Dear Readers,
Good news! I (perhaps successfully) swerved away from the, I fear, rather cliched route the characters had been starting to go down. The more I wrote the more they were held back by stereotype from other books, film, television and just seemed flat and boring. Cliche just doesn't interest me and I try to stay away from it if possible (unless a character might find it natural to talk in cliched terms. Then it is allowed. In copious amounts). Graham is quite simply a unique character and he will stay as he is. He is not a cliche. He is real.
But, better news - To tell the truth, I rather enjoyed just sitting and writing. With so many things going on, and new ideas for the story occurring everyday, I have not been getting many words on the page. Shameful. Today I sat at the dining table looking out on the parched grass in the field beyond the river, and put pen to paper. There is something lovely, I'm sure you'll agree, about the easy swirl of the nib on paper. It satisfies me to review the pages of blue scrawl, count them, decide on editing for next time (more about editing in future blogs). The fountain pen is a favourite tool of the trade. Sometimes a biro just won't cut it.
You may have gathered by now that the planning, which seemed so important in the early stages of this novel, has so far been of little use. This might be true as I lost the piece of paper which bore this plan but the writing is still coming and I am proud of the result. Sometimes the simplest things are the best, just evidence of creativity can make a person feel good. I'm not sure who said it, but this quote comes to mind: I like ideas - they are proof you are alive.
Now I just have to keep the ideas coming and remain excited about The Noble Cause for another 250 pages...
Book of the moment: A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters by Julian Barnes
Monday 26 July 2010
Friday 23 July 2010
And then there was one
This week, between puppy-sitting and The Day Job, I have been writing!
I have turned the multi-narratives work into a single/mono/solo-narrative. Mr. Graham Noble is now the sole narrator of the novel. To be honest, his story is the most interesting and his character, the mess of flaws, endearing traits and dashed hopes, is strangely nore real to me than the twenty-something guy with the writing ambition. Graham has lost love, hope and the ability to care about anything he is not completely passionate about. He is indifferent towards his family, his career and most of life's trivialities. His loves include maths, poetry and the work of Mario Testino.
Further to this summary of a fictional man's character, I have chosen him to lead the book because he excites me. I find his cynicism moving rather than dull or depressing. I even know what he might do in a given situation. He has become close to me like a well-known dear friend. I don't agree with his opinions but I am interested the questions they pose. I hope you will be too!
Book of the week: Hallucinating Foucault by Patricia Duncker
I have turned the multi-narratives work into a single/mono/solo-narrative. Mr. Graham Noble is now the sole narrator of the novel. To be honest, his story is the most interesting and his character, the mess of flaws, endearing traits and dashed hopes, is strangely nore real to me than the twenty-something guy with the writing ambition. Graham has lost love, hope and the ability to care about anything he is not completely passionate about. He is indifferent towards his family, his career and most of life's trivialities. His loves include maths, poetry and the work of Mario Testino.
Further to this summary of a fictional man's character, I have chosen him to lead the book because he excites me. I find his cynicism moving rather than dull or depressing. I even know what he might do in a given situation. He has become close to me like a well-known dear friend. I don't agree with his opinions but I am interested the questions they pose. I hope you will be too!
Book of the week: Hallucinating Foucault by Patricia Duncker
Monday 12 July 2010
Out of the window, twice
Today I decided (at approximately 4am) to use dual narrative in my novel. Multi narrator novels are common: The Hours by Michael Cunningham, Crawling at Night by Nani Power to name just two. I love dual narrative texts as two sides of one story emerge as the book progresses, new angles and insights are brought to light, new stories are blended with the main one to create layers of meaning and understanding.
For this project, one character cannot say as much as needs to be said; in fact, he is the sort of person who knows very little until life slaps him around the face and forces him to learn. His name is Jack. He is as familiar to me as a friend of a brother might be; he is quiet, aloof from social norms, he is having an affair with a local woman (again, decided in the wee hours) and is lost.
Graham, on the other hand, is world-weary, cynical, loveless because it's just too painful...and anyway, he can never love again the way he did years ago. For Graham, love is like trauma. He is a university lecturer. He will be living with Jack and his family. He is the uncle.
These characters hardly know each other but their viewpoints will merge and evolve as the story, whatever that will be, unfolds. Their voices come, loud and persistent, whenever I sit down to write. These two men will drive the story forward, will argue their own ideas of faith from their respective experiences.
For this project, one character cannot say as much as needs to be said; in fact, he is the sort of person who knows very little until life slaps him around the face and forces him to learn. His name is Jack. He is as familiar to me as a friend of a brother might be; he is quiet, aloof from social norms, he is having an affair with a local woman (again, decided in the wee hours) and is lost.
Graham, on the other hand, is world-weary, cynical, loveless because it's just too painful...and anyway, he can never love again the way he did years ago. For Graham, love is like trauma. He is a university lecturer. He will be living with Jack and his family. He is the uncle.
