Nathan Key

Husband, Father, Thinker.

 

 
 
When I began working for Media Partners Corporation back in 2007, my boss Jim handed me a book called Save The Cat which soon became a treasured resource for storytelling and screenwriting. Blake Snyder's guidance and thoughts on story structure were invaluable.

I recieved word yesterday that he passed away, suddenly, from Cardiac Arrest. It was a curveball that I almost mistook for a publicity stunt. Unfortunately, it was true and Mr. Snyder is no longer with us. And that means the world is a little more dim than it was yesterday.

If you've had any interest in storytelling or screenwriting, then you really need to take a look at Snyder's book because it is so tremendously important. I usually shy away from formula, but his structure is such a benefit to writers that I can't help but suggest it. Read it. Use it. And Enjoy it!

(I believe I've got a link to it on my Amazon Affiliate sidebar.)

And check out his website, too, for further tools and discussions: http://www.savethecat.com
 
 

This week, I decided to do a quick interview with our good friend Christopher Cocca. He wrote a guest blog here a few months back and he's beginning a Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at The New School. This week we talked about school, postmodernism, and technology. He's posting his side of the interview with me over on his blog sometime this week, too.

Be sure to check it out!

* * *
Nathan Key: Thanks for agree to let me interview you, Chris. Now, from what I’ve read on your blog, you've recently decided to head back to school for an MFA? Can you tell us more about that and what prompted you back into education?

Christopher Cocca: There's no shortage of opinions on the utility of the MFA on the web and in general. For me, it's about being around other people who are trying to do the same thing I'm trying to do: push myself to producing the best possible texts. Doing this with other writers (students and teachers) appeals to me. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't major in creative writing or English instead of political philosophy as an undergrad. And I'd still get the MDiv. I'd do it all the same as I did, including eventually going back and exploring/improving this part of what I do in a more formal, educational setting. I'm glad to be going back now, in my extremely late 20s, with a very clear focus.

NK: You know, sometimes I wish I could head back to high school and college with that clear focus you just mentioned- knowing then what I do now. Ah well… On your blog you've mentioned Postmodernism quite a bit, lately. One meme I've been exploring here on this site is the postmodern idea of "death of the author" and how media, art, and literature have been affected. As a guy who's writing a novel and working toward publishing your own ideas and stories, how is your role as a writer and storyteller changing?

CC: The death of the author is another way of saying everyone's an author. In the postmodern literary sense where reader-response sometimes is taken to trump everything, I get what some people mean, but on the other hand, with all of us social networking, tweeting, meme-ing, song-quoting, whatever...everyone is some kind of passer-on of content. Some people are creating, authoring. Some people are receiving and retransmitting. Many, actually. RT hashtag cliche. The interesting thing to me is that our references are so ubiquitous but people still think that repeating them makes them clever or interesting, that somehow repeating this line or lyric or saying this punch-line or snarky thing --- the punch-line everyone's expecting because you've heard it a million times --- makes us authors. I'm talking about general conversation here, not just the passive-aggressive what I had for lunch today Facebook status updates. And then you've got what's going on in Iran, which should really make all of us feel pretty shameful about most of the things we use social media and social networking for. Nothing in the world to say and all the freedom to say it.

Here I'm going to do it myself: we're like the Junkions from the original Transformers movie (the cartoon). Using catch phrases from television shows to navigate our lives and determine how we speak to one another. In art, this is interesting: it's open source, it's sampling, it's remixing. It's the good things about the death or redefinition or authorship.

In conversation, it's the worst. It's free time x cheap entertainment x laziness. I tend to feel this way about cliche in writing, too. So, as an author or a writer or a blogger or whatever, I try to edit all of those placeholders out. The challenge is finding new ways to say things, and I think this goes for speech and relationships, too. No one can ever play "In Your Eyes" for Ione Skye again. Think of all the tender little phrased you'd love to say to your wife if you weren't so embarrassed by them because people in movies said them first.

Maybe the problem is using other people’s art to express yourself in the first place. Sometimes it's amazing (the Grey Album, for example), or the open source art projects that are coming up. But in real life it's sort of cheesy. So I think we need to learn to make our own art for our own purposes, which is why people started making art in the first place.

