Andy Luke's Blog, page 4

NI NaNoWrimo Week 3

I like arguing. Less strength through conflict more a case of 'my idea is as good as yours.'
If it works for me perhaps you ought to try it. Bruce Logan has maintained through previous NaNoWrimos, (50k-one-month), that a writer should write anything: fill the pages as fast as possible. So of course I argue. The notion of 'quantity now, quality later', well that's practically fighting talk.

I didn't make Gran, Absence or my other 24 hour comics by doing anything other than the best I could. Without top material as prime the whole enterprise of the speed author seems futile. Evidence conclusive, case closed. Except this week I learned something shocking: Bruce is right.

The scene: my characters are interviewed for the radio. Two of them are in conflict but compliment one another in their answers. One stalwart fluffs it, someone who is underestimated brings the goods.

Simple? Well, I'm an arguer. Whenever I hear someone say how I have to do things, i question it. I went back to source, the interview the scene is based on, and transcribed it. This gave the scene a new poignant realism. Transcription isn't cheap on time though. I had 4,000 words for a 800 word scene. I took three days over half a day's work.

I was going backwards.

I was also fatigued as shit.

But I allowed myself to give in to the pressure of a problem I'd imagained. In short, Bruce was right.

I couldn't go forward until I'd cracked this brain knot. Couldn't write around, couldn't take that two lines and make shit up. I'd heard the radio interview source before. Knew which characters would be there. I got around the bug by hacking down the forest and planting my own stuff, but had I thought, I could have done that on day one. I allowed myself to fall out of love with my work. I allowed my argument to become the circular argument.

The final week is about getting back on my feet and hitting the daily counts. I'm gutted about missing the Portstewart Write-In at the New York Inn on Sunday. I had to do the authentic writer thing, with no cash. I can tie myself to a table here for so long, until the police come with the bolt cutters.

NI NaNoWrimo Week 2

The brief goes something like this. For seven years you've wanted to write a novel. Not just any novel. The novel that has every token of love and opinion. Every observation you filed away for use later. Armed with a big pack of character notes, plot and sample dialogue, you write it all down in one month.
You hope it's enough to peel away at obscurity, to woo Waterstone's and Barnes & Noble. You can't think about that now. You can only care about getting out all that wit and pathos and sticking to the plot. Later, you'll have to hide the plot. Meantime your imaginary people are doubling up with the feels you hoped for. There's the odd one you hoped would be an instant hit, but he's tricky to get a handle on. There's two characters who love one another. You never saw it coming, but then you're a bit daft about that sort of thing. You have your favourites, but you can make more.

Mental illness dogs this endeavour in the national economy of stupid. Tory HQ released it's silkworms over a ratio of ten waste pages to one of content. Infected with the things I took part in the two day Write-In at Farset Labs, and got through as best I could. Municipal Liason Bruce Logan was there, and on Sunday, Holly Miles: two good names for good fortune. Writers, co-counselling. Media therapy.

Bruce has been Municipal Liason for half a dozen years now. He facilitates the Morton Community Centre group were we had our Write-In during the week. It was productive, and we'd some interesting chat about growth in space-time and living without context. I went there to write a road trip, and did, and a second road trip was typed up yesterday in Newry at the Canal Court.

Holly proposed a Write-In at the Waterfront so we're there on Tuesday from about 2pm. It should be blissful. My current word count is 25,717 which is behind the daily target, but hey, half-way. That's real good.

Andy

Ballyhackamore

ps

https://doomrocket.com/more-than-meet...

Quick tangential mention for this review of my favourite comic, Lost Light. It explains fairly quickly what I love about the politics of James Roberts' writing on Transformers, why it's fanbase are devoted, and why it's so, so relevant. Spoilers when Eric gets into the playlist.

I'll be having a clear out of these next year, the last half, so hit me up if you're interested.

You can read more of this sort of thing at http://patreon.com/andyluke

NI NaNoWrimo Week 1

'Small rhinos?' asked Phil.

Northern Ireland National Novel Writing Month - which should be IaNoWriMo as it's international - and is also known as NI NaNoWriMo - is going well. I'm ahead of the pack at 10k, thank you.

