Cobralingus

Jeff Noon has this to say about language.

"By reaching towards an imaginary literature, the post-future novel offers itself as a way forward. First of all, we have to accept that English writing has been far too slow in its adoption of avant-garde techniques, in comparison with popular music, art and films. The narrative fabric of the latest cult movie is woven through with jump cuts, freeze-frames, montage, slow motion shots, tracking shots, hand-held camera techniques, and the like. House, hip-hop and garage recordings contain elements of remixing, scratching and sampling.

We can also look at the branching narratives of computer games, at the strange connections that hypertext links reveal on the internet, at the games played with image and text in a graphic novel.

All of these are fluid mediums, for a fluid society. Set against such material, no wonder the contemporary novel seems moribund. As writers, we need to open ourselves up to this fluidity. What are the prose equivalents of the tracking shot, the hyperlink, the remix, the freeze-frame? As readers, we need to bring the expertise we use when enjoying a film or a piece of visual art into our appreciation of the novel." (originally published at http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/generalfiction/story/0,6000,420328,00.html)

Interestingly enough he actually comes up with a set of techniques to experiment with language differently. He calls it the Cobralingus Engine.

You can see an example of it at these various sites. Experiment with this process. I am still experimenting with it myself.

Filter Gates
Animated Cobralingus site

The Sword and the Shield

The surface that we write on is just as important as the instrument that we write with. The pen is the sword yet the pad is the shield.

There are two primary surfaces that I write on. The first is a product of this age. It is the laptop computer. It is mobile so I can take it with me where I go. I can use it in the park. I can use it while riding in the bus. It serves as a mini ecological environment for me. It has pictures of my family, my favorite music, built in dictionaries. I can put all of my work in an insane OCD order that may not work for anyone else yet is necessary for me.

My second surfaces are a little more intimate. They are small pocket sized moleskin note pads. Always given to me by someone who I love or have loved. Everything goes into those pads from observations, to random list, to poetry fragments. Their weight in my pocket is comforting. I probably should be fearful of anyone looking at them due to all of the secrets inside yet the language is so sublime that very few would be able to extract the full meaning.

I have seen people have spiral notebooks, loose leaf papers thrown about, even a chalkboard. Whatever works. Just take a moment though and think why does it work for you. A little insight into that may enable you to tap into a portion of yourself that you were unaware of.

What makes you unique?

That is the most important jewel that you can discover. What sets you apart from 101 other writers out there? Why should I listen to you vs the next guy? Do you have anything important to say? Do you have a unique way of saying the same thing that everyone else is saying? Where are your works? What are you known for? Who is paying attention to you? What are you trying to do with your words?



When writing you have to sell yourself. The key is to get in the door. It isn't easy in this day of every type of media. Once you are in though you have to continue to make noise. You have to continue to innovate.



I haven't fully laid out what makes me unique yet I won't be content until the whole world knows my name.

Get an Editor

If you are working on a large project like a novel or a book of poetry or even a short story get an editor. In terms of your shorter pieces you should always have someone look them over. You should get use to someone critiquing your work. A once read over with a fresh eye will bring out the luster of your piece, clean up any loose ends, and make sure that your works are always presented in the best light.

Use all of the benefits of computer writing programs such as grammar/spelling check. If you have a friend who is an English major let them take a crack at your work. Editing is part of the process of writing. It is the final polish. In some cases editing may cause you to smash the whole project and start over again. That's alright. Don't become attatched to a single point in time of your creation. Allow your creation to grow and develop. Be in tune with every stage.

You may be perfect, yet your piece is not ;-) Let others point you toward perfection

Filter and Flood

If you aren't a full time writer you must balance your time. You have to discover the formula to write AND be productive on your quest to generate more of an income from writing. I haven't found the 'perfect' formula yet though I have seen some results.

Right now I am following a method I call 'Filter and Flood'. Basically each day I take a portion of time to see what new writing opportunities are out there from basically 4-5 search engines. I usually pull a good 15-20. From there I start to filter. I take out anything I can't write, anything that I ain't really feeling, and anything that doesn't meet my general standard (which is that there must be adequate payment for what is being requested). When I have my core left I then flood. This means that everything that is left I write. It may be some things that I ain't really THAT interested in yet the payment is good. It may be something that I have to do a little research on. I take all of that into account. The purpose though is getting my work out there. There will be rejections. Some of my work will not be up to par. The key though is to get my work out there so that I can get as many positive returns as possible.

If you are a writer then write. It is that simple.

The Haiku and Low Coup

One of the great things about terse poetic forms is that they help you sharpen your ability to choose powerful and appropriate words. This is a necessary skill in writing poetry. Making it part of your daily routine is a great practice for any aspiring writer.

For me one of the most beautiful terse forms is the haiku which on the surface appears simple; three lines, 17 syllables. In reality in the pure form it has 17 'sounds' and also has key seasonal words that need to be incorporated. There are whole dictionaries of these seasonal words. They are included in the text so that you know what season it is in the poem. For instance, by including cherry blossoms in the text one would know that it was spring.

Haiku is a form that has been adapted by many Black American poets, amongst them Langston Hughes, Sonia Sanchez and Richard Wright. One of the great masters though of this form no doubt is Kalamu ya Salaam. He has written a great overview of the African-American appropriation of the Haiku. All writers should definitely take time and check it out.

The Haiku is not a form that I have any great skill with at this point yet the insight given by Kalamus ya Salaam is great.

Any interpretation of the Haiku through the lens of Black America is by Amiri Baraka with his Low Coup which is a short, terse verse imposed on top of Black Folk Art.He actually wrote a whole book exploring the form. Definitely check it out. Something I want to explore for self in the future.

Word Power

First of it's the name of one of the illest albums of all time (Word Power that is). Secondly in the beginning was the word, made flesh, made fresh. From the Griot to the Tlatoani from Gematria to Abjad numerals it's always been known that there is power in the written and spoken word. So poet and poet neonates out there who constantly 'down English as a bastard language' get your weight up. No language is perfect yet man and woman are. Therefore we perfect language. English is beautiful when you rock it right. Get your creativity on the next level. Realize that the bulk of the vocab comes from other languages woolof, nauhuatl, taino, various native nations, etc. Love the way so called foreign folk sprinkle spicy accents on them. Love the way that the body is thrown into it. Love the way we take it all and make it our own thing.

So I have three ways that you can manipulate language through new classes of vocab and words. The dictionary doesn't make words. We put words in the dictionary.

sniglets

portmanteau

neologism