A World Outside the Novel.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that there are other things I need to do as well as working on As Morning Shows the Day — like post here, for example, or, generally, look up from my computer screen every once in a while and notice the world outside my window, the world outside the novel.

Such symptoms are always a good sign, of course. I’m 12,000 words in and everything is pretty much as last reported. Having everything outlined in such detail, I’m not constantly worrying about how to fit it all together, what I need to do next etc. All I have to concentrate on is keeping it going the way it is now. And I think I can manage that.

Today, however, I’m taking some time off. With a long project it’s always wise to pace one’s self. As I’m fond of saying, a novel is a marathon not a sprint.

On an unrelated note, can I just remind everyone that whilst I may not be posting as often here as I usually do, I do post regularly on Twitter. (I’ve just checked my stats and, apparently, I update Twitter on average thirty-four times a day… not in the least bit addicted, then!) It is proving a really handy way of keeping in touch in short, economic bursts. Not simply time wasting fun, though it can be that, too, but a very useful tool. Not a replacement to my blog, of course, merely another way of interacting.

Until next time, keep looking up from the screen!

© 2009 Gary William Murning

Reaching the End in Time for the Beginning.

I realise I haven’t blogged much about my new almost-secret project recently, determined to post little more than the occasional tweet on the outline progress. As I’ve already mentioned, I really don’t want to go into too much detail at this stage — given that a number of projects have, as is often quite normal for me, lost their attraction/impetus of late — but I do want to share a little of where I am, writing-wise, with you.

The outline is very nearly complete and… well, let’s just say “so far so good” and leave it at that. With this one — As Morning Shows the Day — I’ve very deliberately returned to familiar themes and ways of working. I felt that over the past six months or so I’d lost my way a little, trying too many different things in a rather desperate attempt at finding the next big thing. Predictably, it didn’t work, and so I took a considered look at my “back catalogue” of unpublished material.

I’ve been writing for a long time and it was interesting to revisit those characters and places, the themes I played with “back then” — and the overwhelming impression I got was that there was a number of pretty good ideas that, because I was still very rough around the edges as a writer, were applied with varying degrees of success. One story in particular — no, two, now that I think about it, The Golden Kingdom of Because and Closing Doors, but we’ll deal with the latter another time! — really made me sit up and take notice.

The Golden Kingdom of Because had a lot about it that I really liked. It was a story of childhood, and promise, of lies and family secrets, and it was fascinating to see my characters still there. (I should add at this point that I didn’t actually look at the written material itself; I didn’t need to — it was all still very much alive, filed away in memory in all the detail I needed.) The early part of this novel was pretty strong but I knew the minute I started thinking about it that it needed restructuring and the ending… well, it needed an ending. As it stood, it didn’t really have one. I could have got the original novel down from the loft (with a little help!), and started a rewrite — but that, I realised, wasn’t what I wanted to do.

And so I decided to treat it — much as I did with Children of the Resolution — as a completely new project.

The Golden Kingdom of Because has now become the outline for As Morning Shows the Day. And this time I have (almost — the outline isn’t quite complete, yet) an ending that I am more than happy with.

Next comes the easy bit. Writing it.

© 2009 Gary William Murning

Up, Down and Touch.

The after-effects of my bout of flu have been rather more difficult to shake than I originally envisaged. I’ve been luckier than a lot of people I know, but still I’ve found myself extremely lethargic — with the aches and pains returning at times, even.

Nevertheless, I now think I’m almost ready to start back with the outlines for As Morning Shows the Day. I’m feeling more consistently “myself” and, frankly, I’m itching to do something creative.

In other news, I’ve been treating myself to — as some of you are no doubt already sick of hearing — a new toy. The HTC Touch HD smartphone pictured below.

I have to say, I’m over the moon with it. A great little device that does everything I ask of it. I might write a more detailed review of it when I have more time.

© 2009 Gary William Murning

As Morning Shows the Day.

You may have noticed that I’ve been especially quiet of late — even allowing for the holiday period. There are a couple of reasons for this, one — the obvious one — being that I haven’t exactly been in the mood for blogging, my satirical faculties a little desensitised by the sheer banality of Christmas!

The second reason, however, is that I have — as this post may have foretold — been somewhat busy.

Gripped by a renewed sense of purpose, unexpectedly comfortable with my abandonment of Tomorrow Will Come, I have found and pursued a new direction… a new literary direction that is actually an old direction rethought. I have finally settled on what I think (hope!) is the right novel.

There have been so many false starts over the past six months or so, but this feels much more comfortable. So comfortable, in fact, that I’ve managed outline fourteen chapters in about a week or so. At this rate, the whole novels should be outlined within a fortnight (I’m not over-outlining, but nor am I prepared to fly by the seat of my pants as I attempted with Tomorrow Will Come… I’ve found a middle ground that feels about right for what I need.)

At this stage I really don’t want to tempt fate by sharing anything more about it, other than to say that it’s called As Morning Shows the Day. At the same time, however, I’m excited about returning to the kind of writing I know I’m best at… so the temptation to rabbit on about it is pretty strong.

But I won’t… I won’t, I won’t, I won’t.

Or maybe I will. Just not yet.

© 2009 Gary William Murning

Refurbishment and Stuff.

As the keener-eyed amongst you may have already spotted, I’ve been “fiddling” with the look of my blog. Nothing huge and earthshattering, but a few relatively minor alterations that I’ve been meaning to do for some time, now (for “some time” see “bloody ages”.) I’m not sure if it’s quite finished, yet, but I think toning down all that black has in itself been rather successful. It lifts the body of the blog (you know, the important bit) a little, I think — projects it at the reader. Especially when the page is scrolled and the background remains static.

