The Back Story

Work on the autobiography has slowed down...some of it has been computer problems (but those are excuses, while I still have pen and paper), some (as ever) technical problems with writing, itself.

How much do I remember? How much old archive stuff can I find to refer to? What can one safely say about people still living (in terms of their privacy, not in terms of being rude about them!)

I don't bear any grudges, to speak of (a few scars, maybe). As one get older it becomes possible to take a wider view of experiences...when I became an adult and an incompetent parent I became much more forgiving of my own parents (I realise they did they best in the circumstances they found themselves in).

Forgiveness feels so much better, anyway - forget the religious advice, or the moral stance. Forgiveness (even if only one-sided and not mutual) drops a whole burden of resentment, guilt, and other negative emotions.

I don't write this in expectation that many people outside my intimate circle would necessarily find it interesting (although I guess I have a pool of Star Wars fans who might find some of it interesting - and even people who wonder how New Circus emerged in the second half of the Twentieth Century. But I don't kid myself.

If no-one else, I would like my descendants to have a few clues to follow, as my own dad's early life seem wreathed in mystery to me. So for Yolande Philpott, my daughter from The Sixties, and her daughter Matilda (who thinks of me as Grandpa Toby, a role I love); for Keili Jorge Philpott (my son from The Seventies, now living in Oz) and for Finlay Pearl (who will reach the age of 16 this year) I want to put down at least a little of what I experienced, why I acted as I did, and made the decisions I did, etc.

It has been a fun life to live, maybe I can turn some of it into an interesting read.

Staggering through the early stages

If you wonder at lessening blog posts here and there, I have once again joined the fray to write 50,000 words of fiction in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Apparently even more people started this year, it was trending on Twitter (whatever that means), etc.

Family visits, travelling, gigs and various other incidents mean that I have barely kept up the pace as yet, but I have gritted my teeth and staggered on (surely I should feel this way at the end of a marathon?) And although I don't update my word count every day, you can see here that I am making an effort. Some of the shortfall is scribbled in pencil in a notebook, and awaiting typing up...

Turn your blog into a book

It still strikes me as funny that people keep predicting the end of 'the book' as a tangible, portable object - and yet the new print-on-demand technology means we can print off short runs (just as many people still print out emails to read, etc).

And now blogs can be reproduced as books (it's another form of storage after all, for when we run out of oil/electricity/internet).

Blogs2Print

Fifty Writing Tools: Quick List

Fifty Writing Tools: Quick List

Nothing New

Julie has pointed out to me how rarely I update this blog.

I don't want it to turn into just another empty vessel cast adrift like the Marie Celeste on the ocean of internet - the flotsam and jetsam of abandoned sites, great ideas that withered away, ambitions that faded.

I'd prefer to take it down than that.

Still, it proved useful over the last decade, as a diary and such, but I have expanded my repetoire, and my blog count, and seem to have a specialised one for most of my interests, so this 'generalist' one gets neglected, and maybe I only update once a month or so.

Here's a selection (not a definitive list, but indicating the variety):

• Intelligence Increase (a blog about magic, cons, scams, manipulation, etc)
• Right...Well... (created as a temporary notepad for my attempt to write a film script in a month - with Script Frenzy - I have decided to keep it on as my 'creative writing' blog)
• Anon the Librarian (created as part of my demo to people at work of the use of modern social networking and publishing media)
• Ty Cariad (supports the website for the cottage, while it is being rented out as a holiday destination)
• Only Maybe (a collaborative blog I established for students and graduates of the Maybe Logic Academy)

Those are all on Blogger, but I put this e-Tutor one on WordPress, when experimenting as part of my Net Trainers course.

Pen Names

Although (and of course) a lot of the fun of the Internet arises from using avatars and sock puppets and other simulations, masks and disguises...I have begun to map the various places 'I' have set up camp.

It may turn out that I don't want people to make all the connections (different hats for different sub-personalities), so the final hyper-linked map may remain just for my own use, but to give you an idea, here is the board with Post-It Notes that I am using to begin to trace all the places I use. Every now and then I get an "Aha!" moment and have to add another whole thread...

Without this, some blogs just become empty vessels, messages in bottles drifting helplessly on the cybertides; websites become boringly out-of-date and redundant, etc.

It's too damned quiet!

If anyone wondered where I went (I doubt it) then you should know I have written a film script in the last fortnight.

I didn't say it was any good (or even finished) but I completed the first draft in half the time allotted by Script Frenzy.

Here's my entry page on Script Frenzy - already at the 100 page mark, as planned for the end of April.