NK: Speaking of Open Source- which makes me think of all sorts of free downloadable content- you've been posting some bits and pieces of your novel, Milton County Power & Light up on your blog lately. I've seen a few other authors post their books online, too- Monster Island is a great example- and I'm wondering if the future of authors is similar to the future of musicians- it doesn't really seem like musicians really need record labels, and it doesn't seem like writers need publishers. Where do you think we're heading with all this?

CC: This is something people are talking a lot about, especially with things like LuLu making publishing and delivery so easy. It seems very similar to the success we’ve seen among indie bands and unsigned artists through platforms and communities like MySpace, YouTube etc.

But while I agree that musicians don't really need record labels anymore, and while writers might not need publishing houses, they still need editors. I think that's the disconnect in the analogy. A musician can throw up a demo or a crummy song on MySpace and when no one likes it they can take it down, make it better, whatever. But if you self-publish a novel before it's really ready, that's out there forever. I think we sort of understand music as more of a work in progress in the sense that demos and alternate cuts and completely unfinished songs are interesting. Boxsets and anthology albums are full of these things and people collect the bootlegs. It's not the same with writing.

That said, just like writers need editors, most musicians need producers. But then you've got this whole crop of one-man virtual bands that do it all in their bedroom on a Mac and it's amazing. Chad Van Gaalen is like that. I guess what I'm saying is that it depends on the maturity of your talent. I know that I'm not about to self-publish a novel because I know how much work I still have to do. If I wrote a perfect pop song, maybe, I'd know it. At present, my book isn't that.

So that's the practical side of it. But there's also another difference. Releasing your own album is almost a badge of honor. When your band gets big you can reminiscence about how you put out the first EP yourself and sold it out of your car and even for people who never make it past that, I think it's all very romantic. It's cool. Maybe I only think that because I haven't done it. But there's not the same kind of vibe when it comes to self-publishing. I think most writers aren't ready to say the self-publishing has the same kind of punk ethos. Even small presses who's mission is to publish new voices or avant guard stuff have editors and gatekeepers and for good reason. Someone has to go to bat for your work. Reading an experimental novel doesn't have the same built-in viral opportunities that listening to a 4 minute alt.country track does. It's just not a viral medium. This is probably why flash fiction is so popular on the web. Six-sentence stories or one-sentence stories can become memes. That's what tweets are, and people are using Twitter and Tumblr and Facebook for this kind of viral lit, mircostories, koans, whatever.

NK: Of course, none of those writing forums pay really well, either. I know from past experience that a band might be able to make money from live music shows or T-shirts. But writers don’t really have that sort of thing…

CC: As far as a paycheck, at the moment, I think it's more about building social and artistic capital than actual capital. But publishers will find a way to make more money than they currently are off of the kinds of things you're talking about. Writers will too and a few already are. Present company excluded.

NK: OK, last question. Who'd you bet on if Stephen King and John Grissom were up against each other in a cage match?

CC: Neil Gaiman.

NK: Nice.
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Today, I'm being featured again on Weebly's main site which is a big honor for me. The Weebly Team has been fantastic and have created an amazing product that's basically free and very easy to use. Make sure you check out Weebly if you haven't yet.

That said, if you’re new to this site today, you might want to check out who I am and read through some of my blogs to get a better idea of what this is all about.

Some of my favorite posts (and collections) include:

How to Live Well in Desperate Times
7 Ways to Get a Job
Same Bad Policy, Different President
Letters to the Church in Orlando
Watchmen Week
Heroes and Philosophy

I also like writing really short stories, poems, and articles (if you’re inclined to check them out).
 
And if you’re the creative type, I’d really love to have you participate in the weekly banner design contest I just began for my site. Each week, I pick one banner from the designs that have been submitted and give lots of “link love” to the creator. I welcome submissions from any of my readers!

Seth designed the one for this week.

If you like what you read here- please check out some of the other sites on my blogroll- especially Micah Tillman, Christopher Cocca, Seth Wright, and Matt Addington. I wouldn’t be the writer I am without reading the thoughts and ideas of others, so do me a favor and head over to their sites, too!

 
 

"Go Then, There are Other Worlds Than These"

If you're a Stephen King fan, then you know these words. They're from The Gunslinger, the first book in King's Dark Tower Series. And they're uttered by the character Jake just before he's "sacrificed" by Roland in his pursuit of said tower.