What do you think? A hit or a miss?

In other news, I haven’t really done all that much this weekend. I got the outline moving again yesterday — back in the swing of it — but decided to take today off. I figured I’d recharge ready for the hopefully highly productive week ahead.

Finally, I’d like to finish with something that both amused and saddened me. Firstly, it amused me because the whole bizarre idea of monks kicking the… of monks resorting to fisticuffs is one that appeals to the well-nourished atheistic adolescent in me. It also typifies the religious sensibility perfectly, however, and so gradually the smile faded somewhat and I found myself shaking my head. If this is the way the divisiveness of religion makes them behave, so be it. They make their choices like everyone else. The only issue I have with this is that we have to live in the same world as zealous idiots such as these.

Seconds out, round one…

© 2008 Gary William Murning

The Gods Do Not Endow.

There are many aspects to writing a novel — and the more novels I write, the more I realise that each novel finds its own way. One of the most important things a writer can do is to ”listen to” the novel. Yes, I know that’s skating up to the edge of a mystical explanation of the whole process of creativity, but that isn’t really what I’m saying; the writer merely needs to be aware that what works with one type of novel does not work with others. One needs to be flexible and to allow the work to find its own pattern. In these whisperings, if we listen carefully enough, is the secret to creative success.

I’ve known this for quite a while and, yet, I have to relearn it with every novel I write!

The Dummy has been, to be honest, proving difficult. The story and characters are developing in outline wonderfully but the sheer scale of it was worrying me. I’m not afraid of big projects, but their marketability is, at best, hampered by their size. And so I had to decide whether to be self-indulgent and go for one huge book, or opt for the more realistic compromise.

As already mentioned, I now know that I will have to write it as a series of books. I’ve also decided to approach the writing of the outline more sensibly; instead of outlining the full series (which in itself would be a novel-length project) I now plan to write book one before moving on to outline book two. There are disadvantages to this, but it is a far more workable approach — and it means I can get on with the actual writing a lot sooner than anticipated.

So, The Dummy has now become the series name for the books. Book one of the series will now be called The Gods Do Not Endow. This will cover the period of Bobby Boran’s (the dummy’s) life from birth during the First World War to somewhere around the General Strike of 1926. It will still be a big book, which is what I want, but it will be by no means as big as the single book project would have been! Naturally.

With these decisions made, I feel far more comfortable with the project. It was already a pleasure, despite my concerns (that’s just part and parcel of writing), but now I’m truly excited about the possibilities.

To finish, I thought I might share with you some of the websites I’ve encountered whilst researching The Gods Do Not Endow. There’s a wealth of fascinating material out there — and without this novel I may not have encountered half of it. Another reason why I enjoy being a writer!

• Old Asylums — recollections and social history of mental illness.
• History of Socialism in Great Britain. Wikipedia.
• The Royal Engineers Museum — on the Western Front (my great-grandfather was a Royal Engineer.)
• The Long, Long Trail — the British Army during the Great War.
• First World War Glossary.

© 2008 Gary William Murning

Where Monday Finds Me.

A brief post, today, as I’m running a little behind.

This morning, I got back to work on the outlines for The Dummy. I’ve now resigned myself to the fact that the outlines alone are not going to be a short project. I already have thirty single-spaced pages of notes and my central character (the eponymous dummy) is, at this stage, only eight years old. Given that the novel is intended to span his entire life — and that he lives to about eighty… well, the maths are scary. The outline itself will qualify as a “big book”! Three hundred single-spaced pages anyone?

There’s no doubt in my mind, now, that this will have to be a series of books.

The upside is that these are characters and situations I most definitely want to spend a long time with.

© 2008 Gary William Murning

The Dummy — A Brief Progress Update.

This morning I have mostly been outlining and considering/researching the treatment of female murderers in the prisons/asylums of 1920s Britain.

Don’t you wish you were me?

© 2008 Gary William Murning

The Dummy — Outline Sample.

As I said I might, and since most of you have behaved impeccably (by my standards), today I’m sharing the outlines for the first four chapters of current work in progress, The Dummy.

It’s quite detailed — a novel this challenging needs to be, I feel — so it should give you a fair idea of just what I want to achieve with it.

Take a look when you have time to spare and let me know what you think.

Outline Sample for The Dummy.

© 2008 Gary William Murning

Through the Stormy Shades — Update.

Last week ended up being written off as far as my work on the rough outline for Through the Stormy Shades is concerned. There was simply too much going on in the blogosphere for me to give it my full attention and, to be honest, it didn’t seem all that urgent. The outline is very much a formality — a nailing down of what I already know — and I was far from worried about this brief interruption.

Today, however, has been rather more quiet and I have succeeded in getting a little done. If Children of the Resolution is taken on and I go ahead with this project (as enthusiastic as I am about Through the Stormy Shades, it would be foolish to write the second book in a series of books when the first hasn’t sold), I know it’s going to be exactly the kind of project I most enjoy; challenging, amusing, dark, multi-layered and, hopefully, unique. Like Children of the Resolution, I think it could be an important book… Christ, that  makes me sound so up myself! I really don’t mean it in that way (or maybe I do!) — the point I’m trying to make is that it has something highly individual to say. Where literature is concerned, that from me is the mark of a good book… an important book.

I can’t wait to get started. Always a good sign. But, as yet, it’s too early — so I’ll simply take my time with the outline and let it, you know, mature.

© 2008 Gary William Murning