After fifteen months of scribbling, reading, cringing, deleting, experimenting, scowling, procrastinating, daydreaming and forgetting, I finally have a coherent novel outline together – and it has almost nothing to do with the ‘work’ of the last year or so. This outline is, I believe, an important part of the writing process, for me at least. I say this from experience and from the knowledge that past attempts at novel-length word collections have fallen short due to a lack of pre-arranged structure; generally I’m excitedly content on the rollercoaster of automation for ten or twenty thousand words, the car speeds up and down, loops-a-loop and then boom!, it speeds straight into a wall and I’m left concussed and disoriented and not at all sure where I am or where I’m going. So for the first time I have an outline, chapter-by-chapter, times thirty-one, and while I fully expect to deviate from this somewhat, having already, in rough form, written the end of this novel, I know where it ends up and I have a fair idea how to get there. Simple…
I doubt it. And I contend to myself that an outline alone is a pretty bare toolbox. So I’m running through a checklist here, unashamedly for my own benefit. What else do I need or want to make this a successful endeavour?
- Health: Check. Watching Flight the other evening took me way way back to Valentine’s Day 2013. Denzel’s character, is, an, ahhm, heavy drinker. Without giving too much away he successfully (yep, correct word) crash lands a jet under the influence of certain substances and then shortly after being released from hospital gets a big black bin bag and wastes copious amounts of alcohol, get the picture? Long and short, drinking doesn’t mix well with writing (or living) for me and the process is a non-starter unless my brain chemistry is on a level and my body doesn’t feel like it’s about to, well, die, all the time. Cigarettes I’m sticking with until I buy one of these new electronic nicotine bong things, and exercise (walking/swimming) is something I enjoy and feel that it promotes clarity of thought and the generating of ideas. I hope I don’t write the next one of these drunk with a kebab stuck to my chest.
- Environment: Check. I think. I’ve just today been mailed a picture of my new rented studio apartment in Songkhla in the south of Thailand. From the pictures it looks like a pretty standard room with a fridge (essential – April is coming and I may need to rest my head in a freezer compartment at some point), a TV (non-essential, not desired, please take away if I’m paying extra for this on my rent), a desk (e-ssential, for me), a bed (hmmm, yep, essential) and… a balcony overlooking the Gulf of Thailand. This last one is a luxury but I hasten to wonder if it’s a good thing for the writing process. As a professional daydreamer and procrastinator, I find it easy to get lost out somewhere between the two converging blues of the horizon as the clock speeds up and before you know it, it’s 2036. (8.36 pm.) Will I be locking the door and blackening out the window? Nope.
- Reading: Another contentious pondering. To read or not to read while writing one’s own words? I italicize because I’m susceptible to imitation as perhaps we all are. ‘The Little Book’ by Strunk and White says the following about imitation:
‘The use of language begins with imitation. The infant imitates the sounds made by its parents; the child imitates first the spoken language, then the stuff of books. The imitative life continues long after the writer is secure in the language, for it is almost impossible to avoid imitating what one admires. Never imitate consciously, but do not worry about being an imitator; take pains instead to admire what is good. Then when you write in a way that comes naturally, you will echo the halloos that bear repeating.’
Good enough for me although I’m not sure if it answers my question about reading while the writing process is in full motion. Nonetheless, my chosen friends at this point are: The aforementioned Elements of Style by Strunk and White; On Writing by Stephen King, Aspects of the Novel by E.M. Forster, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, and Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse. I’ve read all of the books above and they all come recommended. Of the three books about writing, I like these because they aren’t preachy, they’re concise and to the point, and they leave the process of creation open to the writer, rather than setting forth a load of arbitrary hard and fast rules for success, which often seems to be the case in the many somewhat wasted hours I’ve spent reading ‘How to’ books. And of the novels I intend to re-read, well if I can subconsciously imitate and amalgamate into my own the merits of Steinbeck, Roberts, Kerouac and Hesse, then feel free to call me a copycat.
- Girlfriend: Check: None 🙂 🙁
- Time: Strangely, oh so strange, I’m now approaching this project at the same time as taking on a new job, my first proper job in… a while. I may be kidding myself (yes you’re kidding yourself you delusional fool!) but I actually believe that having a steady job may assist me with writing. For one I don’t intend on doing a great deal of work (or directing my new employer to this site) and for two the job requires me to spend a fair bit of time in an office, at a desk, in front of a computer. Basic math(s). On this point, though, I’m also reminded of a key point in On Writing. If I remember correctly, King argues that to call yourself a writer you have to read or write some 4 to 6 hours a day. That seems like a lot. I’ll start at 2 and if I can manage that consistently over 6 months I’ll happily call myself a half-arsed writer.
While I’ve begun my checklist here it’s far from complete and I won’t bore you with my personal writing minutiae any longer. I will note that the few points mentioned here are easily overthrown by a different mindset. For example: 1. I doubt Malcolm Lowry could have finished Under the Volcano without the aid of alcohol, and in the later years Hemingway purportedly couldn’t keep his hands still to type without a score of shots. More recently the late-essayist and intellectual Christopher Hitchens swore by a steady intake of alcohol while working. Of course the quality of such work and the nature of these men’s deaths raise more questions for debate but… horses for courses is all I’m saying. 2. Black out your windows, play Death Rock at full pelt, crank the air-con down as low as it can go, turn up the heat, wear a Kermit the Frog costume, whatever…works…for…u. 3. I’ve read various interviews with authors who stick by not reading while writing their own stuff. I see their point and perhaps the point should be obvious when you find yourself trying to recreate The Grapes of Wrath or the style of Nabakov. See last 4 words in point 2 just above. 4. Girlfriend 🙂 ? 5. Bullshit. How does subtracting hours from your daily free time amount to assistance when trying to give your all to a novel? … I hear ya, but on a flipside I don’t have children.
Enjoy Eastlit IV and the variety of poetry and prose it offers.
Bryn