I read through The Gunslinger a few years ago and was impressed to find out that King wasn't the slush-novelist I originally thought him to be. I wanted to shove him into the John Grissom/Danielle Steele beach book category. You know- quick reads with a good story, but not a whole lot of literary content.

Now, I doubt that King will go down in history with Shakespeare or Hemingway. He's not THAT good. But as I got further into the Dark Tower, I realized that his genius isn't in crafting specific symbolic or minimalist prose, it's his ability to create volumes of metanarrative.

You see, all of the books King has ever written are actually about one story.

The Dark Tower the linchpin at the center of all his stories, holding the entire thing together. So as you read through each volume, you realize that these bits and pieces of all his stories are pointing toward something bigger.

Characters show up over and over again.

Sometimes they have different names, but if you look closely into the prose you come to find out that Randall Flagg is Raymond Fiegler, Walter o'Dim, Flagg, and just about any other character with the initials R.F.. Likewise, the Crimson King is (probably) IT, and he is mentioned over and over again in a number of books. King even writes himself (or another version of himself) into the Dark Tower.

How postmodern is that?

Anyway, when I was reading through this metanarrative of interconnected story, it made me think about Christianity and how, as a Christ-Follower, I believe that my story and the stories that I read and the lives that I interact with are bigger than what you see at face value. There are deeper meanings and hidden mysteries pointing to other worlds and other lives in the narratives that we live. We all know it, because no one escapes life without trying to figure out what it all means.

Marriage, food, sex, fashion, customs, relationships, parenting, and all the other things that happen aren't simply isolated unto themselves. They all weave in and out of each other, creating a wonderful tapestry that helps us see that we aren't alone- that something wonderful and terrifying is going on in the background.

And not just something, but SomeOne.
You see, all the great stories are about Him.


 
 

Chris reminded me (through one of his latest posts) that I'm a bit overdue for a linkfest blog! So today I'm going to ask you, my gentle readers, to check out some of the blogs and sites that I've been really enjoying lately.

* * *

GrizzlyBearCouture & KateKing
Two of my really good friends have each just started up a vintage clothing business. They salvage amazing clothing and find new homes for it. Please give both of them some love and encouragement by checking out their products (and buying something)!

Mirrorshards
100 word short stories, every single day. I subscribe to this site through an RSS feed and I’m telling you- other than my daily ESV feed, this is my morning fuel. Each story is smart and fun. And since they’re only 100 words,  even the ones that aren’t as great are still worth reading.

BabieMamaDrama
My wife just began blogging about our life. She is so much funnier than I could ever hope to be. If you want a really honest, humorous look at two new parents learning about life- this is a great blog (and I’m not just saying that because I’m married to the author). Two of my personal favorites include this One and this One.

A Book Elegantly Bound
Megan is one of the most articulate and descriptive writers I've ever had the pleasure of knowing/reading. Start following her now because she's bound to be on par with Sylvia Plath in another few years (although her writing doesn't smack of depression like Plath's does).

Dinosaur Comics
It’s hard to get into this comic at first because the art doesn’t change. Author Ryan North took the static form idea from David Lynch´s postmodern strip “The Angriest Dog in the World.” Seriously, though- it's a must read. Not only is it very funny- it’s also very thought provoking. It’s a comic about philosophy, religion, social commentary, and all sorts of other topics written concisely and with grand intellect and narrated by a self-absorbed T-Rex.

* * *

Extra Credit
If you really want to read something of mine today, re-read through my Watchmen or Heroes Series cause I really enjoyed both of those. Prepare yourselves for tomorrow, too. I’m going to go on a tirade about THIS and I'd sure like your comments and thoughts.

 
 

I am so glad that I waited to purchase Ben Folds’ Way To Normal until the Stems and Seeds version was released.

Not only does Stems and Seeds provide the Stems for each song on the album, but it also features remastered versions of each song and B-sides that didn’t make the initial cut. In particular, I’ve really enjoyed listening to the B-sides because they remind me of the Ben Folds Five era.

Man, I loved Philosophy and Kate.

