Archive for July, 2009
Doing-Nothing Days
Hey! You!
Having done my writing for the holidays (I’ve even got it printed and bound for editing), and being more than a little reluctant to dive straight into anything else right now (I’m not keen on going straight into editing and I also don’t think it’s the best time to be touching any new/old-new ideas), I’ve had pretty much nothing specific to do over the past few days. Sure, I packed up some stuff, as I told you. I also assembled a cupboard the following day, a task that reminded me why I don’t usually assemble furniture.
But that couldn’t have lasted four days, of course.
I’ve been busy, uhm, feeling uneasy. I think I just need the work, really. Got round to arranging one outing on Friday, with one of my few remaining friends (not that anything happened to the rest of them, but they’re just not here, or not available), and lunch with my grandparents today (which is really tomorrow since I’m writing this yesterday). Other than that, I’ve been doing a minimal amount of reading (I read most when I go to school, when there are regular bus and train trips), filling up time with TV shows and games (old and new, and I really need to clear up my backlog), helping out a couple of friends, and trying to resist getting started on one or two commitment-intensive things.
and music. Lots of music. I think I’d really be lost without music. Whether on or off work. The current ever-shifting day-to-day playlist tends to have some Tarkio (rediscovering some of the songs has made me want more of this kind of tone/feel in a future Decemberist album) and David Bowie (whom I was very late in discovering because people of my age in these parts apparently don’t listen to very much of him).
What do I really want to do? I don’t know. The last time this happened (after the first draft of The River), I spent my time trying to write short fiction, which yielded one interesting piece, but was otherwise a very forced and uncomfortable affair, although it did succeed (I think) in expending a lot of energy that would otherwise have given birth to some Frankenstein monster of a next project (which I’m fairly sure Bukit Merah is not).
I think one of the things that is causing the daily uneasiness is the wait for a reply. Sure, it’s only one submission. Sure, I’m already expecting rejection. Sure, I should be working on a second submission. But… I keep waiting. I keep thinking that I should, that if I don’t discipline myself, I’ll shatter some important thing and I should then blame it all on myself. Not that I’m in a rush or anything anyway, so I suppose I can just wait. But it is kind of uncomfortable.
Oh well, I think tonight (Tuesday night), I might be starting my new notebook. Which isn’t as I promised, that is, isn’t staying away from any work for the time being, but I can’t take too much more of this, really. I think I’ll do that. Maybe. Hmm.
Edit: I didn’t after all. I watched Fighting Spiders and 康熙来了 on the tube and that took up most of the night. It’s now actually 11p.m. and I think I’m going to bed soon because I’m going for an early run tomorrow… Brr…
d
Time To Move On
Packing
On Saturday, I took out a few boxes of things and went through them in the hopes that I could clear them out. It took almost the entire day. I had plenty of old notes for old projects that are very funny to look at now, and most of those went out of the window. (Not literally.) I also found an unnaturally high number of brochures, as if I had been hording them to ward off monsters or something. Newspaper clippings, mostly for musicians I used to idolise. Tons of floppy disks. Postcards. Many things.
Most of these things are going into the trash.
Then I stuffed all of my CDs on the smaller CD rack into these boxes from Ikea. I used about half as many of them as I thought I would, but then again, it is the small CD rack.
(And just about right now I have a headache. I think I might write in some funny way for the rest of the post.)
It was a little funny to look back at all of these things though. Silly things, like the newspaper clippings I used to collect. Or the various forms of stationery (like some large ring file) I bought in the hopes that it would legitimise my budding project, all very embarrassing things, them. And while I was just recently confessing to a friend or two that I am in fact a sentimental sod, but this isn’t the stuff you should get sentimental about. It’s the stuff you dig out and have a laugh at before chucking it down the chute. You just leave it behind and move on, I guess.
It’s come at a good time, I suppose, having just finished the first draft of Bukit Merah and being at quite a, shall we say, different stage of my life. It’s just stuff that you’ve got to do.
And now, before I go on sounding like I’m a little drunk, I’m going off to try to cure this headache thing.
Have a smashing start to the week.
d
Another 1.0
A Year Ago
A year ago, 19th July 2008, I finished my first draft of The River at about 9p.m. It sure feels like a long time ago now, though. I didn’t imagine that I would be putting together a (vastly unreadable) first draft of Bukit Merah so shortly after that, but I did just that last night. At 12.30a.m. today, I completed work on my first draft and I think that just about completes the main task I had set out to do these holidays. Which is great because I have a month to stay away from this thing.
How Long Did It Take?
I can’t remember the exact date that I started, but the official date appears to be about the 7th of May or thereabouts, so that means I finished it in the very short time (for me, anyway) of under 60 days.
My file modification and creation meta data yield some other interesting facts. For example, I had finished the first six chapters (out of the eventual eighteen) by 27th May, which is, say, three weeks. I slowed down considerably at this point and from then until 19th June, I only did two more chapters, and wrote a bunch of fragments. I really stepped it up from there because by 27th June, I was about 80% done with the thing, although I didn’t know it then because I had no idea how much more I had ahead of me. So I think between the 19th and the 27th, I just went full steam ahead and gave it all I had. After this, I focused on finishing up, steering it towards the ending and putting the fragments I had down earlier to use. Ten-hour days, twelve-hour days, fourteen-hour days, et cetera. Eventually managed, so, there it is now.