To help me focus, I started a separate blog for the Script process, and may keep it going for writing projects generally.

You can find that here: Right...well...

Script-writing

The countdown is already getting like the clock on the bomb at the end of the movie, when the hero tries to guess whether to cut the red or the blue wire.

It's not so much a device for blowing people up, as for winding up the tension for a climax.

It actually allows you to put a clock on the screen (but editors manipulate 'real time').

Why do you find me mumbling to myself? Well, I have made half a commitment to take part in Script Frenzy, and I suspect a bit of planning might prove more important with a screenplay, than with a novel.

And I haven't done any planning, and April looms.

Writing for the hell of it...

Didn't pass the audition

Well, I didn't make the first cut at CreateSpace (the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award) but wasn't entirely surprised as I entered on a whim, and didn't really understand what I had to do to 'pitch' it, having never written to an agent or publisher, etc.

I am so diffident that (without looking back) I suspect I said I had written it in a hurry, done very little editing, felt rather pleased with myself, etc. Well, no, actually, I described it as an adrenaline-free book, a gentle soul...

[oh, OK, I'll dig out what I wrote some time - the first odd thing about the set-up was the lack of confirming emails when uploading - to the point that I began to feel unsure I had even entered successfully...]

Waiting to hear

Anyway - it was fun to join the countdown, and read all the forum entries, although some people seem to suffer real angst (like people who enjoy the rush of the lottery numbers announcement followed by the almost universal disappointment). I got a little excited, but not a lot - I prefer surprising success to over-optimism followed by depression.

Still, some people obviously put a lot into this, and hope to write their way out of poverty, or give up the day job, etc - and I simply don't expect that sort of thing to happen. If I could write something people enjoyed, and maybe make a little pin-money, I would be perfectly blissed out!

Been there, done that

Mick dreamed of writing his way into a livelihood, and got very down about his 'failure'. You have to be tough to take such rejection. It's why I could never be an actor or a chorus dancer, endlessly attending auditions, then going back to waiting at tables. It would destroy me. I got into show-biz by learning something unusual, then going out to offer it on street corners as a solo performer. Of course, the roaming public are critics, too, but they simply don't have to pay you, they don't have to analyse why. And if you enjoy what you do (I loved juggling) you can do it anyway without an audience. At the moment I write for my own amusement.

Oh, and I self-published the best cut I could make of Mick's book, too. Another Kinda Time.

Writing by Numbers

I did some inventory work for the library yesterday, and found myself doing the Crime, Mysteries and Thrillers section.

I see a lot of post-Dan-Brown books - keywords: conspiracy, secret societies, etc.

Perhaps I should try one of those. Let's see, I'll need some kind of formula. It won't be easy for me because even though you can avoid sex scenes (the same way old sci-fi used to) you can't avoid death, and preferably torture, sadism, disfigurement and a lot of other stuff far beyond tying your heroine to a railway line - which I may find hard to write.

However - I can't give up before starting, so, let's see. I'll need these elements:

• Famous Location(s) - Tourist attractions, cathedrals, special cities, etc. which might (or might not) like the publicity your book generates.
• Famous People of the past - Who's been done? Mozart (Freemasons), Van Gogh, Gaudi, Da Vinci (or rather Leonardo) of course, Jesus and Mary, Shakespeare, Kennedy Bros, Elvis, Marilyn.
• Imaginary organisations (or imaginative alternative uses for existing ones) or very secret societies - [eldritch rising organ music]
• Scary events - Bond villain plans for the world – religious prophecies – natural catastrophes – alien invasion – ritual murder – abduction
• Alternative Historical interpretations of source of civilization/religion, etc
• Money (almost infinite resources to jump on planes, etc)
• Religion - and esoteric belief systems of magic(k) or witchcraft
• Espionage – codes and cyphers
• A MacGuffin everyone is looking for (manuscripts, formula, Holy Grail, magic spear, etc)
• Ingenious methods (technology from Q, magic from Jonathan Creek)
• a couple of investigators - partly qualified but a little out of their depth
• some innocents dragged into the whole thing – often in jeopardy
• plenty of disposable villains (for getting their come-uppance)
• the Grinning Sadist – boss’s sidekick or lone wolf?
• a worthy opponent for our heros (curiously charming - but dangerous - Big Boss, or terrifyingly unhinged tyrant)
• Special helpers (Mycroft Holmes, professors, etc) - usually die, too
• Anonymous super-rich people (malign or benign) – provided with helicopters, forts, wodges of cash, etc
• Celebrities (who, like police and spies, have access all areas – assistants, second homes, etc – disadvantage – easily recognised)

One obvious advantage of 'professors' is that they can lecture the protagonists with all the author’s research notes – just as they can explain their own specialities ad nauseum.

