Dave's Anatomy: My History as a Writer, Number 1: First Fiction Publication

Hemingway

In outlining his development as a writer, Ernest Hemingway remembers his early days in Paris:  "Up in that room I decided that I would write one story about each thing that I knew about. I was trying to do this all the time I was writing, and it was good and severe discipline." When I began writing fiction, I followed that path. I had read the quote and thought it was a good idea. I, too, began to write about the things that I knew.

One of the things I knew was music, and I thought this was a good bet. The first story I published was a story about music and musicians.

I play guitar. I've played in pop bands, cover bands, folk ensembles, and I've done blues and ambiance music. It seemed logical to write about music and musicians. And I also knew a lot about the music scene and some of the artists who made it great. There are artists whose lives are upfront and public. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Cream have been in the public light for so long there is little mystery about them. But other artists are mysterious and intriguing. That is why I chose to write about Nick Drake for a story I began working on back in 2008.

Nick Drake ranked as a great songwriter and a marvelous guitarist. His music, however, did not do well. He released two albums that did not sell. After a third release met a similar fate, he became depressed. Reclusive and private, he eventually refused to perform or be interviewed. He died of an overdose of antidepressant drugs. Whether the overdose was accidental or a suicide has never been determined. A small but loyal fan base kept his music alive, and artists in the 1980s began to notice and admire his recordings. The popularity of his music increased. By the 1990s his music had become popular again. By the new millennium all his recordings had been re-released.

I loved Nick Drake's music, spent time learning his guitar style, and had all his recordings. And the mystery of his short, secretive life produced intriguing questions that could become plot lines. Had he loved anyone? Was there a woman in his life? People researched Drake's life. Occasionally someone would discovery new photographs or, more importantly, new songs. A minor Nick Drake "industry" existed consisting of people who wrote on Drake and recorded his music.

Thus was born my first fiction publication, "The Girl Who Knew Nick Drake."

The story is about a guitarist who plays Nick Drake's songs a lot and has discovered some photographs of him. One is of an unknown woman photographed with him during the time he spent in Morocco. The artist gets a call from a woman who claims to be the figure in the photograph and also says she has a set of songs by Drake that no one but she has ever heard. She would the artist, Martin Rollins, to visit him.

Good so far, but what else? Well, what else did I know?

Henry James

I've taught literature all my life. I've read a lot of books, and when I contemplated this tale of never-before-heard songs, it brought to mind a story by Henry James called "The Aspern Papers," about an editor who is trying to get his hands on a cache of letters by a deceased English author. The letters are in the possession of a woman who hints she was his lover and has a whole trove of his unpublished writing. I deliberately modeled my story on this one. The editor in James' story runs into a complication; so does the main character in "The Girl Who Knew Nick Drake." This complication, as in the Henry James story, is the woman's daughter.

I'll leave it at that. There is a link if you want to read the story. Two elements went into it:  music and my knowledge of literature. They produced a long story that was accepted by a journal called Amarillo Bay. I was elated to get the news. I had published poetry and scholarly articles; I knew the thrill of getting a positive response and having things published. But this was fiction. It was about things dear to my heart. So my response held more emotion and excitement than my previous writing successes.

I go back to the story and think it's still pretty good. And it teaches me a lesson. Hemingway was correct. Write about what you know. Rely on your foundations as a writer. I am tempted to say write about what you love, but you will most intimately know what you also love. This may not be your job. Though I love music I have never made a living playing it. I became a teacher instead. But the love is there. In my early career as a writer, I wrote almost exclusive about music and musicians. And still do, though that is not the only thing I've written about.

My love of music made me create an ongoing character about whom I have published thirty stories. More about her next time.

Check out my Website.

Take a look at my Writer's Page.  

More anatomy to follow.