BRW: Behind the Blind 9

I came across an article that resonated with me deeply, about the need to reclaim quiet spaces within our culture. Apparently libraries are no longer as much of a haven from excess noise as they used to be.

Ever since I renewed my library card earlier this year, I’ve been frequenting mine more often. The first couple of visits required an acclimation to the modern library experience, including how to check out a book. Now, I come in with a want list of authors and/or books, head for the fiction section, search for and pick a book, and check it out. So I don’t linger.

But I have noticed my library is more of a place for social interaction and less for quiet.

When people talk, it’s at a normal volume. While I have yet to see anybody abuse the privilege, rarely do I see any effort to whisper, either. I was shocked to see a section of the library, far from the books and computers, with a video screen, where the volume is high (for a library). Next to it is a miniature cafe. A cafe?

I have no need for any of this, and the layout of the library is such that I can avoid the TV and the cafe if I want.

Their presence, however, feels indicative of a societal change.

We don’t value public spaces the same way anymore, and we definitely no longer respect other people’s right to a little quiet every so often. In my previous blog I addressed the value of boredom, which relates to quiet: when there are no giant video screens everywhere you look and no cellphones blasting other people’s playlists, the quiet can lead to boredom, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

For now, I don’t feel my library has become the latest in a string of public spaces lacking the opportunity for some quiet. But will it stay that way?

Writing 

I’m working on a new novella. This will be shorter than my previous one—20,000 words is currently the target I’m aiming for. I’ve struggled with the plot for a long time, but I expect to finish by the spring.

Among my sources include:

• Tomorrow-land: The 1964-65 World’s Fair and the Transformation of America by Joseph Tirella
• “A Billion Dollar Dream: The 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair On Its 60th Anniversary” at the Queens Museum 
• The Facebook group “New York World’s Fair 1964-1965”
• The website NYWF64.com, especially this interactive map of the fairgrounds 
• This video about the GM pavilion at the World’s Fair and the Futurama ride
• Photos I took from inside the New York State Pavilion in 2014
• Posts I wrote about the World’s Fair here on BRW
• Conversations with my Boomer friends 

So yeah, you can guess what the novella’s about. 

As a kid, I played in Flushing Meadow Park all the time but I never understood what the big steel globe or that round structure with the three towers were about, if anything. I just thought they were cool-looking elements within the park. As I got older, I learned much more about the Fairs, the ‘64 one and the ‘39 one too. I wish I could’ve been around for them, especially the ‘64 Fair. Writing this novella is kinda like my way of attending the Fair.

But I still have work to do before calling it done.

These are some of my photos from 2014:

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NaNoWriMo the organization may be gone, but the idea is alive and well. Last month a number of online groups held NaNo-like events. Once again I participated in Nancy Stohlman’s FlashNaNo event—her last, unfortunately. She says she just wants to move on to other stuff.

Last year I didn’t join the event’s Facebook page until it was halfway over. This year I joined it from the outset, and I discovered posting my stories as I went was a motivating factor. The event wasn’t a competition, but knowing other people were taking part, and that I could see what they were doing, helped keep me going in a way I hadn’t anticipated. I didn’t make thirty stories from the thirty prompts, but I didn’t think I would. Real life got in the way—plus some of the prompts were hard.

FlashNaNo felt different from NaNo in that writing thirty short stories as opposed to one big one reduced the pressure. With NaNo, if I missed a day, I felt I absolutely had to make it up, no matter what. Here, if I missed a day it was like, no big deal. That may be the result of gained experience: things I had learned about writing, and about myself, between my NaNo, in 2013, and this FlashNaNo last month.

———

I don’t write about my writing process and/or experience on a weekly (or even biweekly) basis because I’d rather work on my essay and research skills. I limit “how I write” segments to part of these periodic installments. 

Ordinary person Maria Hanley—in the sense that she’s not a guru, not a professional writer or agent or editor; she’s just like you or me, which is the point—has likewise avoided discussing what her novel in progress is about in her ongoing novel process journal, with the optimistic title Dream Big. It is proving interesting, though, in its own right.

In August she discussed the thrill of printing out her manuscript. Years ago, I did the same for mine after a long period of writing it. I went to Kinko’s and had them print it, which came to 515 pages. Yes, I still have it. Once in a blue moon I drag it out of my closet if I want to forego the gym and get a workout.

I forget how many words my manuscript was. Yes, it’s marked up with hand-written (and even color-coordinated) notes. No, it was not my final cut. I, too, felt a similar sense of achievement as Hanley. At the time I believed it was close to ready to send out to publishers. The temptation to do it was great.

BOY, AM I GLAD I DIDN’T.

Lately I’ve wondered why I’ve sat on my first novella as long as I have, doubting whether it’s ready for the query-go-round. It probably isn’t either. It’s really got to be your best for publishers to take it seriously. A friend has spent years going to conferences, writing retreats, getting one-on-ones with editors for her middle-grade manuscripts and still not getting anywhere, despite decades of experience as a published poet.

A printed manuscript could be the closest your story gets to looking like a book. Or not.

You just gotta dream big.

Reading

You may know I’ve been reading historical fiction novels in earnest this year. I’ve read them before, but not in such quantities. For the most part, I’ve liked them. There were one or two I didn’t finish because I didn’t enjoy them, but that’s to be expected.

Without a doubt, my favorite book I’ve read this year was Kate Quinn’s The Alice Network. Exciting, insightful—I really hope somebody turns it into a movie, but if not, it’s still an original take on the spy thriller.

Miscellany 

In case you missed it: my second short story to be published on Micromance Magazine.

I’m glad I accomplished my goal of getting more of my short fiction published. It amounts to just a crack in the dam, but it’s one that didn’t exist before. In 2026, I hope to grow it and widen it, perhaps with some non-fiction essays too. I still don’t feel completely comfortable with my fiction—perhaps that’s a good thing—but I’ve kept it going this far. You can read my short stories monthly on my Substack page.