Getting fun and dumb
This week I have been messing around with writing a sort of diagetic short story for another story and not just doing that but mocking up the magazine it would appear in, which means also mocking up the front covers of four other fictional magazines published by the same fictional publishing company. Why? Why not I suppose. For fun.
Relatedly, I found some pulp fiction short story collections. That's going to be a hoot. Definitely an inspiration for the particular story but also generally. Something I appreciate about pulp fiction is the go-go-go of it all. Action and adventure in the stories, yes, but in the writing too.
Which makes me think about how I really just want to be doing more fun and dumb quick projects.
Also, I read Glorious Exploits, which was enormously good fun. I've done a bit on Ancient Greek tragedies before, which was helpful, though not necessary. As it happened I read it only a few days after There Are Rivers in the Sky and they made nice companions. There Are Rivers in the Sky takes itself pretty seriously. Glorious Exploits does not take itself seriously at all. But they have this ancient base and what that means to people's lives.
Another result is they have my reading spinning out of control. I've now got The Buried Book waiting on the table. I read the Epic of Gilgamesh last year so I'm good for maggots for now, no need to reread that. And now I need to reread some Euripides and check back on my Ancient Greek tragedy coursework and book recs.
I've also been sowing a lot of seeds and watching a lot of period dramas. Both very much the opposite of fun and dumb and quick. So that's nice.