Hang on... let me explain Stems really quick for those of you who aren’t familiar with them. Stems are a new thing in the music world where an artist provides listeners with the source files of their songs- vocals, guitars, drums, etc.- split apart so that we can play with each track and create something different with it if we so choose.

In the past, I’ve blogged about Radiohead’s introduction of stems, comparing it with the ‘death of the author’ meme that’s been floating around the postmodern philosophy community. But now that Ben Folds is jumping on board, I'm suddenly filled with a new sense of excitement about the future of the music industry. This could very well be a pivotal point in music history- perhaps more important than the introduction of Rock & Roll and the advent of iTunes.

Stems are so incredibly important because they invite us to move beyond simply listening to music and push us toward interacting with it, too. When we play around with Stems, we get to create something new with songs that we couldn’t have created in the first place. In a sense, we get to “borrow” the musicianship of Ben Folds (or Radiohead or the other artists who are providing Stems) and combine it with our own ideas regarding what a song should sound like.

Besides redefining the role of listeners, there's also the ability to make a lot more money. I'm sure Radiohead and Folds are attracting listeners who might not be interested in their work aside from the fact that they can take it and make it into something they DO enjoy. There's a lot of creative people out there who are willing to drop some money into the coffers of artists who provide this sort of thing.

Third Eye Blind is capitalizing on this idea and using it as a promotional tool. On the social music side indabamusic.com, they've released Stems from a few songs off their new studio album (for free) and invited fans and friends to remix them. The best ones have been reviewed by the band and are possibly going to be featured on an extended release of the album.

In doing this, 3eb created momentum about their new album. Inbada users were able to hear tracks before they were “released” and get excited about it They were also given the chance to truly influence the direction that Stephan Jenkins and his band took the music.

Just as social networking is making music better, I’m really hoping that we can figure out a way to do integrate it into other mediums as well.

For instance, I’ve really enjoyed watching recut trailers of movies. Is there a way for filmmakers to give viewers the chance to interact with their films and make our own “audience cuts?” I would think that big fans of certain films would be willing the pay extra for a DVD with source materials that they could re-edit in Final Cut, iMovie, or Windows Movie Maker (I’d LOVE to re-edit Donnie Darko or BladeRunner).

On a more personal level, I’m wondering if there is a way for me as a blogger/author to provide readers with more interactive texts? I think that the “comments” space is a good start, but I’d love to see it go even further without resorting to “choose your own adventure” type stuff.

I think it takes a bit of humility on the part of the artist to surrender his work to the public. But I don’t think it’s “giving up” the rights to releasing your music, films, prose, etc the way you want to. It’s a really amazing thing to present a piece of art and then see how other people interact with it and respond to it.

Screw copyrights, let’s make something together.

 
 

I'm in the middle of interviewing for some professional positions this week and so instead of my usual rants about PP&R, I wanted to share the transcript of a conversation I shared with a blog site this morning. I'm not sure when they're actually going to post this, so I'll just put it up here for you to read and link to it later when they post it...

* * *

Total Blog Network: So, what's the deal with your blog?

Nathan Key: My blog primarily focuses on topics that have some sort intersection between philosophy, politics, and religion. I usually create a provocative topic, weave my own opinion within it, and then ask some questions to generate discussion.

TBN: A lot of people "blog with a purpose." What are you trying to accomplish?

NK: I think there's really three main reasons I blog. The first is because I'm an extrovert which means that I need to externalize my thoughts in order to really think through them. The public nature of a blog is a great forum for that so I don't drive my wife crazy.The second reason is because I like to engage other minds. I find that blogging attracts response (especially when it's done provocatively) and thus, I've been able to read through the comments of others and continually keep my own opinions in check through the input of others. Third, I think blogging is a great way to hone my writing/critical thinking skills. I try to write something every weekday (Mon-Fri) so that I actively engage that balance between creative and analytical thinking which is necessary for writers to wrestle with.

TBN: You're blogging on your own site now rather than one of the blog generators like wordpress or blogspot. Why is that?

NK: I used livejournal for a while and it was a great experience, but I was a little disappointed when advertising began to pop up on my site. So, eventually I moved the blog over to my personal website where I house some short stories and essays I've written. It was a hard move because while it's nice to have everything all in one place, I had a three year history with livejournal, and you feel like you're betraying a friend when you abandon a site.