Although our protagonists should feel attracted to each other, for a little sexual frisson, they should be too busy running for their lives to actually find time to get it on, as they might in a bodice-ripper – and if you really want to make the goodie angry, try killing the woman he intended to commit to (leaving him an embittered but free bachelor for the next book).

It used to suffice to have a killing for murder mysteries, but jaded palates mean that you now have to have at least a serial killer, ideally a child killer, and perhaps multiple rapist as well (if you can sneak in the paedophile ring of respectable people, even better). The grinning sadist fits well in here. If even that doesn’t suffice you may have to escalate to genocide and dictators to give the reader a thrill, or even the end of the world and the human race.

Best to try to avoid farce at this point (DNA's starting point for H2G2 is the Earth being blown up by a Vogon Constructor Fleet developing a hyperspace bypass).

I guess if I want to make people squirm and curl their toes, without describing the torture of humans, I may have to do a very graphic scene in an abattoir, maybe.

Another novel idea

You don't see me much in here, but that's because I work on several blogs and forums, etc - not because this blog has died!

I came across The Blooker Prize today - originally a Lulu idea, for books based on blogs or websites, etc.

Their blog may prove more informative, as that new site still has some dead links, etc.

Cory Doctorow remains good value, as ever - so worth at least a quick look at the blog.

Writing On...

The piece I wrote in the novel-writing competition – NaNoWriMo - needs a LOT of work...and I have done a bit of thinking about it, but haven’t seriously ripped it apart to attempt a re-write, yet.

I decided to send a brief version of my story into the BBC ‘My Story’ competition, why not? Just keep on practising. So you can see “Amusing and Amazing Myself” posted up, under Achievement (see link above). I didn’t feel entirely happy with the category, but I didn’t really fit into any of the others available. I feel a bit sheepish, aligning myself with dyslexics who wrote books, paraplegic athletes, and the currently very-popular-with-publishers “survivors of traumatic childhoods”...but hey.

Another strange thing.

I always like ‘learning by doing’, so have experimented with Lulu Print-On-Demand, knowing full well that I wouldn’t expect to sell any books (I don’t kid myself about having any kind of profile in the internet) except for the ones I buy myself, to get hard copies in my hands, or to give to friends or family.

I say all that because I discovered something strange yesterday. I had put a price on the various books I have published, as a series of experiments in formats (spiral bound, large paperback, small paperback, etc) – and the price mostly just covered the actual cost to Lulu. As I wasn’t expecting to sell any, there didn’t seem much point in marking it up. And I made downloading PDF copies FREE.

I buy my own copies at cost, of course.

But then I went onto the site, and rummaged around in the account, to find to my amazement that three of the books have been downloaded (free) more than a hundred times. Astonishing! Would that have happened if I had charged a quid? I doubt it. Free downloads are so easy that there is no guarantee that anyone who downloaded stuff has actually read the things.

Still, it’s surprising to me.

[Update: 26th January: although all the tax requirements of CreateSpaces offer of a free draft copy stopped me applying - I still use Lulu - I decided to put Infinite Monkeys (from 2008) into the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Why not? It's all a learning curve, including rejections.]

Wish me luck for round one after February 7th!

Handwaving first draft (draught?)

While writing this first draft of a novel I discovered Auto-Summarize in Word. It's a bit clunky, to be honest, but another fun toy like cut-ups, word clouds, etc. These are the 500 words it chose, when asked:

Frank pulled the door shut behind him, for the last time. Another TAZ gallery closed.

People strolled by, and glanced into his room, but kept going. Frank sighed.

“Feel free,” said Frank.

The women fluttered a little, then looked around the room again.

“Sure,” said Frank.

Frank nodded.

The room had begun to become an attraction. For some reason, many people seemed to enjoy his room more than reverently wandering around other rooms in the gallery, discussing the works in hushed tones.

With his folio of material, and his guest book, Frank had little trouble getting another white room in a gallery. “OK, Frank, see you later.” The other two people seemed younger than George. Most of the public rooms are more like a museum, art gallery sort of thing. “Do you mind if I take photos?”

“Sebastian,” he said.

“Not so much a drawing room, as a withdrawing room,” he said.

Frank left the building.

The older man laughed.

Frank paid attention again.

“Frank is bringing to life a room with a future as just one room in an art gallery. “Air.”
“Art?”

Sebastian being oblique.

“George’s three initiations.”

said Mo, turning to Frank. “If we can find the right room,” added Sebastian.

