A Novel Approach

The question of what differentiates a novel from a short story might at first seem obvious. Many immediately refer to the ‘length’ and word count of each form

But the reality, as I am discovering more and more from my chats with numerous fiction writers scattered in every corner of Iowa City, is that length is the last difference to consider.

Van, a first year fiction writer at the Iowa Writers Workshop, whom I met following a rather entertaining, albeit odd, poetry recital at The Mill, jokingly said that he doesn’t even know what a novel is anymore.

He told me how short fiction is a much more fluid form that he enjoys exploring. I agreed with him. There is something far more refreshing and rewarding about writing a short story. I pointed out that novels spend the first couple of hundred of pages building up to this ultimate climax that the reader is meant to care for, this of course doesn’t apply to every novel. But it often is the case.

Where as with short stories, you don’t have to have such a climax. It’s an exploration of the human condition rather than a telling of a series of events. The night before, I was dragged by the ever wise and wonderful Canadian/Egyptian writer Karim Alrawi to the Foxhead, the famed bar that many great writers spent their time deliberating literature, and writing, and naturally, enjoying the odd drink or two. 

I had expressed my anxiety to Karim about starting a new novel. I had two unfinished manuscripts that I no longer felt attached to and felt the need to use my time during the IWP to begin a new project.

And what he said sounded so simple, yet something I’ve never considered before. He said. “Start with your ending. Figure it out and build your story from there.” Your final act, your ending, is the reward that the readers looks for after investing time in reading your novel. So it is crucial.

Short stories, sometimes, don’t even have to have plot. But approaching a novel from the end would allow it to grow organically and gradually, branching into the events and characters that leads it to it.

That and choice.

Present a moral choice that your protagonist has to make in order to resolve the conflict. A choice that builds suspense by the time the reader has developed an emotional connection with the character.

With that in mind, let’s get to writing.

It's a Question of Perception

It's strange how a writer feels about a story that he revisits years after writing it! You find things and patterns and discover elements that you haven't noticed before. One thing I noticed while I was revising QuixotiQ was how the style of writing slighty altered throughout the story, I felt the first half of it was a little more disjointed, something that others have pointed out to me.

A couple of days ago I finally finished going over the novel. I did tweak some changes here and there, but they are so small and sparse that I'd doubt they'd be noticed. The biggest change and most notable is perhaps the first line of the beginning of QuixotiQ. I like the new line better and I feel that it instantly takes the reader into the heart of the story, especially into the world of our main protagonist Guy.

Another thing that bothered me a great deal was the cheesy cover, I mean, come on, seriously, it was cheesy. Don't be nice about it! I've designed one that I feel reflects the story much better, and, as someone who I showed it to said, looks much more like a 'real' thriller novel!

I give you an exclusive first peak of the new cover of QuixotiQ, which I hope will be published soon. It's just a matter of finding a publisher now, isn’t it always the case? Ah well.

Catch The Big Train

I love offbeat, silly British comedies (Human Remains, Marion & Geoof, The Office, Extras, Father Ted, Mike Bassette, Max & Paddy), and Big Train, which I've not seen at all before, has not disappointed yet. I've picked the complete seasons 1 and 2 and finding it to be quite a hilarious treat, atfer all it has Simon Pegg in it!

Tomorrow is my first day as a Blacksheepian!

And I just sneezed! (Bless me!)

The novel in progress is passed the 43k mark. It's slowed down a lot and I've only written a few hundred words over the past couple of days, very lame I know. Oh, and the test shoot has been moved to Sunday now, instead of, well, it was meant to be today.

I had to take my Canon G7 to the agent's workshop a couple of days ago because it all of a sudden died on me. Apparently there was a problem with the power, as it wouldn't connect to be turned on! I'm told it must've been shaken, or stirred! Heh, careful now. Anyways, it's all fixed now, but I was camera-less for a few days.

The Heart of the Matter

Last night we had the first read-through of the KEEP short film script. Both actors (Gavin & Simone) did pretty well and we had a good chat about the direction I wanted them to take with the charachters.

It was an interesting session as I've never had a read-through before, to see (and hear) someone performing something that I had written was quite fascinating. They had their own interpetations and they took onboard the suggestions I had made.

We are now set to film on August 10th & 11th. The film will be about 8 minutes long and will be shot in one location. We are meant to go visit the location in a couple of days and put together a shoot schedule. And on Tuesday we will be doing a test shoot with the actors.

Oh, and our Human Heart had arrived from across the Atlantic!

As for my writing, it had faltered a bit lately I'm afraid. Still, I managed to pass the 42,000 mark. I still think I need more writing to do! My new estimated target is now probably around 50k, as I mentioned before. I'm a bit gutted, coz now it looks highly unlikely that I will finish the novel before the end of the month.

And to add to all this craziness (my illustrated story, making of short film, completing novel, pre-planning Elham and writing articles), I am starting my new "full-time" job this Wednesday!

My Happy Place

It's funny how things work sometimes. You want to get something done so bad that the more you focus on it, the harder you try to get it done, the more unlikely it seems it will ever do! Makes sense?

I've been struggling with my 2nd novel so bad that it was starting to get very frustrating. I'd spent hours and days and nights thinking about it, trying to write it, hoping that I will eventually crack it, until I realised that it doesnt really have to be that way. So I moved to the next project online.

My 3rd novel kicked alive. And I suddenly am back to writing. After months of despair and not being able to write, I am working steadily so far. I had decided that I will complete a novel this month. It's unlikely, but I am determined to give it my best shot. I was going to go for the usual 1000 words per day. So far I've written a little over 3000 words in 5 days. I know I'm off target but you have to keep in mind thet problems I've been facing with my friggin laptop.... I swear to god, if anyone as much as mentions Acer to me ever again I will take it and smack them on the head with it!

I've found my happy place. And it's in Caribou!