These characters hardly know each other but their viewpoints will merge and evolve as the story, whatever that will be, unfolds. Their voices come, loud and persistent, whenever I sit down to write. These two men will drive the story forward, will argue their own ideas of faith from their respective experiences.
Saturday 10 July 2010
Plan
It's good to have a plan - people tell me it is good to plan. E. Annie Proulx (The Shipping News) is said to plan a novel down to the last sentence.
Some people like to follow the meandering path of a plot and see where it takes them, adjusting the beginning to seem consistent with the ending. This method is fine and is the way my two novels came about. But this method is rather difficult; I found my anxiety about the books grew as I wrote. There is a vulnerabilty which comes about from not planning. I felt I could stop writing at any time because there was no expectation to finish, no sense of accomplishment, as there might be in a running race, in which the finish line is in sight. There was no finish line except a hazy heat blur far off in the distance.
Now there will be a finish line, even if it is a self imposed one. My character will have learned something. He will have travelled and discovered things. All my characters will have done this, travelled the narrative arc like Dorothy and co. on the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz. In the style of E. Annie Proulx I have a final sentence, or rather, a final image:
Six people looking out over a grassy green field at some newly built houses. The light plays on the damp roofs (it rained last night) and they are talking, summing up, taking stock. This might sound like a dull ending, a bland conclusion, to a book where, at the moment, nothing has happened, but this image is secure to me - it is my finish line, and I will keep it in my sights for the entirity of the project.
Some people like to follow the meandering path of a plot and see where it takes them, adjusting the beginning to seem consistent with the ending. This method is fine and is the way my two novels came about. But this method is rather difficult; I found my anxiety about the books grew as I wrote. There is a vulnerabilty which comes about from not planning. I felt I could stop writing at any time because there was no expectation to finish, no sense of accomplishment, as there might be in a running race, in which the finish line is in sight. There was no finish line except a hazy heat blur far off in the distance.
Now there will be a finish line, even if it is a self imposed one. My character will have learned something. He will have travelled and discovered things. All my characters will have done this, travelled the narrative arc like Dorothy and co. on the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz. In the style of E. Annie Proulx I have a final sentence, or rather, a final image:
Six people looking out over a grassy green field at some newly built houses. The light plays on the damp roofs (it rained last night) and they are talking, summing up, taking stock. This might sound like a dull ending, a bland conclusion, to a book where, at the moment, nothing has happened, but this image is secure to me - it is my finish line, and I will keep it in my sights for the entirity of the project.
Pre-text
This novel will not be my first attempt at writing. It will be my third literary effort.
I wrote a long novel two years ago called The Permanent State about a girl at boarding school who has a relationship with her teacher. She is one of three sisters, surviving a divorce and the pressures of performing at school. She takes solace in her music (Bach) and visits to a psychologist. This piece of writing remains firmly on my shelf - a first attempt at writing a novel. It was an amazing experience which kept me up nights and which taught me a great deal about storytelling.
The second novel (or rather novella, to use a more accurate term) was called The Peopled Spaces and is now called Victory Avenue. It is about a girl who does not know why she cannot progress in life but, due to dual narratives, the reader becomes aware that it is her mother's fault as she is emotionally absent from the girl's life. Sylvie's brother dies, an event which acts as a catalyst for secrets to be confronted and truth to come out.
This writing, which has come about over the last two years, has confronted issues important to me. The themes have been pertinent, maybe not in my own life, but in the lives of those of my acquaintances. I believe it is important to care a great deal about the ideas coming through in the writing. The next project will feature some questions of importance to me about faith.
I wrote a long novel two years ago called The Permanent State about a girl at boarding school who has a relationship with her teacher. She is one of three sisters, surviving a divorce and the pressures of performing at school. She takes solace in her music (Bach) and visits to a psychologist. This piece of writing remains firmly on my shelf - a first attempt at writing a novel. It was an amazing experience which kept me up nights and which taught me a great deal about storytelling.
The second novel (or rather novella, to use a more accurate term) was called The Peopled Spaces and is now called Victory Avenue. It is about a girl who does not know why she cannot progress in life but, due to dual narratives, the reader becomes aware that it is her mother's fault as she is emotionally absent from the girl's life. Sylvie's brother dies, an event which acts as a catalyst for secrets to be confronted and truth to come out.
This writing, which has come about over the last two years, has confronted issues important to me. The themes have been pertinent, maybe not in my own life, but in the lives of those of my acquaintances. I believe it is important to care a great deal about the ideas coming through in the writing. The next project will feature some questions of importance to me about faith.
I am going to write a book
I am going to write a book. This blog is a record of the writing process of said book; the novels which will inspire it and ways of writing used in the process.
Writing - an elusive magical spell which is cast when beautiful words fit together to create a beautiful sentence.
Writing - an elusive magical spell which is cast when beautiful words fit together to create a beautiful sentence.
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