Synopsis
A ruthless turtle monster called the Gaping Mouth of the Abyss suddenly descends upon a school of floppyfish, scattering them from each other and their beloved mentor, Bonecracker. To reunite with Bonecracker and find a new, peaceful home, four young fish must journey to the fabled Paradise Waters. However, to reach their destination, they will have to overcome the darkest trenches of life.
https://www.amazon.com/Floundering-Floppyfish-Journey-Paradise-Waters/dp/B0CNFXFVGF
Afterword: Writing Floppyfish (2023)
Afterword: Writing The Floundering of the Floppyfish (July 2023)
It’s a thinly-veiled propaganda piece; The Floundering of the Floppyfish is persuasive philosophical literature.
Following the action-filled and edgy Thief Kids (2022), I had a few writing itches I needed to scratch. Firstly, I wanted to write something with a more blatant and positive thematic message, a story that wasn’t just action for the sake of plot. Secondly, I wanted to write something at a reading level that better met the students I taught (no offense guys). Both of these desires were met by the premise of Floppyfish.
Two seeds first culminated in the existence of Floppyfish as a story idea before I finally settled on it being my 2023 project.
Firstly, the “monster” called a floppyfish had been long established. The oldest instance of me creating one goes back to when I was about fourteen years old making games in Warcraft III World Editor. I made a game that was based on a certain monster-catching game, and I designed a monster that may or may not have been inspired by a certain colorful magical carp that ascends into a sea serpent. Fast-forward many years later, the floppyfish is an essential member of my catalogue of Stevish monsters, and I have written several novels. I began thinking to myself, how funny would it be to actually write one of my yearly novels about floppyfish? My previous novels were all powerful and meaningful, and now I had decided to write something silly. However, going into the story with this thought process ended up being flawed, as, understandably, I underestimated the potential that floppyfish had.
To make the floppyfish story matter, it had to have powerful themes. Where else but philosophy to look? YouTube creator and writer Einzelganger had absolutely moved me with some of his powerful works in reflection of Buddhist and Daoist teachings. His most influential video on me was When Life Falls Apart, Does it Actually Fall Into Place? It was through this philosophy that I realized the purpose of Bonecracker and the other fish.
Despite having some decent motivation, I had some real doubts writing this story. The first draft was certified garbage. Since I had my students in mind, I had written it at such a low level that it was bland, unengaging, and I just did not appreciate it. My wife Sarah reminded me that the person I write for simply must be me, because if I don’t enjoy my story then who will?
Much like the floppyfish themselves, the story overcame all odds. In rewriting the floppyfish story to cater it more to my tastes, I created something that I ended up enjoying greatly.
For example, I wrote some of my favorite twists in this novel. It may come as no surprise that the fish Skullkraken was intended to be the main character, and Fishguts was supposed to be the fish who would ascend. However, that’s not the way the events penned out (pun intended). Also, in the story’s first draft, Airbreather was eaten in chapter 1. She ended up living a lot longer in the final, and because of that she ended up contributing in a meaningful way to the story’s theme.
Ultimately, I proved to myself that I really could write something engaging and deep with only 12,000 words, and that might be my biggest takeaway from writing the story. It took two months to read Thief Kids out loud to Sarah; Floppyfish took one evening, and that was awesome. My stories don’t need to be long to be good; in fact, my stories that exceed 100,000 words are far too daunting for many people to attempt. Going forward, I’ll keep my stories short.
I’ll also keep in mind the process of making a story exciting. Many authors complain when it’s time to write boring transitional scenes in their stories. Next time that I’m about to trudge through the sludge of a boring scene, I’ll simply decide not to. I will make the scene radically impactful and take the literary risk to make my story fun.
Floppyfish isn’t about fish. It’s about life. We should all aspire to have what it takes to ascend.
Best Regards,
Stephen Knudsen
July 2023
Stephen Knudsen 
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