Lubrican: Blog

I've been writing since 2005, or at least posting things I wrote since then. My goal was not to repeat things. I tried to describe things differently and have different plots and different characters.

Recently, though, I've gotten some mail that complains I'm repeating myself, in terms of plot.

So I decided to reflect on this. I sat back and plugged in my earbuds and pushed "play" on my I-pod, and started thinking. A while later I realized that two songs in a row were about the same thing - love. Sure, they were different songs by different people, but the theme was the same - love. I pulled up my playlist in the computer and saw something interesting. A hundred different artists ... all writing love songs. And I like them all.

This does not mean I think things should be repeated. But some themes are produced in many different ways.

Take for instance the old, tried and true, guy living next door to two hot teen twins, with an equally hot mother, and he's part of their daily lives. You know what's going to happen. And even if two different authors wrote it, you'd still know what was going to happen.

For me, the fun is in seeing how it unfolds. That part should be different.

But don't be surprised if you read something of mine in the future, and realize it's a similar plot to one I wrote last year.

Thus is presented the metaphor for my next offering, which will be about a guy who lives next to two hot teen girls, who have an equally hot mom.

It's totally by accident, folks. This time it's about ice fishing, and a reader came up with the plot. It was his idea, not mine.

I just liked it.

See you in a few weeks. And if you're one of the ones who feel like I'm repeating myself, then pass this one up.

Bob

I just started posting a "new" story. My use of quotes there is both intentional and appropriate. I'll explain.

When you've written as many stories as I have, and done it over the time span I have, a very real concern is that you're going to end up writing the same story twice and not realize it. I know there are people out there who will say, "What? Give me a break. He writes the same story over and over and over again! There's a younger woman paired with an older man, they have sex, and she gets pregnant."

In one sense those people are right. But then, if you describe a story with those few details, then a million authors have written the same story.

So that definition of "same story" aside, let me explain what I meant.

I make notes in small files about story ideas I like and might want to develop some day. It's basically just a skeletonized version of the plot idea and, if it came from a reader, that person's email address, so I can let them know if I complete it. I store those in a folder titled: projects folder

Normally, when I do develop the idea, I load that file, expand on it, and then save it in a different place. Then I delete the original one from the projects folder.

I wrote a story in 2012 but didn't delete the skeleton file from the projects folder. I just forgot to, apparently.

So, in 2018, being old and confused, I saw it (again), liked it (again), and wrote it ... again.

Think of it like a carpenter who builds a stool, gives it away, and then five or six years later needs something to sit on and builds another one. They're going to be very much alike ... but not exactly the same.

So if you want to know the difference in how I thought about things then, and now, read the story.

The original is called Posing Uncle Bob and this one is called Not-so-super Model. The really sad part is that it wasn't my idea in the first place. The foreword to the first story explains that.

There's a little more information in the foreword to this one, as well.

I will endeavor not to do this again.

A while back I wrote a story about a foreign exchange student, a girl from Russia, who found love in America. As usual, I had more than one plot idea in my mind. The story I'm posting first in 2018 is another of those ideas. It's called Lotus Flower Stew.

It's fairly short, nine chapters, so it will all be up by the end of this week.

I hope we all have a happy new year.

Bob

Maybe I'm confused, or delayed, or whatever, but the time of the year I spend the most time thinking about being thankful is this time of the year, rather than November.

We all wander around on this spinning globe, as it wanders around a star that's wandering through the universe. It can seem like a treadmill sometimes, though, where we aren't really going anywhere. And we can feel like we're just a speck, floating in nothingness. As a cop, I saw first hand how this time of year can create crisis and turmoil in those who feel isolated.

But you're not alone. In this world, it's almost impossible to be alone. You affect other people every single day. In happy circumstances, you affect them in positive ways. In many circumstances, you aren't aware you affected them at all.

Which brings it back to me. (It's always about me, of course) Thousands of you have affected me over the years. You wrote me notes about it. I'm thankful for that. Some of them were intended to be negative, but even those, I am thankful for, because even those made me think about things. And it's 'thinking about things' that produces the ideas I put on digital paper.

I started writing to fill my own needs, one of which was to feel creative. I shared that with the world at large on a whim. I felt like a kid, offering a crayon drawing to group of strangers to see if they thought it looked like what it was supposed to be or not.

The strangers (most of them) were kind to me. The strangers gave me advice. The strangers told me I wasn't alone, and thanked me for helping them feel like they weren't alone.

Even though we never met, there was a connection that affected us all.

Of course I hope I affect people in positive ways. But at this time of year, when the reason for the season is giving, I think a lot about how much other people have given me.

Thank you for that.

If you read me, you know I'm not one for being politically correct. But just this once, I'll try it.

Have a wonderful Rama-Hanna-Quans-mas and may the new year bring you prosperity and health.

Bob

I'm posting a new one this week called A String of Pearls. It's written in a different way that will be strangely familiar to my regular readers. The description will probably make you scratch your head and think about moving on, but if you come to SOL looking for my output, give this one a chance.

It's short, only four chapters, which means a chapter each on Monday through Thursday.

Now, I have to confess something here, myself. I had two stories ready to go, and this one really should have been posted after the first of the year. You'll understand that on Thursday. The problem is I get impatient sometimes and this one was jumping up and down yipping, "Post me! Post me! Post me first!" Once it actually is 2018, it won't matter, but just for a month, if you read this, you get to go on a time machine to the future.

Thanks for reading.
Bob