TBN: What do you blog about most?

NK: It depends on what I'm thinking through. I try to limit my blogs to something related to philosophy, politics, and religion. Obviously this past year (2007) it leaned a little more political because of the Presidential elections, but I try to keep a good balance between all three topics.

TBN: What are the worst blogs out there?

NK: Blogs that aren't really blogs make me angry. Lately, I've seen a few that are actually money-making scams made to look like blogs. I think it's deceptive and it brings down the whole industry.

TBN: What are the top 5 tips you'd share with a new blogger?

NK: First, stick to a main topic. Blogs that are about "everything" usually aren't about "anything" and if you decide to write about everything under the sun, you'll only find readers who happen to like your take on life (basically, that limits it to your mom).

Second, try to be consistent. I learned this from reading webcomics. The ones that updated predictably M-W-F or T-Th or once a week I'd follow because I learned when they were going to update and began looking forward to a new comic. The ones that updated randomly or rarely- I usually dropped because I never knew when the next update was coming and I eventually stopped checking back.

Third, promote RSS/e-mail feeds and teach others how to use feed-readers. When someone is using a feed reader or subscribes to your blog through e-mail, they'll probably keep coming back to your blog.

Fourth, if the title isn't interesting, no one's going to read the post. Keep the title relevant, but also provocative.

Fifth, don't expect other people to read your blog if you're not reading other people's blogs. Get out there and read posts from people who write about the same (or similar) things that you do. Comment on their blog and link back to your own. It's a great way to make friends (and enemies) and also hone your own ideals.

TBN: What are some things you would NEVER blog about?

NK: I don't know that I'd limit myself by saying that I'd NEVER blog about something- but as I've gotten further and further into my career as a blogger I write less and less "Dear Diary" type things. I don't think most people really care about what I did today, so I rarely write about everyday things unless they directly tie-in to something I'm learning about philosophy, politics, and religion.

TBN: A lot of people start blogging for the purpose of making money. Are you making money by blogging?

NK: I started blogging before I knew you could "make money" blogging, so I didn't really get into it because of the money aspect. However, even though I don't put ads on my blog in order to make money, I think blogging has made me a better writer & thinker. And because I'm better at both of those, it's also made me more valuable to organizations who need writers and thinkers- so in a sense I'm making money from blogging because it's a developmental piece to my own skills and abilities.

TBN: What mistakes have you made that you could warn others about?

NK: In my early days as a blogger, I had absolutely no direction. I eventually learned to limit myself to topics I knew about rather than trying to blog about my personal life or about random things that no one cared about.

TBN: OK, one final question- they say that the best way for writers to start the day is with a good breakfast, what do you think?

NK: Who is "They?" Well, I guess I agree. I had Golden Grahams and a cup of coffee this morning, and I can't think of what I'd be like without some sort of recharge like that.

 
 

I'm all about democracy, so here's a chance to participate with me!

I put up a new header this morning with mixed results... I'm using the pen and ink and scribbles because it says WRITER to me, but apparently some people think the one I have up right now is a little too FRANK MILLER / SIN CITY / Friday the 13th. I'm open to change, so here are some additional mock-ups for your consideration.

Vote for your favorite by leaving a comment.

 
 

I love searching around on the internet for other folks like me who blog about politics, philosophy, and religion. It makes me feel good that I'm not the only one who's blogging about it, and also, I think it's a good idea to find contrary opinions so that my orthodoxy doesn't become narrow or uninformed.

That said, today I want to point you toward four of my blogging peers. I read each post that these guys write and I truly believe that each of the, add really great words to the conversation surrounding the intersection of philosophy, politics, and religion. Go check them out, subscribe, and enjoy!

Micah Tillman: http://micahtillman.com
Micah Tillman is a Lecturer in the School of Philosophy at the Catholic University of America and I recently found his blog when I did a google search for philosophy, politics, and religion. He's got a lot of really great posts, usually leaning toward religion more than politics and philosophy. I really enjoy reading his blog because he usually brings up points that I've thought of in the past, but articulates them better than I.