The book feels like my best work so far. The characters are a great bunch to write for and I have a deep relationship with each of them. My method is storyboard/comics changed to prose in the typing.

Municipal co-ordinator Bruce Logan and I have been to Belfast, Derry and Belfast. Tonight is Kiwi's Brew Bar, Portush 6-8pm. Small turn-outs at each. Cosy.

We visited Little Acorns Bookshop in Society Street, Derry: the newest stockists of Axel America. Thanks to proprietor Jenni for setting that up, and Eileen Walsh for the introduction. It's a wonderful little bookstore full of old and new curios. An eclectic collection.

No mercy, keyboard!

You can see more of this sort of thing at http://patreon.com/andyluke

BOUT!

‘Bout! The Fight-Zine’ is a new short comic by John Robbins.  I love how John tells stories. ‘Bout!’ is funny, a bit deranged and prime twisting. It’s free: go and read it via @ComicsWendy this half hour!

Spide: The Lost Tribes is out on Thursday. In case you missed it, capsule review: two Belfast louts get roped into a Free Presbyterian grail quest, sped by the Dublin-Belfast Enterprise train and through the pages of history. The narrator, Dan Spide, is sat backwards on the journey, now that...

Comics Around The Clock

Hello me hearties, and thanks for leaving behind Facebook for my blog, which was once in the Top Trillion websites but is now a speck of salt. Beezer time to us all.

Spide: The Lost Tribes is available for Kindle pre-order today, National Indie Author Day, October 13th. 

Dan and Ape must make community films with religious fundamentalists or risk losing their dole. Before they can do a bunk, they’re implicated in a three thousand year old conspiracy and a cross-border rail trip they’ll nat fo...

Culture Night / Remembering Terry

Culture Night is almost upon us. It’s the biggest day of the year for Belfast with a hundred thousand descending on… four hundred events? All run by volunteers.

I’ll be doing my in-demand poet thing this year: because I’m a poet, who writes poetry. First off is Inspire’s Time for Tea by Lombard House, 10-20 Lombard Street from 5:30-7pm. It’s a family oriented event. Inspire perform valuable mental health services, and they’re co-hosting with Addiction NI.

Then I’ll make my way through the cro...

Did you hear? It’s coming home.

What’s in my books, and why do I make them? My books seem to have a common theme of wanting to share my experiences with propaganda and activism with a desire to make people laugh.  I’ve had years of experience writing. It’s in my bloodstream. People like what I do enough to pay me. I’m in a rare position of being basically comfortable so that I can try to make a living from it.

Earlier this month I was in Oxford with friends.  Arsalan Haider Ali took this incredible photo of me in Piddington...

Chapter 49

Image Source: Roelli, P. (2005) The Thanka Wall overlooking Tasilhunpo. Retrieved online
June 9, 2018 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tashi_Lhunpo_Monastery

 

Hamburg, British Zone of Occupation.
Thursday 20 May, 1948.

She is seventy-one: thin, quietly drained; a pale feat of a woman. Her expression is sour. Time has pressed her cheeks inward, clamped her mouth shut. She might have been happy, but that time has passed. They all knew he would meet a bitter destiny. Margarethe pours the pan’s...

Chapter 48

Image Source: Tri Relbachen, one of famous 3 dharma kings of Tibet (Aug 3, 2015) The Off:
About Best Himalayan Adventures. Retrieved online June 1st, 2018 at
http://theoff.info/Adventure-Travel/himalayas/himachal-pradesh/tri-relbachen-one-offamous-
3-dharma-kings-of-tibet/

Wednesday 5 February, 1941
German Consulate, Shanghai.

Martin Fischer is a family man. A pastor’s son with a Norwegian wife and three children. For thirty years he served as German Consul at Beijing and Mukden. On joining t...

Chapter 47

Image Source: Map of China, from the CIA Factbook. Public domain. Retrieved online at
[image error]

The Bund, Shanghai.
Saturday 18 January, 1936.

Under the tower clock and telephone wires Jacintha watched the ships come and go. Sweat trickled on her neck. Maurice borrowed a trolley from the Cathay to move the boxes. Jiahao, who had not left with Willem and Adeline, pushed it along the Bund. Left onto Nanking Road, left again: away from the Bird Market and Great World amusement centre. He swerved the cart...