My story “Giant Steps” has been published in Starlite Pulp Review 6. While I recommend ordering a copy from their website by clicking the highlighted link above, you can also purchase a copy from Amazon.
Giant Steps was such a fun story to write. I originally had no plans (or concept) for a boxing story like this, but then author David Scott Hay reached out to me and told me about Starlite Pulp Review. He had a story featured in their fifth issue, and he encouraged me to submit something to them.
I was initially intrigued by the publication, as I’m a big fan of anything pulp, but I didn’t have any story ideas I felt would be unique enough to stand out among all the great crime and western writers they often feature and who would be submitting as well. I was also coming off writing a super daunting story full of elaborate phrasing and unique vocabulary choices, so my creative juices had more or less run dry.
Regardless, I followed Starlite on Instagram and noticed that, like me, they also love old school jazz. They share a lot of gritty noir stuff and the occasional fight photos from the past, too. That’s when it clicked. I should write a pulp boxing story with a jazz aesthetic. Why not? I’m a fan of Robert E. Howard’s fight tales and often wish the fight genre would make a comeback (no pun intended). An added bonus was that I was positive nobody else would be submitting a boxing story, so I would have no competition in that regard. And as a side note, I never planned on submitting this story to anyone other than Starlite; it was written specifically for them, so I really did go all in on this one. If they rejected it, the story would probably never have seen the light of day. Thank goodness they liked it!
The original plan for the protagonist of my story, Kane Kowalski—a former boxing champion at the end of his career, now fighting to pay his rent—was for him to win his final bout only to get confronted by the mafia for beating their guy. Then the story would unfold into a typical crime yarn that would ultimately end with Kowalski turning into a private detective. That was the plan. Until I relistened to John Coltrane’s classic album, Giant Steps.
I always wanted to write a story in tune with music. I’m not talking about writing a story that’s written like a song or has a melody when read aloud. I mean, I wanted to write a story with a rhythm and pace that coincides with certain music. So I asked myself, what type of music goes best with the rhythmic, free-flowing style of boxing? Jazz! Of course. And it just so happens that Starlite Pulp digs the genre. What a perfect match. But how the Hell would I write a story set to jazz?
I went into writing Giant Steps with the actual story already in place. I knew everything that was going to happen and when it was supposed to happen. Writing classic fight tales isn’t all that difficult. Good guy fights bad guy. Good guy is outmatched. Bad guy gets the upper hand. Good guy makes a comeback only to get knocked back down. Bad guy gets cocky. Good guy finally prevails. Everyone cheers. The End! It’s the storytelling method used in professional wrestling to manipulate the audience.
Obviously, there’s more to my story than that. There’s character motivation, overcoming one’s mistakes, overcoming the odds, all that fun stuff. Read the story, you’ll get beaten over the head with it. But incorporating the music without it coming off as a cheap gimmick is tricky. So when I wrote the story, I first broke it down into scenes. And then I wrote down each scene with only the basic plot points. A solid foundation, if you will.
Once the first draft was done, I went through each scene and built upon the mood I wanted the audience to feel while reading it. Think of it as adding music to movie scenes. If you go on YouTube, you can find plenty of famous movie scenes where someone has edited in different music, and it changes the whole vibe of the scene. It can make Jack Torrance smashing through the bathroom door with an ax come across as comedic.
When I had the mood I wanted for each scene, all I needed to do was match the scenes with the best music that fit the vibe I was going for. I chose Coltrane’s Giant Steps because I love the album and because every track fits almost perfectly with what I was going for. For instance, there’s a scene where Kane Kowalski gets knocked out in the fight, and the next scene begins with Coltrane’s song, Spiral. The song fits perfectly with the moment and what Kane goes through mentally.
Like I said, I had a lot of fun writing this story. I can’t say I completely nailed the whole jazz thing, but if you listen to the listed songs while reading, I think you’ll find that it definitely adds to the experience. At least it did for me.
Anyway, I’d love to hear what you folks think about the story. I recommend reading it once like a normal story, and then rereading it while listening to the music suggested. I think you’ll find that it really highlights the emotional cues and adds to the action.
Caleb James K. 