Richard Dahlstrom: http://raincitypastor.blogspot.com/
Richard Dahlstrom is the pastor of Bethany Community Church in Seattle, WA where I attended while we lived there. He is smart, funny, and provocative. I absolutely LOVE sitting under his teaching and reading his ideas in print. I find that I disagree with him often on matters of philosophy and politics, but we agree almost 100% on religious matters and, in fact, he's causing me to rethink a lot of the praxis of my beliefs.

William Bradley: http://ethicalexhibitionist.blogspot.com/
William Bradley, the self-proclaimed Ethical Exhibitionist, teaches at an unknown Florida college and blogs prolifically about ethics, politics, philosophy, and writing. I began reading his blog during the election. He is an ardent Obama fan and it kept me grounded in the reality that there are those who are passionate about the same things- yet end up with different belief systems.

Christopher Cocca: http://christophercocca.wordpress.com/
Chris and I were elementary school and middle school chums. We've stayed in contact through the years and recently I've begun reading his blog religiously. He's a brilliant writer, he's got a lot of stellar ideas about the role of the church, the politics of Jesus, and the practical applications of Christian Philosophy. He's probably going to be the next Ernest Hemingway because, let's face it, his poetry and short stories are worth reading over and over again.

 
 

I was reading through Jon Franklin's book Writing For Story the other day when I noticed the following passage:

"The reader and editor want a story with a minimum of loose ends, a tale that's been simplified and crystallized in such a way that it clarifies and enlarges the mind. They don't want reality, they want Truth, and that's not the same thing at all.

Truth... is art?"

I had to reread this a few times before I realized exactly what he was getting at and then it hit me. What makes art meaningful, whether it's a collection of brilliant prose or an incredibly filmed piece of cinema or a handcrafted boat, is that it makes us step back and learn something about ourselves, and about life, and about the world.

We don't use art but rather, we behold it. We engage it. And art makes us more human in the process because it reveals something true about the way we are or the way the world works. So, when we finish a good poem or a view a good painting, we must walk away transformed into something different than what we were previously.

And this brings me to Eugene Peterson, who says something similar about scripture:

"...In our reading of [scripture] we come to realize that what we need is not primarily informational, telling us things about God and ourselves, but formational, shaping us into our true being.

It is the very nature of language to form rather than inform. When language is personal, which it is at its best, it reveals; and revelation is always formative - we don't know more, we become more..."

What Peterson is saying is that in the same way that true art reflects Truth and reveals something that expands us and broadens our worldview, so also scripture (some may even call scripture an art form at one level or another) does the same thing. Of course, neither scripture nor art are Truth on their own- but rather they invite Truth. Namely, they both reveal The Truth. And an encounter with The Truth is always life-changing. So, both Art and scripture are formative. They both cause us to reevaluate who we are and what we should be doing with our lives.

And that brings me to when I began working at Media Partners last July. Jim, one of the partners, pulled me into his office a few times to tell me all about the vision of the company.

"We want to make films that express basic human truths," He said, "because that's what separates what we do from the mountains of crap that litter most of the training video world. We don't just want to inform people, we want them to connect with our shows on a fundamental level and use that connection to give them a new perspective about live and work."

And I believed him. At least I think I did. All the same, every time I turned in a script or an e-mail or a training outline he'd ask me very kindly- "what's the truth behind this?" And I think, now, I get what he was driving at.

He wanted our clients to become more after reading a marketing e-mail. He wanted them to become different because of a script we worked on. He wanted us to latch onto something that everyone knows about- yet no one understands- and work at it and massage it until it became revelation rather than just reality. In other words, anyone can tell the facts- we needed to get to the heart of it and describe the Truth.

***

And all this brings me to a little bragging about two screenplays I wrote last year. I suppose I did pretty well crafting the prose, because both of them were awarded top honors with AMCP. Is 'Good' Enough took home a gold award, meaning it was rated top notch in its category. And my baby, Moment of Truth, took home a platinum award, meaning it was rated head and shoulders above everythings else in its category. I'm glad for both of these recognitions, because it was really challenging to get the screenplays approved by the powers that be. Both Jim & Bob (@ Media Partners) have very high standards for their films. When I began, I thought my first drafts were pretty good, only to find that months and months of work were required to get them right.

I'm glad, now, that we took the time to polish them into something true, rather than simply something real. It took a lot of work, but I think I finally get it. Truth, after all is art.