[Listen]
[Intro music plays]
[Woman’s Voice]
This is Behind the Cut with Christopher Gronlund. The companion show to Not About Lumberjacks.
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Christopher Gronlund:
Behind the Cut is an in-depth look at the latest episode of Not About Lumberjacks and often contains spoilers from the most recent story. You’ve been warned…
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I’ll begin with a confession: I went with the easier storyline with “Mudlarking,” instead of things I initially considered.
Originally, I thought Eva would find a message in a bottle and finish the business of someone long gone, resulting in closure for someone still alive. Or…go with a whimsical, touching thing, like the movie Amélie.
Instead, I went with straight-up fun.
There’s nothing wrong with fun. One of my favorite Not About Lumberjacks stories is “Gerald’s Grail,” a story about teenagers who come into possession of items granting them low-grade powers. But I know the last handful of stories meant something more than entertainment to listeners—and I felt like I should have continued that trend. Looking back at those stories…
“The Song of the Stone” reached several people going through changes where they work.
“Firing the Muse” surprised me, because while I went into it wanting to tell a more light-hearted tale, some saw a deeper statement about what it is to create art in a time when creativity has become such a commodity. Others saw it as a story about accepting inevitable change (without changing who you are).
“Lakeview Estates” addressed small-town politics and the housing crisis in the U.S., while “Old Growth” is a tale about humans destroying the environment.
The last story, “It’s Never Too Late,” really meant something to listeners—in many big ways. And even this year’s Christmas episode had its serious stories and moments.
So, I felt an almost responsibility to the audience to write another meaningful story.
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People tell me to write the stories I want to write, with no regard to an audience. But even writers who say they don’t write for an audience usually have an ideal reader (or listener) in mind.
I do write the stories I want to write, which is likely one of the reasons I don’t write fiction full time. (I always choose stories that interest me, more than crafting tales that are likely to have greater commercial appeal.) But by releasing stories on Not About Lumberjacks, I can’t pretend I never think about how readers and listeners might react to things.
If audience didn’t matter to me on some level, I’d keep my stories to myself.
So, I went into the latest story with recent feedback about more serious things in mind.
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It’s funny when I talk about writing for Not About Lumberjacks and how I take into consideration that there are people waiting for stories. No one ever pressures me to produce like a machine, and I know if something came up that people would be understanding if I didn’t release a story at a specific time. But I like that I have a bit of a schedule that I mostly stick to.
Others have told me they couldn’t write like that (as if I asked for their opinion). If I know a story needs more time, I change things and take that time…or work on a story I’m more confident I can complete, while working on the other for a later date. I won’t put out a story just to put out a story. But It’s unlikely I’d write as much without Not About Lumberjacks, and I enjoy getting more stories out there instead of fretting over one story forever that’s still going to have its issues.
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Having a body of work is a neat thing. When I reach a point like I did with “Mudlarking,” I remind myself that another action-adventure story, “Gerald’s Grail,” is some people’s favorite story on the site. I suppose I can argue “The Other Side” has some action and adventure in it, although it’s a bit more serious. “Rockbiters” takes place in space, but it’s also written to be more entertaining than meaningful. And if I should ever think, “Is this too much?” I just need to remind myself that I’m the guy who wrote a story called “Booger,” about a kid making an oozing, vile monster in his bathtub.
I’m not one to chase trends, but I cannot deny seeing the show’s popularity grow in the last year has been a bit of a thrill. Of course, the show is still very small, but by its miniscule numbers—in the last three months—it’s received as many listens as I usually get in a year. (And that’s with the bit of growth earlier in this season.)
* * *
So, I suppose it’s natural to think, “Should I write another story with more emotion?”
That’s not a stretch for me, because it’s kind of what I do. Most stories I’ve written—even something as ridiculous as “Milkboy”—have heart. They mean something to me, and I hope they mean something to listeners and readers.
But I started Not About Lumberjacks to have an online spot for my writing…and to write whatever I wanted to do…whenever. Serious one month—ridiculous the next. Each year, looking back and seeing that body of work grow.
* * *
“Mudlarking” is a lot of fun. It was nice writing something during a busy time of the year that didn’t require as much planning and shouldering the emotional weight and effort that lingers with more “serious” stories. A woman finds an item in the mud that does strange things and, for a handful of days, her life is filled with adventure.
* * *
The life of a technical writer who writes, records, and releases short fiction on the side is not a life of adventure. I’m fine with that. Adventure for me is, “Hey, there are a lot of flooded areas in Texas right now…and we can get to a lot of neat places in the canoe others never see!”—not, “I have people chasing me because I found an ancient relic in the mud!”
If you’ve listened to “Rockbiters,” you know I love dwarves…but when it comes to classic fantasy races, I am much more of a Hobbit—content with sticking around closer to home than hanging from the edge of a cliff in the Dolemites or Andes Mountains.
When it comes to more ridiculous adventures, I tend to find them in stories—not my everyday life. In the latest tale, Eva Barrett is established as a bit of a thrill-seeker, so sending her through a handful of frenzied days was fun.
Were she real, I suspect she’d be fine with what I’ve written, but ask me to not do it again.
* * *
I’ve not looked ahead to next year’s writing like I did this past year—even going as far as asking Patreon patrons for feedback.
I liked having the stories I’d be writing lined up, but it’s not a thing I intend to do again.
Because people had a say in which stories I’d write this year (granted, they were things I was going to write anyway…I simply asked patrons, “Do you want this one or that one?” and went with the winners), I didn’t want to deviate from the plan. But next year, I’ll return to my usual swirling chaos of a process.
I think another reason I was apprehensive about “Mudlarking” being an action-adventure story was I saw that people gravitated toward more “serious” stories when asked.
But then…I never quite established to patrons what “Mudlarking” was, other than someone finding something weird in the mud.
* * *
I’ll always wonder what the message-in-a-bottle version of “Mudlarking” might have been like, or the Amélie-esque version. But because I tend to find a story’s truth in its telling, that wondering happens frequently. (I could write at least two other versions of “It’s Never Too Late,” including the bonkers original version called “Not Again!” [Hell, I could probably write five other versions of that tale…])
For me, writing is an adventure, and I’m always happy to see where it takes me.
I’m happy with where “Mudlarking” ended up…
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Thank you for listening to Not About Lumberjacks and Behind the Cut. Theme music for Behind the Cut is a tune called “Reaper” by Razen. Visit nolumberjacks.com for information about the music, the episodes, and voice talent.
Also, for as little as a dollar a month, you can have access to a bigger behind-the-scenes look at Not About Lumberjacks on Patreon. Check out patreon.com/cgronlund if that sounds like your kinda thing.
In July, we head back to the 90s and follow an indie band on the cusp of bigger things…until it all comes apart.
Until next time: be mighty, and keep your axes sharp!
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