The Writer's Universe project is about finding a way to use the special set of skills I've developed in the last 26 years (as a computer programmer) to codify the memory palace that has served me so well for at least 35 years (as a writer). And if that isn't a sentence full of itself...read it again! Or, read on and let's unwind the statement together.
First and foremost, let me say a few words about my two primary obsessions.
I am a writer, and I write obsessively. I create a myriad of realities in my mind, often editing entire stories that way, before I laboriously pour them into a word processor. Then I fuss about editing them, tweaking them, and preparing them to launch them into the universe. Like all writers I have my peccadillos, but amongst them is not a lack of attention to detail. Errors do creep in, though, no matter how much effort is made -- though I'm pleased to report that those errors are choices more often than otherwise. And any writer will attest the fact that dramatic license is about making those choices, as necessary, in service of the story -- the same as they will attest that making clumsy and unnecessary mistakes is a frustrating experience, simply because those are the errors that take a reader out of the universe we put them in and cast them into reality. No writer wants to lose their readers, and having them disengage because of some middling detail that doesn't matter to the arc of the story being told is almost a criminal.
Like any long-term obsessive writer, I spent decades developing a memory palace that encompasses the details that make my worlds function. It is super-critical to be aware of your characters, their placement, and their reality. It is vital that the awareness be accessible, almost instantly so, and that it somehow doesn't interfere with the creative urge that drives the process. No writer wants to divest time to keeping track of which character's tie was which colour, but those small details add the flavour that readers need, and those are the devilish details that almost always present a stumbling block when they go wrong. So, the memory palace not only functions as a repository of the knowledge we need to write, it acts as a defense against fumbling. And, sadly, a fallible one even at the best times, especially if, like most writers, you have an actual reality that intrudes on the realities you write about.
Some time ago when I began to read eBooks being written by what the world calls amateur writers (there is really no such a thing), I noticed that often the difference between a great story and a shrug-worthy one was engagement. I read many great ideas that were falling by the wayside, because the writer wasn't yet at that point of maturity where their memory palace had formed defenses against the mundane mistakes that sink so much fiction. And, unlike the "professionals," these writers lack the kind of support system that hides errors that need to be expunged. No editor is combing through their written words looking or the slip that misidentifies someone's eye colour, or changes the colour of their shirt -- details avid readers find jarring, and details that can harm even the best story.
This was when my other obsession stepped in, because as a computer programmer I deal in cold logic...despite the fact coding is a bit of a black art most of the time. I began to think about whether tools could help make those fledgling writers more confident, and help them form the memory constructs that help. I also began to wonder how much of what is in my head could be modeled in tooling that was accessible, useful and valuable. The answer? Well, to the latter question it was that nothing exists in the human mind that cannot be modeled. As to whether it manages to be useful...that is a matter for other judges.
It struck me that if someone created a repository system for actual writers, to store disparate details that are hard to track while reality interferes with process (when your cat barfs on your keyboard mid-paragraph, for example!), that repository had to be written by a writer for writers. Otherwise, it would be any of the many obtuse tools that get in the way of creative writing, rather than an aid. And so was born, out of a pair of conversations with friends, the idea of "The Writers' Universe," an encompassing tool that would be designed to model a memory palace, using the power of computers to track the obscure details that we otherwise have to track in our heads.
But how to do it? That reality factor -- having to feed the family, dogs and cats included -- poked the idea in the eyes pretty vigorously. To do it right, or even attempt to, means to fund its development. And if I was going to try it, I wanted to do it right. I wanted to have it well enough funded that I could guarantee a couple months work to really hash it out. And I also wanted it to be free. At the end of it all, I wanted it to be a tool-set that someone (anyone) could download and use to map their ideas, to store the realities in their stories, and to leverage as a support to make the creative part of writing the focus of their time.
Crowd-funding seemed to be the way to go. Will it work? That remains to be seen, but its advantages are obvious. People who have an interest in the outcome fund the development, either because they love writing or they love reading, and collectively those people have a lot of power. By exercising it, they gain a lot of potential, helping the tooling reach a nascent form that can begin to live on its own.
And this blog is the way I'll communicate as the effort unfolds, because knowing me I'll end up working on the project regardless. After all, it's creative, and cool, and...worthwhile.
So, if you feel a twitch of interest, bookmark this blog, toss a buck in the virtual pot, and let's stir it together. Or, just bookmark this blog and return to read the somewhat bent thoughts of a writer who is about to apply some logic and process to make the creative part of creative writing the paramount focus of this pursuit.
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