I had a breakthrough in my conception of Testcut recently. It happens a lot sitting on the idyllic beaches of Tulum, playing flute and thinking so many thoughts.* 

For the uninitiated, #testcut began with several dozen nearly abstract Tweets @dshulenberger and jumped to a more coherent grouping of Tweets (creating scenes of strangely truncated pathos) @4Hflute. So as not to be lost in the Twitterverse, all Tweets are collected in reverse-order groupings on Facebook. (In other words, gentle reader, just like the Facebook page to catch up).

Jumping platforms through a connecting hashtag, Testcut is short form haiku that will evolve into longform prose. It is loose accumulations of sentences that will cohere into paragraphs and finally paragraph groupings, chapters. It will continue to multiply until a longform narrative emerges on another hashtag-connected part of the cloud, probably my own website. 

Before discussing ambition & other nuts and bolts, I should point out that Testcut is related to my other writing projects and it isn't. Created in real time, with no conscious planning, it shares no characters with any other pieces. I don't know who the characters are yet or how many there will be. "He" and "she" are purely arbitrary place holders, as are settings and names. (Savvy readers may have surmised that, by its very construct, Testcut is the ultimate mystery novel.)

On another level, Testcut is an exploration of the process I used in creating Arisugawa Park. The reason why agents and fellow literature lovers had a hard time wrapping their heads around the manuscript in the beginning (quite aside from its setting and impossible name) was that I used an unusual method of construction. I fused Western and Eastern ways of looking at things, forging a path pioneered by the likes of Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, John Steinbeck, Haruki Murakami. But following my own idiosyncratic source code.

Testcut demonstrates in real time the multifarious process of  creation of a complex narrative. Moreover, it is the kind of literature-meets-pulp fiction work that I have always, in my heart, aspired to write.

The plan is simple: as it grows, Testcut will organically attract readers by the quality of writing and soundness of concept. The process of creating the book will become both a map of the writer's mind and an intricate puzzle. When all the component pieces are set out in a complete evolution of Tweets and posts, it will come out the other side as a finished, marketable novel. 

As conceived, Testcut should have a creative footprint that extends for years. It will be a puzzle that readers can follow when they have exhausted the rest of my writing. With a treasure trove of detritus for future scholars to puzzle through, viewing the book as a literary mind map.** A fully dimensional reconstruction of the neural pathways toward a complex narrative. Enabled by the cloud and its unique ability to store, sort, recreate.***

Testcut may also become a template for writers who want to build an organic audience for a work-in-progress and ensure fair compensation on the other end. The hashtag novel will build an audience over the years, resulting in a traditional novel. Powered by the new "social media meets gallery" platform Earth Fabric.****


* This Facebook post says it all about my current mental state in Tulum: "20th day in a row of lentils, tomatoes, chaya, onions, garlic, tomatoes, habanero sauce, tomatillos, cooked up in a great giant pot. The Camping Chavez bootcamp diet + beach jogging & yoga really works. Total cost, including accommodations, ingredients, yoga, and a coffee or beer each day (to mellow the edges and charge computer) of this new fitness craze = $10. What the heck are we doing, world?"

** I got the Testcut idea partially from an evolving, recorded David Hockney iPad piece I viewed at the 2014 De Young Museum "Big Exhibit" in San Francisco. Also from pondering the evolution of Shakespeare's seemingly perfect prose. I finally came to the conclusion that the bard could only have crafted works like Romeo & Juliet and Othello through nightly observations of performers at the Globe during the initial production run. A thespian himself, was Shakespeare persuasive enough to convince fellow actors to play with lyric speech on the fly? In other words, did Shakespeare lead an improv troupe within a formal theater setting and create, recreate throughout performances?

*** The protagonist in Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum" has nothing on this.

 **** The platform, organized into social groupings called fabrics, will disrupt the recent notion that online content should be either extremely cheap or free. It will ensure that creatives are fairly paid while elevating the quality and originality of online content. 

Life without a net, consuming, consumed

Ok, here is the latest test cut CUT (grouping of Tweets) for reference:

CUT L 

L-1 He found her on the street, her eye sockets rivers, an avalanche flowing into gutters.

