Sci-Fi

I'm about 4,000 words into a science fiction novel. It is an interesting endeavor. I find that to just say "They got on a space ship and took off" seems somewhat hollow.

I have been detailing the construction of the ship, the physics involved, it's operational parameters, and the business culture in which it operates.

Have any of you other writers discovered the fun in dreaming up these matters?

Write-a-thalon

Greetings Gentlemen,

Are we writing in May? I'm ready to go.

Writing update:

Since my Baptism into the world of writing in May of '04 I have produced:

A Novel 25,000 words
A Novel 48,000 words
Short story 4,000 words (submitted to New Yorker)
Beginning of another Novel 4,000 words so far

I think I am beginning to get the hang of it.

Viva Mahakali!

Vipul Rikhi: Nowhere Man

In case you guys remember, Vipul was one of the participants last year. I'm very happy to learn that he's one of the folks behind the brilliant Gustakhi Maaf satire on NDTV. Also, here's a news item about Vipul:

Rikhi, author of dark, absurd and yet poetic prose published this week by Indialog, was a jack-of-all-trades before he picked up the pen.

"I wrote scripts for NDTV's political puppet-show `Gustaakhi Maaf', edited Honeybee - a rural magazine from Ahmedabad that dealt with agro innovations, and taught French at Alliance Francaise.

The title of the book, too, fits in with this general sense of dislocation. Identifying with the title and substance of "Nowhere", Rikhi absented himself from the book's credits by writing under a pseudonym, Ved Amaltas.

Rikhi explained: "The stories are an oblique comment on every day insanities, the kind we accept as part of normal life. I wanted to highlight the dark areas, the untold. They attempt to give a new language to the anguish of absurdities."

Thus there is a professor researching how long it takes for a biscuit to crumble in his coffee along with sardonic treatise on modern love and the urban desire for pastoral enchantment.

Rikhi participated in a global e-novel writing event organised by Mumbai-based journalist Rohit Gupta.

The result was "A Simple Love Story", a novel written over a single weekend. "It was a fun thing and I hope it will soon be published," he said.

Mahakali Lite: The Results

After gruelling sessions of continuous writing, Fadereu came up with his masterpiece (at least, I thought so... in that state) short fiction OpXp! It can easily be categorized amongst his best works till date. Desoumal managed 2/3rds of his screenplay, a non-linear narrative involving lives of four different people spanning three continents. The effects of the trance were felt till several days after the event...

I humbly announce the Mahakali Lite over. Now, we patiently await the Global TranceWriting Extravaganza...

Mahakali Lite

Today, 8th Feb 2005, 5:00 PM IST, at 5B-13 Takshila, Andheri E, Fadereu and Desoumal started their 24 hour Mahakali Lite(weight) write-a-thalon session. To finish a novel/screenplay by 9th Feb, 2005, 5:00 PM.

Keep tracking, writing!

Automatic Writing: How to do it

I found this at a webpage of Duke University. A how-to manual for automatic writing.

Sit at a table with pen and paper; put yourself in a 'receptive' frame of mind, and start writing. Continue writing without thinking of what is appearing beneath your pen. Write as fast as you can. If, for some reason, the flow stops,leave a space and immediately begin again by writing down the first letter of the next sentence. Choose this letter at random before you begin, for instance, a 't', and always begin this new sentence with a 't'. Although in the purest version of automatism nothing is 'corrected' or re-written the unexpected material produced by this method can be used as the basis for further composition. What is crucial is the unpremeditated free association that creates the basic text.

-- Surrealist Games (Alastair Brotchie, Redstone Press)

Ah well. I just recommend speed writing, supported by speed visualization. Eh?

This happened once before when I came to your door no reply they said it wasn't you but I saw you peek through your window I saw the light…

I'm listening to the entire output of The Beatles (most of which I've never heard before) in order to try and channel John Lennon but all I'm getting is Michael Nesmith from The Monkees. Which is weird because he is still very much alive.

Maybe California is Heaven.