. It's to the point where I can't stop. I'm addicted. And I also have a horrible habit of checking my blog statistics constantly. Any suggestions?

With the economy the way it is, I feel like I'm joining the crowd. I sat in Borders drinking a coffee after I quit, too afraid to go home and tell my girlfriend I quit.

I've certainly gotten off the topic. The topic was: I'm wanted to write something before my surgery. I know this rant doesn't sound beautiful but sometimes you have to be awkward and plain.

Let me mention a couple other things, I recently wrote a review for an online novel, The Tom Drake Experience. If your are into fashion and the decadence of consumer America, then this novel is for you. After reading the review, Seth contacted me and asked if I wanted to meet him in Chicago. Hopefully, we'll set something up while I'm there this week, recovering from my surgery.

The other thing I wanted to mention was a really sweet art blog I found, and some other music blogs on tumblr that kick ass.

Tomorrow I'm going to call my mentor Alane Rollings and propose an idea to her. "Alane," I'll say. "My girlfriend and I had a wonderful time visiting you and Richard at your house a couple weeks ago. I really enjoyed listening to the stories Richard had to tell. What if I write Richard's biography?"

Now, I've never written a biography before. But I did interview the members of my family for the Novel of Life. I would love to listen to a celebrated author tell me about his life. But I shouldn't get ahead of myself; this project is still in the germ stage; I haven't even asked him and I'm already having visions about the project. I could even start a blog dedicated to the process of researching, interviewing, and writing about the life of Richard Stern. Slow down cowboy! Remember you also have to work for Nick.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Gerar Gonzalez, a comic book artist and illustrator from Argentina, has been working with me for almost a year now to create a graphic novel based on Lethe in Vegas. From the moment Gerardo sent me the "first page", I couldn't believe how intuitive he was about the character of Lethe. It was like he captured the essence of the story in his pictures. We've recently submitted our work to Zuda comics and it won't be long before we submit to larger publishers such as DC and Marvel. Gerar writes, "Take this as a humble sign of how grateful I am. I wish you a very happy Christmas and a great New Year. I hope 2009 brings a lot of success for us, and for Lethe. I`m working really hard on next page. I`m really excited and I can`t wait to see it done..."

The Difficulties facing the Online Novelist

Online novelists are a fairly new breed. There are those who use html pages and those who make their blog into a kind of novel. When I first realized that I could present my novel to the world, I was thrilled. For the next eight months I did everything I could to get people to read my novel, but what I didn't understand was (A) my novel wasn't finished yet and (B) just because you put up your novel doesn't mean the world is reading it.

Regularity vs. Revision

Now there are some significant difficulties facing the online novelist. To begin with, online novels are not blogs but sometimes they're forced to conform to the standards of blogs. Blog standards are regularity of posting, lax spelling and grammar, and most importantly currency. When the online novelist attempts to use her blog as a medium for fiction, she may feel the pull to follow this format. I know I have. For one thing, you lose readers if you don't post regularly. And while it's great to have a bunch of unique viewers, most of those one-time visits are people who glance at your page and whiz on by.

Online novelists want to develop a readership or a fan base. And the only way to do that is to publish frequently. Conventional wisdom says, "Fine, if you want to blog your fiction, then prepare the chapters ahead of time." But who does that? A small minority, I'm assuming. My experience in the last few months has been one of lots of output followed by periods of drought. And this is a common experience for any writer. Artists can't be expected to be productive all the time, like maybe a journalist or a blogger would.

I'm the type of writer who will go back to each chapter and revise it until it's perfect. I have a vision for my novel and if it doesn't roughly follow that vision--or let me say, if I'm not surprised by what I'm creating--then I keep going deeper with the material. When I first write a post, I make it the best I can and then I publish it. Here I suppose I could sit on the chapter and wait a couple days. But usually I'm so excited I actually wrote something that I immediately want to share it.

So should the online novelist favor frequency or revision? Is there a way to strike a balance between the two? I am proposing there is.

Blog clutter vs. Clean presentation

The second main difficulty facing the online novelist is blog clutter. Blog clutter is what happens when too many widgets, too many words on your sidebar, advertisements, etc. begin to distract your readers. Anyone who keeps a blog knows that clutter builds of its own accord.

As I said, online novels are not blogs. This entails the presentation side as well. The most effective layout for a fiction blog is single column. I've seen more options for this layout in wordpress themes than blogger ones. You can compare this site of "Lethe in Spain" to the new site I created on wordpress. What a difference!

Single column blogs streamline the presentation of a novel. Without a sidebar to distract an audience, readers can focus on the writing itself. Therefore, clutter can be eliminated. But this still doesn't answer my first question: regularity of posts or revision?

My answer: both! Online novelists can use their old multi-column blogs to post first drafts, and then a new single-column blog to post final drafts. This may seem like a lot of unnecessary work at first; but in the long run, it frees up the writer and I'll tell you why.

Using two blogs for their fiction, writers can use the "blog blog" to post drafts along with posts such as this one (on writing, etc.) and use the "fiction blog" to post the revised chapters. Readers who want to read the novel in full can be directed to the single-column site; while window-shoppers can buzz around the old site. But wait, what about your faithful readers? They can read the latest posts and/or see how the novel evolves on the new site. Keep all the clutter you want on the old site. In fact, I suggest beefing up your blogroll, as this is a significant source of traffic. Advertise if you want and add as many widgets that suit your fancy (within reason).

Which leads me to my concluding statements about "Lethe in Spain". I have decided to do just what I've said in the above paragraphs. I will post rough drafts to this blog as I've been doing for the last six months. In addition, I will add a blogging component, where I write whatever is on my mind, usually having to do with writing and fiction. For those who want to read the novel, they can click on the top bar which says, READ THE NOVEL.

What I love about online fiction is that I can shape the narrative in real-time as people are reading it. It allows me to post a rough draft, and then look at it more objectively (b/c it has been presented to the world). Because it's public, I'm also more motivated to improve it. And most importantly, readers can give me feedback, which is one of things that makes blog fiction unique.

I don't know if this solution will work for everyone. But I'm going to test out the idea. My readers can read the latest chapters on this blog and turn to the other site to read the full story.

Recently, a couple commentators have mentioned about my novel that the work evolves. I consider this to be the highest complement. An evolving novel is always better than a dead (print--he, he) one.

Chris

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Welcome to the Novel of Life

Lethe Bashar is on study abroad. He moves into an apartment with a sixty-five year old Senora. Within two weeks, he undergoes an extreme form of culture shock. Between quitting classes, falling in love with his Senora's maid, smoking hashish, and meeting a group of native Spaniards, an innocent study abroad program turns to living dangerously.

To begin reading the novel click here.

Author Post

Hello Readers,

After some deliberation, I've decided to take a break from online posting. With the hectic month of December, along with a possible surgery in the next month, I think it would be best if I paused here temporarily.

This story will go on, it must go on. But every blogger knows the reality of burnout and it seems I've been working on my six blogs now for eight-months solid. I love blogging my fiction but it takes a lot of mental energy, especially when you revise as much as I do. In my time off, I'm going to read more and perhaps even continue my Book Chat video blog. You can visit me there for book reviews.

I also encourage you to check out the literary arts webzine I recently launched called Escape into Life. If you are a writer, a poet, an artist, or an essayist, we are looking for submissions.

The Novel of Life runs on three separate sites. Visit Lethe in Vegas and Family in Decline to get the full arc of the narrative.

Thanks again and Happy Holidays, Chris A.