L-2 Streaks of tears still brushed a face that had been fractured in a thousand patterns, could never be put together again.

L-3 The lipstick lay at her feet, pushed out, unused. It would never be used.

L-4 The force surrounding her was invisible, impossible to surmount. Turned inside and out, emanating outward.

L-5 He took her hand and felt the sensation of one who has withdrawn into a place far from the physical.

L-6 Anger flared: they had gotten to him through her. Maya lunatic. Her eyes empty, spittle forming on the lips. 

L-7 The dog brushed by, observant, and crossed the road.

L-8 Sirens neared, somebody had called the police. He turned to her and gave one last squeeze of the hand. No response.


L-9 He turned down the alleyway he knew emptied into a major thoroughfare. Eyes etched into a fast forming plan for revenge. 

#testcut

I just posted this "welcome" message on the Testcut Facebook page. The concept is evolving as I write and, surprisingly, a coherent and rather dramatic narrative is taking form.

This is the home page of Testcut, the first ever real-time hashtag novel, where the creation process unfolds in discrete segments. 

Cuts are formed as I write and post groups of 10 tweets, eventually to be collected as a composite documentary of the creative process.

If you think you know something about the characters, think again. This is really a creation of scenarios that lead to limitless possibilities. A puzzle unfolding in real time.

In a practical sense, start with CUT A for the current version of the project, as a semi coherent narrative. 

Proceed forward, knowing (as with Pulp Fiction) that it is out of narrative sequence and intentionally setting up dramatic flashpoints. Points of view are constantly shifting. Not sure how many characters. Setting is Tulum, Vegas?

Go back to CUTs 1-12 for an unfolding of the initial creation process. The process is similar to uncovering Jimi Hendrix demoing versions of what later became Voodoo Child, Long Hot Summer Night, 1983, in a hotel room with an acoustic, under the influence of love.

‪#‎testcut‬ @4Hflute ‪#‎endurancewriter‬

viva la tortuga!

I have been hanging out in the town of Tulum, waiting for grey skies, intimations of stormy weather, to pass. Waiting for the moment I can leave the hostel and hit the beach for a month or so of unfiltered camping. I’m fairly upbeat, have almost convinced myself that staying in a tent is the thing I desire most. 

It must be like this––unlike in parts of Thailand and the Philippines (and one presumes, less discovered tropical locales spanning the globe), native-style huts are simply too expensive. This is the hippy-borderline-luxe Mayan Riviera, where wealth and backpacker ethos rub shoulders with seeming ease. Where yoga and foraged greens are the currency of the realm, a veritable contagion of enlightenment. I imagine this symbiosis between the forces of commerce and spirituality will last until all the less-developed lots get bought up and remnant wilderness (and affordable camping spots) disappear in a cloud of eco-boutique chic. Or until the Mexican middle class expands to the point where waves of urban tourists bring new sounds and flavors, not necessarily of the quiet sort. 

I do see eco-tourism as a preferable alternative to the flat-footed drone of the Cancun all inclusives. There is a lot to be said for keeping scenic places quiet and relatively unchanged. But money, in the process of preserving the unchanged aspect of nature, changes things. I catch glimpses of the Tulum of yesteryear in a 500 meter stretch before the entrance to the too-dusty-to-bike-through Sian Kan Biosphere Reserve. The kind of unfiltered tropical verdure one begins to long for after too many enlightened shrugs and trendy dismissals. Just before this stretch of unkempt paradise is Be Tulum, where cabanas rent for mucho diñeiro and movie stars of the Leonardo DiCaprio ilk are a common sighting. 