George’s little soirees seemed catalytic for many people. Frank stood next to Sebastian for a while.

Sorry if that sounds superstitious.”

Tina and Izzy had arrived back, having chosen their rooms.

“Wow, again,” said Frank.

Frank had kept his London flat. Sculpture has presence in a room.

Just the thought of art. A room where I can remember other galleries, other rooms. The world already has enough rooms. We can’t all visit all the rooms.

“Never heard of him,” said Frank.

Sebastian smiled. Owl looked sideways at Frank. There were times when Frank sat in his room wishing he had some input. “Meh,” said Sebastian, “it’s just art and money, dancing.”

The L-Shaped Room.

Your room gave him freedom for a moment, from playing the old man.

The art of chess, the art of war.

So you pretend to make art, or you make pretend art?” Frank smiled at the boyish glee. “The art of Buster Keaton?”

“Hey, real art!”

“Yes, I always enjoy it when people play in my room, and make the art for the next visitor.”

Just gimme a white room.”

I’d love a white room with a passive artist in it. Up-time. “Why is it not art?”

Frank just sat.

The Marquis came into the room. “Is Frank here?”

There were times when Frank sat in his room wishing he had some input. The screen effectively divided the room. George smiled.

“Great!”

Frank was astounded and appalled. “George!” “To politics, art and money!” “Okaaay,” said Frank, cautiously. Izzy looked at Frank, puzzled.

“Relax, Frank,” said George, which didn’t help a bit.

“Relax, Frank!” “Frank,” said George. Apart from frivolous art investments.”

Another rough draft completed!

When I used to write articles I didn't even do a 'first' draft, but would start with a 'zero draft' which had no pressure on it at all, just a brainstorm of ideas poured out onto the page.

I guess that's what NaNoWriMo novels feel like - no hesitating, no re-reading, just get it down.

Somerset Maugham, the renowned novelist, once joked that, “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.”

So now I have done that, I may take the raw material and try to make a 'first draft' at some point. Perhaps I should put it away, to cool down, for a bit.

But I have 50,000 words to play with, cut-up and mess around with.

I know many people have little curiosity about the game (or not enough time) but if you do want to know more, go to my NaNoWriMo account, where you can see an excerpt under the Novel Info tab, etc.

And please don't, as most people do when I say I have written a book, ask "What's it about?" because I can only at the moment offer a slightly sarcastic, "It's about fifty thousand words long."

[I stole that from Marilyn Monroe, who, when asked about her nude calendar by a prurient reporter, "Do you mean you had nothing on?" replied, "Oh, no. I had the radio on."]

So far, so good...

Having passed 32K, slightly ahead of schedule for us 50K folks (I know others do even more!) I took a moment to make a word cloud of 'Handwaving' so far, I don't know if I have the balance right at all yet, but I have enjoyed a fair percent of the writing - sombunall (some but not all).

Playing with Clouds

I just went off to Wordle, to try making clouds...

What a Long Strange Trip it's been

I had real fun leaving work early on a Friday, to make my way (via 4 trains) to Stourbridge to see a genuine 60s hero working with a friend of mine. A showing of the movie TWENTY TO LIFE: THE LIFE & TIMES OF JOHN SINCLAIR (87-minute documentary film by Steve Gbehardt, 2007) then John Sinclair doing his poetry, and DJ Fly mixing musical accompaniment (although I bet that ain't the word for it these days).

Not only did I enjoy the gig itself, but had one of those smooth journeys, as though the universe wanted me to get there, nice and easy-like. The trains went on time, I met Nick outside the gig, we walked into town and bumped into Fly and Janne. After the gig I met up with Jack and Tony, and got whisked away to take tea and talk all night. A little sleep, more tea, then a ride into town on the extraordinary Hankmobile (thanks Hank!) a really fun way to travel, where I immediately met up with Fly and Janne again, then sat with Mr Sinclair for a short while, before strolling to pick up train connections (complete with a guard who advised me of a better route, saving me a couple of hours!) All very smooth. More on this later, gotta go back to work!

Check out John's new book, "It's All Good: a John Sinclair Reader".

His touring website - On The Road.

John's Wiki entry.

DJ Fly Agaric 23 on MySpace


Listen to John’s shows on
Radio Free Amsterdam


Episode #276 of the Radio Show (with DJ Fly Agaric) uploaded at SoundCloud

Fly on MySpace

Infinitely Monkeying

Have a Little Fun
Make a Little Money
Do a Little Good Christopher Hyatt

I just received a draft of the cover for my recent NaNoWriMo novel, so now I have no excuse to not complete my proof-reading and tweaking and get the finished thing up in my Lulu storefront.
Actually, you could have got the work-in-progress already, warts and all, but now I will try to tidy the whole thing up.

