What the Hell am I doing? Probably, I’ve started something I will never be able to finish. Never mind; it’s not so important. Different from Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, I’m not “in it for the money”; but just for fun.
This is what happened: In Winterland, in the Easter holidays, it has become a tradition that normal, well-behaved people read crime novels. This Easter I wanted to be normal too, so I read a couple of crime novels. The books weren’t too bad; entertaining stories with well-constructed plots; but it was definitely not like Jean Genet or Ibsen or Dostoyevsky (who wrote great “crime novels” like Crime and Punishment and Brothers Karamasov).
In a moment of exaggerated self confidence, I said, to my old lady:
- Bet I could write crime stuff like that myself.
Shit, I shouldn't have said that, because she immediately gave me the challenge:
- So prove it.
Now, I’m working on the plot, and inventing the characters, and personalities and names for all these mean bastards who make trouble for my hero; they even try to kill him. Then I need conflicts and tension, in every scene, I learnt from the writer-blogs I follow (thank you for these very useful blogs, such as Straight from Hel, The Blood Read Pencil, and Judy Croome). And all the time I find myself swimming in semicolons; I have to stop that immediately.
I had to make a few choices. I don’t have the time to do research (other than in geophysics), so I will use a setting and environment that I know fairly well. In about all the crime novels I have read, the main characters are police officers or journalists. Not so in my novel. My hero is a physics professor (what else, and yes, I know I’m not the first, Dan Brown’s protagonist is professor in iconology).
Then I have to choose the language. Chinese and Swahili are out of question, don't know a single word of it, and my German is very rotten now. Then I’m left with English or Winterlandic, don’t know yet what I will choose. Anyway, I will probably publish the shit chapter by chapter on my blog (or a parallel one) as I write.
Sorry, no more time for blogging now. I have this damn novel to write ... >:)))
Best of luck. Once you choose the language you're half way there. Now just put the words in the right order. If you figure that out, can you let me know how?
ReplyDeleteHehe, thanks; very encouraging comment, in particular the first half of it. Whenever I figure out the rest, I'll let you know >:)))
ReplyDeleteAh those dreaded semi-colons... Hope you're having fun, but your characters probably are anyway. They'll haunt your nightmares in Winterland...
ReplyDeleteYes, the bad guys in the story already do, Sheila. And they are all members of the Rotary Club, which I have started to dislike too >:))
ReplyDeleteDon't let the bloggers fool you...writing is easy.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the nightmare that is writing. 'Course you already know how easy it really is. I say, write it in English, but have a character who is from the Winterlandic (that'll give him color and a different perspective on the crime and other folk). Have fun!
ReplyDeleteHelen
Straight From Hel
*Thank you* for your interesting blog. I think you'll write a great crime novel! Good luck with it. And just remember: writing may drive you crazy, but it's even more addictive than semi-colons.
ReplyDeleteJudy Croome
Helen and Judy, thanks for your encouraging comments; I really appreciate the feedback from two of the bloggers I find the most enlightening and inspiring >:)
ReplyDeleteLast update: Yesterday I had a fatal computer crash. I had taken back-up in March, so didn't loose too much. Unfortunately, I lost all the notes for my novel. Therefore, the planned book will not be written after all ... but, since I have most of it stored in my head too, I will re-create everything. It will be a similar novel, for sure, but not exactly the same. It would be interesting to comare the two books ... but this will not be possible, since the former will never be written ... >:)))
ReplyDeleteOh, best of luck with your *new* new novel. I always wonder that same sort of thing. If I lose my notes, how similar will my books be? Will any of the wording or the plot be the same? Sure. But maybe what makes or breaks it will be in one and not the other.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're in for a lot of fun. Just remember pulling out your hair may relieve pain momentarily, but the effects last forever. Good luck! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed that you are writing a novel! I am always amazed when great writers are able to develop so many characters and plots and then pull it all together in the end. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nat. I'm not sure that you will be impressed by the results, though. Anyway, the final product is not important. It's mostly about having fun writing it >:)
ReplyDelete