Despite my austere lifestyle, I have an unflappable sense of achievement and progress. I’ve just edited and revised Arisugawa Park to the point where my agent is confident in shopping the 400 page novel (important bits left intact) to the New York editors. Kimberley feels that Soho Press, which is known to be more discerning than the Big Five publishers in this age of slavishly derivative writing (follow the dollar signs) will be “the ideal publishing house.” I have vague recollections of the publisher as one of taut urban narratives, similar to Black Lizard––respected, not always the easiest to digest.* 

I do my research. Soho has, as of late, been on the bestseller list––a lot. The strategy seems to revolve around offering books by quality authors at a major discount from the majors (at least for the online versions). The publisher**, now distributed by Random House, is also eminently respected. Founded in the late 1980s, Soho is best known for its Soho Crime series, which encompasses series spanning the globe (including F.H. Batacan, the Philippines’ first mystery author). According to The Millions, the press was founded at a time when the majors were no longer publishing writers who “deserved to be heard.” Funny how some things never change.

Naturally, there are as many differences as similarities between the publishing world today and that of 30 years ago. Online publishing has unleashed the floodgates to everyone’s personal Hemingway. For better or worse, there is content as never before to wade through––much of it for free or at that magic 99-cent price point. 

This means that traditional writers (read: unsociably deep thinkers) who would otherwise have enriched our common discourse are relegated to the functional jobs that they despise, their souls rent  with inchoate longing. This is symptomatic of a deeper ailment, in which consolidation and race-to-the-top remunerative flows have created haves and have nots at the most obscene level in generations. 

As the New York Times reports, there has been no healthy disruption benefitting those who actually create the content we rely on for original perspectives. Instead, we sit benumbed by the choices that appear on our smart phones and accept dumbed down, by-the-word versions of the truth. Guess what––90 percent of material accessed through Google searches is created on content farms, where gaining mass eyeballs is the primary goal. 

I should not complain too vociferously––this does create a disruptive opportunity for Earth Fabric, as a platform positioned against to all this. Want to change the Internet landscape? Stand for something that benefits creatives financially and creates a virtuous cycle of quality content.

Next blog: I will delve a little deeper into Tulum, of which I, with my Hawaiian shirt, sandy book, and tribal flute, have become a recognizable (if not quite integral) presence.

* I admit  I have never read a book published by Soho Press––yet I am potentially a Soho Author. Which reminds me of the parable of the writer and the restaurant. 

**I am a poor standard-bearer for any entity in the publishing industry.  I see publishing houses as forsaking their roles as nurturers of talented writers who might only break through on their 3rd or 4th book. Shareholders of the corporate behemoths the Big 5 publishers have become want profit, yesterday. "Breaking shit" has become code for creating content for less discerning audiences, quickly. Fortunately, there are still a few agents who care about quality. But how long will the wolf survive? 


***Am currently cringing my way through Patrick Ness' surprisingly entertaining The Crane Wife (which still has way too many Oprah moments - and by the way, the Decemberists aren't close to the fucking best band on the planet). Naturally, I picked up the book by chance at the El Punto in Tulum.

I am now in Tulum, Mexico, on the Mayan Riviera, surrounded by creatives from around the world––writers, musicians, photographers, videographers, artists, eco-village creators, bamboo bicycle craftsmen––and the contours of Earth Fabric, as a new “creatives engaged” platform that combines Social Media with Gallery is taking shape. 

Given the propensity of Silicon Valley types in search of scalable ideas to rip them off, claim them as their own (and my own emerging platform as a writer and influencer) it makes sense to set down the parameters of the Earth Fabric vision on the channels available to me.

I have spoken with dozens of people met in locales from San Francisco to Miami Beach about the concept over the past three months, gaining valuable feedback and insight––now is the time to lay out the structure. Fleshing in the details will take place in the months to come, in collaboration with other entrepreneurs of vision. 

Need –– When Facebook was introduced, it presented the revolutionary concept that the Internet was not a random collection of privately hoarded connections. That social groups would share, influence, entertain, and communicate through a unified platform that was visually appealing, curated, real time, non-commercial. The latter concept was critical –– the idea of free content on the Internet was one that appealed to a broad demographic of people who wanted, well… not to pay for things. Not only that, there was an ethos, embodied by Wikipedia and archive.org, that essential information that defines a collective basis of knowledge should be available at no cost. Laudable in concept, catastrophic for those who wish to get paid for their creative efforts. Thus Earth Fabric… (to be continued).