When I saw a tweet that Cat Rambo was opening submissions for an anthology of cautionary tales titled “If This Goes On,” well, I wanted in BAD.
It first appears in my writing journal on November 28, 2017:
“Send something (Flying Cars?) to “If This Goes On.”
My first instinct was to send a story I’d already written, but I wasn’t sure if any of my already-written stories quite hit the theme of “show us what will happen if current, disastrous policies don’t change.”
On December 5, 2017 I write:
“I have not written at all this month yet. Poised against the dry friction of new drafts. I want to make something for the “If This Goes On” anth. Something hopeful.”
I then brainstorm some ideas about schooling. “Suburban public schools have long residency req to keep poor out.” “Start her own school – succeeds by – ? AI? ML? Oo – title idea ‘Machine Learning'”
“Like artists hang paintings upside down to check the balance, MI shows us ourselves sideways, as an alien might see us.”
Then… days pass. I got distracted by writing “Bot 37 Dreams of Trochees” (also for an anthology call) and it dominates my journal entries.
On December 29, 2017, I mention it again. “Add Pepsi cures tooth decay detail to ‘Free Wifi'”
I’m irked, I tell you, that I missed journalling my decision to change the name of the story from “Machine Learning” to “Free WiFi.” The story had undergone other major changes in this stretch – I turned a grandmother into a father and my exploration of schooling problems led me more and more into considering net neutrality. I had this idea – what if the schools are so bad the teachers themselves couldn’t read well enough to see a sign that advertises “Free WiFi?” I easily imagined a good student being reprimanded for pointing it out.
Well, there you are. It happened, undocumented.
On January 10th, 2018, I wrote “I still need to get back to “If This Continues” (Having neglected the project so long I forgot the name of it.)
For four pages of my journal I tore apart and analyzed the structure of my novel “The Gods Awoke” then on Tuesday, January 16, 2018, I write “Change Free Wifi to 1st POV”
I remember that idea, and how it freshened the story draft that was feeling so lifeless and dull.
Still, on January 23rd, I wrote, “Bummed about ‘If This Goes On.’ Think I’m cramming too much exposition early. Need to center in on the character. Take her through her day. You can always cut.”
I wrote a few paragraphs of first person monologue, and then:
“Yeah… in-scene. Let the details expose themselves. Pringles can antenna.”
On January 31st, I wrote, “Well, I finally finished a draft of ‘Free Wifi’ and sent it to Hamsters. It sucks but at least I did it. Bookended on either side of Game Jam.”
(Game Jam is a programming event, and Hamsters is my writing workshop.)
The Cajun Sushi Hamsters from Hell meet once a month, on a Sunday, so it had to have been February 4 that my dear workshop got together and told me what was wrong with my first draft, because the next mention in my journal lis February 10th, “Review Hamster notes on “If This” and revise Free WiFi, send revised draft to Brian [my spouse] for final check. -Less Dad or more Dad Conflict, Mention Mom/Prison earlier.”
The next day, Feb. 11, I write “Slogging away on ‘Free Wifi’ feels like pulling teeth. Only worse.”
Monday, February 12, I write, “‘Telling not showing’ talk about your insulting rejections! I was going to write this smug journal entry about how I buckled down and actually revised ‘Free Wifi’ and how it was ultimately about simply slogging through every critique, one point at a time. Gee, I thought, I could teach how to use a critique. Now I feel this eminently justified bitchslap of doom to my ego. Well, I said I wanted to be more humble!”
A week or so later, on February 20th, I write:
- “Brian’s comments on ‘Free Wifi’
- Beginning too talky
- wanted more dynamic motion in mood (starts bleak, ends bleak)
- The dad was his favorite part.
This is the deadline I gave myself to submit, so I had best get to it! Looks like Grace [my sister] and Brian agree: Less Beginning, More End.
Maybe work in more Dad and Mom?
The thing where you don’t talk about prison pop.
Later that day I updated with: “Ok! Submitted! I think it’s halfway decent?
On April 10th, I spoke to Mary Grimm’s creative writing class at CWRU and I thought it would be cute to show them my process by highlighting every entry in my diary having to do with a particular story, so I read aloud to them what I just transcribed here.
On Wednesday, April 25th, I signed the contract for “Free Wifi” to appear in the “If This Goes On” anthology. Isn’t it nice when a story has a happy ending?
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