The end of the road is
in sight. When I look back, the beginning is just a speck on the horizon.
Now seems like a good point to start a regular Novel Diary
to document the closing stages in finishing a project that has taken up an
extraordinary amount of my time over the last two years. Writing has always
sapped my time, but when I first imagined bringing characters, events and a
whole new world to life on such an epic scale, I never realised how much this
creation could swing me from blissful happiness to grudging frustration. The
very idea has been at the back of my mind throughout my Masters degree and
seeds of it have been germinating ever since I started experimenting with words
upon the page. All I can hope for is that by the end, come September 25th
2012, the novel that I have planned and executed leaves me satisfied. Over the next few months I plan to document this end process in order to drive myself, share the experience with others and give myself something to look back on once the journey has finished.
For now, I’ll fill you in on where it’s at, or more
correctly where I’m at.
After a few more searches online it became apparent that the
title I had in mind had been worked with, be it as a published novel or an
American writing counterpart tinkering with ideas. The mistake that I wont make
now therefore, is to put the title out there until the last minute. For now, I
will stick to referring to the novel title as ‘Sample’. Better to be safe than
sorry.
Sample will be a crime story at its heart, but will also
include aspects of adventure, sci-fi, speculation, elements of noir and character
study. I’ve always loved how Tarantino films rely so heavily on the characters.
By writing unforgettable dialogue and setting up intense scenes with strong
interactions, you end up with a really fulfilling story. I also really enjoy
speculative fiction (especially work from William Gibson and J.G. Ballard). What
sets them apart from their peers is the fact that they see the characters as
more important than the idea. An idea of a plot or setting could be phenomenal,
but without intriguing characters to populate that plot or setting, you are
left with a one-dimensional sketch, rather than a three-dimensional colour
drawing.
The start of Sample is where I’ve spent the most time
rewriting (typical for a lot of writers, I’ve heard), but I have now settled on
a brief prologue to start it off. The reason for this is down to finally
watching (all the way through I should add) 2001: A Space Odyssey, and in the
first hour a realisation hit me. For a story that spans across a long period,
it is important at the beginning to create an integral scene, in order to tie
the beginning to the end, or to make it a complete story. It is like the knot
in a piece of string. My prologue is there to cast a menacing shadow over the
story, and details a mystery child making discoveries in early life, that will
eventually help the reader glean an insight into a future antagonist in the
novel. Whereas 2001 had prehistoric apes acting out various developments in
human evolution (invention, control, war) that resonated with the audience, my
prologue will hopefully give an insight into a specific character, and also
highlight interesting aspects of human nature.
I have now named each main chapter in order to give myself a
more solid structure. Again I won’t name them specifically until the final novel
is realised, but I had the idea of taking various areas of my own version of
Manchester (UK for all those international readers), and using them as the
chapter names. To shed a very small amount of light on that, my version of
Manchester is a speculation on its future, in that it has grown as a city does,
into more of a vertical thing than horizontal. In that respect I have named
different ‘Layers’ of the city to extrapolate the metropolis that the city has
become. Originally I wanted my protagonist to climb these layers as the story
progressed, but within events that occur, he actually goes up, then down, then
back up again. Therefore, I have found it necessary to use these Layer names
loosely, but title other chapters alongside important points in the story. If
anything I now feel it is well-structured but these things can always change as
the story is finished off.
In terms of what point I am up to in writing, I am filling
in gaps that exist in the first three chapters with an aim to finish these by
the end of May. With a total of eight chapters as well as a Prologue and
possible epilogue, I have estimated I should finish by the middle of July, with
time to spare for a rewrite, getting friends and family to read it, feedback
and a final rewrite.
All in all there will be a lot to do, and it will be hard
work but I am looking forward to the final result. Hopefully I’ll be able to
update this blog as much as I can which will benefit me in tracking my progress,
as well as share the experience with everyone else.
I’ll leave you with a link to a TED talk that helped inspire
me this week, from the one and only JJ Abrams.
