Holding Patterns

Going to have to brief, I’m afraid. Sometimes even hermit-like introvert writers like myself have lives and actual things to do.

Still writing backstory today. Trying to flesh out the family and the past of the main character. I know there are big events in his past, and recurring events in his family’s past that cause the events in the current timeline.

I just don’t know what they are yet, so I’m writing lots of history, and seeing what sticks.

Sometimes writing like this is like archaeology. You pick a spot just keep writing and writing, going deeper and further down, hopefully you’ll find some real bones or ghosts down there that have  a story to tell,  ones you didn’t expect to be there in the first place.

Total Wordcount so far (after five days): 5,095

Daily Wordcount: 1,030

Today saw the most frustrating and uneven progress so far. This was the first day where, although in the end, I got the words out and done, I’m not sure how to fit all of them into the story.

Writing in this way is a bit like taking part in the world’s slowest most inexorable car chase. Every day you have to get words out and get drama out and get blood out but the most important thing is keep going. Because that word limit is always behind you.

What I’m beginning to realise, (and hopefully I’m going to end up with enough words in the ‘bank’ that I can do this) is there’s going to be a lot of editing here to work out where each bit, each scene and each day’s progress fits into the whole. Even though there is a natural sequence to the construction of the narrative, - and those who’ve suffered reading my work in progress stuff before will know this - there is a natural and quite elastic way the parts of these sequences can be split up, and re-ordered, to best suit the narrative.

It’s just not something you can do after four days. I’m way too close to it. I am right in the middle at the moment and have zero perspective on the thing as a whole. I can’t see the forest, but I’m planting lots of trees.

I guess after a week, or after two weeks, I’ll give myself a day or two of editing and re-ordering. As I have approached this project with no storyline or plan or written outline for the narrative whatsoever, i’m essentially doing this with no guide rope. No breadcrumb trail.

I could easily go down the wrong path at any moment, and not realise it’s the wrong path for another week.

Total Wordcount so far (after four days): 4,065

Daily Wordcount: 792

Anyway.

Today’s scenes consisted of quite a few abstract flashbacks. Exploring character’s memories. Some I felt worked better than others, but it seemed to live when I got around to Alex’s memories of his grandfather. I think he’s going to play a massive role in this story. Cast a big shadow.

Sample:

My mother referred to his flying and the Tiger itself as “bloody stupid show off waste of time”. To the rest of us it merely confirmed the rapidly growing picture and backstory of Michael as some modern day Indiana Jones type adventurer. A 1920’s storybook cutout, cast in Gin and Flanel, all cut glass English and Derring-Do.

This was, needless to say, a lie and an impression that Michael did nothing to correct, in fact he revelled in our quiet doorway bound awestruck observations of him. Revelled in, and greatly encouraged  and inflated his role as our own legendary figure who’s deeds we would do well to emulate.

This is where the stories came in.

(Lowest so far, but still over target on aggregate. Must do better tommorow though.)

You realise I could be making this all up right?

Day three and things seem to have settled into a (mostly) productive routine. Routine is good. Routine gets things done. It was one of the aims of the project so I’m happy with that.

Each day I spend somewhere between three and four hours writing. Now, I type fast, so if I actually wrote for three hours, I’d be close to finished here. But even at a very conservative estimate I could write 1,000 words in half an hour of solid typing. (1,000 / 30 = 33 (going at 30wpm)

So each morning when I’m actually writing. There are three hours of coffee making, fingernail biting, head scratching, pacing (Never underestimate pacing, I cleared a block today by walking up and down the stairs in my flat twice) and general procrastination.

I guess what I’m trying to say is we’re in a very inefficient business here.

Daily Wordcount: 1,241

Total Wordcount so far (after three days) : 3,273

Today we saw our protagonist (Currently Alex) enduring a series of disastrous interviews, many of which were drawn from my own substantial jobless past, straight out of uni with what I increasingly discovered was an increasingly useless degree. He also falls in love with a receptionist. I also appear to channel Chuck Palahniuk for an inner monologue that closes the scene. Tommorow, we’re going into some serious flashbackery I feel.

I have no qualms about cannibalising my past for this project. If you know me beware this fact.

Postscript:

Hitting my word count allowed me to get up to London and watch the simply breathtaking Frozen River. A low budget american thriller that swept me into it’s bleak and fragile world like very few films can and have. I found it beautiful, absolutely gripping, and often devastating. As people of taste and decency (in a world where Transformers 2 exists) please go see it.

Please.

Cheers.