I have spent a little time making small corrections, but have failed to savage it, rip it up and re-write - as all the advice suggest a writer does to a first draft, hey ho. I still quite like the simplicity of the story and style.

I'd rather do another one, and keep going until I get the hang of it.

Even more fun, I don't have to write juvenile novels and shove them in the bottom drawer, as people used to. I can publish it for my own amusement, to learn all the different processes of layout, commissioning covers, and all that.

I have never waited for approval first.

I started juggling to pass the time, rather than go look for a job. Then people stopped to watch me practising, and eventually passed a hat around for me, so then I had a job for a decade.

I'll just keep writing, although I can hear Lou Reed's devastating put-down of an incoherent heckler "If you're a writer, nobody reads you!" But in the modern world of blogs and tweets I don't feel alone in this. Just reminds me of the days of juggling on street corners with busy commuters avoiding my eye, and scurrying past... I still enjoyed myself juggling, even when I didn't get a crowd.

So do if you do it for the fun, even if you don't make any money, you do at least have some fun to show for all the work... Fortunately (or 'like magic') I have found a very creative collaborator, who can do this stuff for me - he's cheap (or rather, I'm poor - I'd pay him more if I could), he's fast, he has fun.

Old Dog - New Tricks

OK - the new library opened, and we did good!

On Facebook, I started as an avatar (testing the system for work, not wanting to get involved) - and joined as Sid Scribe. He has (in his iLike field) a track from later Pink Floyd (obscured by clouds type film track) called Free Four...

"The memories of a man in his old age...

Are the deeds of a man in his prime -THRUMMMM."

Since then, I joined Facebook for real, and now have linked to heads from the 60s, street performers from the 70s, film folk from the 80s, circus people from the 90s, all my family (more or less) and library co-workers (and other online friends) from the 21st Century. And of course the Maybe Logic crew, but we already have other channels of communication.

Check out our ongoing blog at Only Maybe (just put that in Google to find it), the online magazine we made 14 issues of (followed by a hard copy - ask me for one if you are interested, I still have a few in a box) - or just go to the public bit of the campus for a glimpse.

Life goes on.

I have written two not-great books (just for the hell of it, and as a personal challenge, like a sedentary marathon), but I carry on learning, and may offer you something readable eventually.
I have also dabbled in online publishing, just to see how it works - the things remain full of typos, but I am improving all the time. I'll try to keep it short.

But then again, some people like great epics (who actually reads the whole of The Lord of the Rings? Maybe the folks who read all of Happy Potter?) No problem, we all have our epics. Just as Bill Hicks remains relevant - so does Illuminatus! even if it got written in the 70s.

Predictive text, indeed.

Greetings to all sentient beings...

The room got crowded, but it's kinda fun.

Ever so 'umble

This year the first draft for NaNo came easily, but I intend to give it a bit more time, and really look at re-writing it, editing, etc.

I can already tell (without looking at, or remembering, what I wrote) that this would be a large effort, and I know one has to be able 'to kill one's darlings' (i.e. be ruthless with those favourite phrases that don't fit, or those characters who never went anywhere, and maybe wandered in from a different book, etc) and I still have relatively little grasp of 'page-turning' qualities.

Pulp Fiction in the UK in the 40s would have 12 chapters of about 3000 words, each ending in a climax, apparently. They were short (40,000 words) and aimed at a non-intellectual crowd (cowboys, sci-fi, detective fiction, romance, etc) and hardly feature in reviews of 'literature' at all. That structure (or formula) has worked fine for Dan Brown, for instance, and he's laughing all the way to the bank, about people like me who thought the books a bit thin.

Anyway, I need the practice. I am still working my way towards something between a memo, essay, autobiography, half-conceived at the back of my brain, and fermenting even as I type. After the fermenting comes the distilling, I guess.

I don't kid myself one life is that important. In fact, I first found my feet when looking at the vertiginous nadir picture by Escher (somewhere in Mexico) when I realised that trying to make myself large enough for the world to notice was ludicrous (Pop Idol, and all those other desperate attempts at 'celebrity') as we all remain ants. That picture didn't make me religious, but I saw the market place from above, in just the same way, and realised I needed a little circle of people around me, each willing to help me eat and survive. That's all I needed, not a stadium full of fans, a world-wide audience, etc. And I went out to become a street performer in the markets of Mexico, and never looked back.