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Wet, Crooked Colt: Using Form and Language to Convey Tone

I thought WCC would be the best test subject to get deeper into this topic since the form and language are very distinct! This is one of the weirdest things I've ever written- not because of the premise, but because of the way the story is told.

Form as a vessel for conveying tone

I think the most effective experimental styles are the ones that enhance certain aspects of the story, whether that be a theme, a character’s mindset, etc. The form I chose for WCC- formatting the dialogue like a script- ties in thematically with Rokurou (and as Rokurou soon discovers, Eizen) following a script for foreplay. The script format also has the effect of starkly separating the dialogue from the action, which exemplifies how Rokurou feels a disconnect between his words and his thoughts. Finally, it gives the story a cheeky, playful, rough-around-the edges feel, like the back-and-forth whip of sitcom dialogue. 

I wasn’t completely consciously aware of these things while drafting. I stumbled on the form by accident. I originally wrote WCC with normal-looking dialogue, but the story wasn’t working. It was time to get funky.

At the time, I was reading Big Swiss by Jen Beagin, which is told partially through transcripts. Beagin executes this style expertly. 

I thought, what can I do with that? How can I adapt that to WCC? 

I tried it out and never looked back. I Big-Swissified Eizen and Rokurou. 

I didn’t have much of a better explanation for my bizarre choice other than “this feels right for the story and I can’t imagine it any other way.” While editing, I was much more intentional with applying it so that it benefitted the story.

Apart from the dialogue, one thing that sets the form apart is the stream-of-consciousness description. (Please forgive my gratuitous sins against comma usage.) I think it works because, for the most part, Rokurou is very much in his own head instead of in the moment.

It also meant I didn't have to edit the idiosyncrasies of the drafting process out. The way I wrote the story was very stream-of-conscious; I wrote everything completely out of order. If I wanted a line, I threw it in, regardless of whether it made sense in context. Mass chaos. Fingers were going in places they didn't belong. It was one of the most freeing, lovely drafting processes I've ever had.

Language as a vessel for conveying tone

The atmosphere of WCC is awkward, off-kilter, and a little bit nasty, so I wanted to use words and descriptions that sound that way. The best example of this, I think, is the title. Finding the right title kicked my ass because nothing sounded like it fit the piece. While brainstorming, the phrase “Wet, Crooked Colt” popped in my head (the title is so obscure that you would think it came from a line, but no, it was the other way around.) I tried to resist, because it was just so weird! Who the fuck names a story that?? 

Me. I do.

The title’s symbolism was immediately apparent to me: they’re still figuring each other out, and they’re figuring their relationships to sex out, and things are disjointed like a newborn horse with its wacky new legs covered in afterbirth. (Fun fact that I realized while writing this: this isn’t the first time I’ve used afterbirth/birth imagery with Eizen and Rokurou. See my other work “Liminality.” This was NOT intentional, and no, I don’t know what my subconscious is doing.)

Here are some more lines and moments that aid the tone (whether they're awkward, off-kilter, nasty, or all of the above):

“They clasped hands as if shaking on a dull business contract.”

 “...pour the words down Rokurou’s throat so they turned into more digestible bits, got ground into formless bile.”

There’s a motif of putting clothes back on, which reflects a reluctance towards sex. Eizen tightens the drawstring on Rokurou’s pants instead of taking them off, and in the end, they put each other’s clothes back on.