As you’ve undoubtedly ascertained from reading the about page, I’m using the WordPress platform to talk about what my writing process is like and the difficulties and challenges that will arise while working on this piece. Before I get to that, however, I think I need to do a bit of an introduction to explain where I am in relation to this work and in my writing in general.
I’ve been writing fiction seriously for a few years now. I’m a current MFA student at the University of Pittsburgh and so far I’ve published one short story in Folio, American University’s literary journal, and I’ve also been awarded runner-up in a creative nonfiction contest judged by Dan Chaon. So far, I’ve only dabbled in literary realism in the vein of writers like Tom Perrotta, Charles Baxter, Antonya Nelson, etc. etc. and I thought it would be a nice challenge to myself to try and write something slightly unrealistic, maybe stylistically reminiscent of early George Saunders before he goes off the deep end in terms of experimentation and utter nonsense.
What prompted me to take on this experiment was my growing obsession with the Large Hadron Collider. I started peppering references to it in my short stories as a means to portray apocalyptic dread in a post-9/11 world. Eventually I decided I wanted to write a story set in the underground bunker but the technology was too daunting. I’d never be able to get all the details straight and quickly realized the only way to move forward with the project was to set it in a slightly off kilter world where rules could be shifted if necessary.
So that’s where I’m at now. I’m working on a draft of the story currently and will update about my progress as I go.