Crazy Things
This is about the point where I begin to seriously doubt whatever it is I’ve just written. For one thing, it’s bound to need a lot of work from here. That’s a given. But its main problem will probably be that it’s full of crazy ideas that just come one after another. This wasn’t something I was expecting because I, uh, didn’t plan very much. It’s kind of like a children’s storybook, where things don’t always make adult, so-called real-world sense. One moment you’re in a bedroom and the next you’re riding a chicken, and just for the sake of it, in the next moment, you’re talking to a dysfunctional family of beluga whales.
I’m not sure I’m fully sold on that. Which begs the question: Why did I even bother going through with it then? Well, mainly because if I didn’t, I’d never get anything done.
Slow Poke
All of this makes me realise that I’m not really that slow in my work. I used to imagine that I was. I had this project that dragged on for years. It was an interesting diversion, though I was really going nowhere with it, but I suppose that was what gave me the impression that I was simply a slow worker. The River, while difficult to put together, didn’t actually take very long at all, if you think about it. I mean, here we are, a year from the day I actually began writing it, and it’s in some respectable shape at least. And this has been noticeably faster than The River, which really surprised me.
Though it’s certainly still not quite presentable yet.
Where To
And that’s what needs to happen from here, to hammer it into shape. I will probably have to convince myself about the overarching concept behind it, and then work out a few main targets for improvement. My guess is it’ll look like it needs more focus, some reinforcement of themes, and something to do with the nature of the characters. I’m an editing sort of person, I think. I can’t write anything too big and intricate once through without letting myself down in some ways. I reckon that going through it three or four times in detail will eventually become part of my modus operandi.
In the meantime, I’ll crack out the imaginary champagne and relax a bit. I need to pack my room. Yes, I think I’ll do that.
d
This is a link rojak.
As A Bee
Today I have a link rojak. This means that I have nothing much to write today. I was supposed to do some Featured post, but I didn’t because I’m still catching up on work. There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel, and normal service should resume very soon.
Fake Photojournalism
Two French students were awarded the annual Grand Prix du Photoreportage Etudiant last week to honor a photographic story that presented images documenting the precarious lives of students today and the things they must do in order to survive and succeed.
The only catch is that the entire story was a fake.
Well, I suppose this shows that you can make anything look like real news if you try hard enough. [via Chase Jarvis]
Chaos
The brain needs a little bit of chaos to work, it seems. [via New Scientist]
Guest Percussionist
James Wood played guest percussionist to Fayaway to celebrate the launch of Heavy Rotation. [via The Book Bench] Apparently, he got injured. [via The Elegant Variation]
If you follow the link from the New Yorker, you can see an interesting article on finger drumming. [via Opium Magazine]
You’ve Got To Be Kidding
It seems that people are interested in making an Asteroids movie. [via Kotaku]
I am particularly amused and sad that it says, “Seems Universal Pictures have won a bidding war against three other studios for the right to produce a movie based on Asteroids.” So it wasn’t just, well, you know, one movie studio. I’m not even sure what to say.
Lee Memorial
I’ve never heard of Lee Memorial before reading this short paragraph, but I have to say that after reading it I’m rather interested in finding out more. [via Josh Spear]
And now I have to go back to work.
d
July, July! (Return Orders)
Brand New Month
And the Web Walrus would like to remind you to flip your calendars.
Return Orders
A couple of weeks ago, I received my Amazon order for two books, one of them being Nick Brandt’s On This Earth. There was a problem between pages 8 and 9, because the edge was a bit stuck and there was also a bit of a tear. Basically, there was a very rough texture and some bits of page 9 on page 8 and a hole in page 9 itself. They weren’t even fully separated.
I tried to follow the returns policy of Amazon and one of the requirements was that I would have to send it back. So I arranged for a return, and printed the barcode and mailing address and all that. It was all going well until I arrived at the post office and learnt that the mailing of the book would cost more than the book itself. Aghast, I went back and deliberated over this for a while. (It should be noted that Amazon can only refund up to, I think, four USD from the postage costs.)
I wrote an email to Customer Service, and the reply was swift and extremely helpful. One of the resolutions offered was a replacement of the book at (almost) no further costs and without the need for me to send back my damaged copy. This was arranged for very quickly, and I saw the new order being made as well as the refund for the new order going through (and this is why I said almost, because the refund was about 1 SGD less than the amount paid, for some reason).
Yesterday, I received the new book and am now very happy with it. And I just wanted to say that the Amazon customer service was all quite excellent, extremely efficient and professional, and in all, very helpful.
Sometimes, good customer service just makes your day.
I Am
Slightly ahead of schedule, in the sense that I’ve been writing faster than I thought I would, but the project is also looking longer than I first thought it would be. I’m trying to keep the numbers down, but, you know, whatever it takes.
It’s becoming a bit monotonous. Or maybe that’s not the word for it. It’s very workman these days, very procedural. I’m just sort of piecing things together, filling in gaps and the like, which is something I obviously want to avoid. It probably has in part to do with how quickly I’m going, but my experience is that if my pace abates too much, I’ll end up just never getting anything done. Besides, like I was saying the last time, I’ve kind of got the momentum for the final run-in going, and I better capitalise on that and just ride the wave.
Shopping
Last Friday, I went shopping with my parents, and there was this bunch of bargain books outside Plaza Singapura. I think it was a Carrefour thing. From there, I got the Stephen Colbert book (I Am America (And So Can You!)), an Alice Munro book (The View From Castle Rock), some Philip Roth (Exit Ghost) and a Michael Chabon novel (Gentlemen Of The Road).
Apart from that, I also got a new Gravis bag for the new term. It is orange. And to top it all off, I got a couple of bits of stationery.
Battery
My laptop battery appears to have died.
Bah.
Off to work.
d
