A work in progress...32

I keep reciting TS Eliot's The Wasteland.

Started to read Ulysses, still ploughing through the introduction, but like the idea of the book as one long poem. Also read a story in The Guardian about Tristram Shandy. Sounds like Sterne used some of the methods incorporated by Mark Z Danilewski in House of Leaves: ie little typographical flourishes and bland pages or black pages and chapters randomly pasted in. I must get a copy, maybe read it after Ulysses.

Had a dream last night that I found a picture in a book, someone's life story, the picture was of a party and there was my wife and I in our younger days, looking happy and carefree.

The writing is still going well, I write almost everyday, and I still enjoy it. I'm dealing with a lot of father/son issues as I delve into the character's [Nat] past. Very difficult to get the tone right, but it's getting there.

Also been thinking of Samuel Beckett's Godot.

It's so hard to find the right voice, and keep the belief going.

A work in progress...31

I finished The House Of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski last week. When I finally got to the end it was a relief, never has a book demanded so much of me. It was almost harder reading it than writing my own. I enjoyed it more for its style, the prose was incredibly inventive and it has inspired me to think differently about my own writing.

I am now reading Ulysses. The book has been sat on my bookshelf untouched for 12 years. I am hoping it will provide me with more inspiration and give me some kind of steer on my own book.

Managed to do a bit of writing at the weekend, but not much. Writing in the first person still and up to almost 75,000 words. At times I feel like abandoning the whole thing, as I'm not clear on where its going and if i can pull it off. But I am perservering, I write mostly on the train and that daily input is crucial as it keeps the momentum going and the word count ticking over. Even if I write 100,000 words of a first draft and edit it down to 50,000 I would be happy.

The title for my book is The Vitruvian Man.

A work in progress...30

My friend Jenny the successful writer has got back to me with comments about the three chapters I sent her.

On the whole she thought it was good, she liked the opening and the main character. She did however criticise the detail, or over use of detail and thought it was weighing down the narrative. She also liked the evocation of smells and iconic imagery, which was good.

It proves I can write, which is also encouraging.

Her comments were particularly interesting and I'm going to take them on board. I was afraid that my prose may come over pedestarian or plodding, after so many years in journalism, and was consciously trying to make it come alive with detail. I may hav gone overboard a bit with the similies. This is not a problem, as they come quite easily, literally one after the other, which I try and avoid. I just love writing and the richness of writing but maybe I should try and be more controlled. It's finding that fine line between being boring and non-descriptive and imaginative, while keeping the narrative going.

I feel as though it's quite pacey at the moment so if I edited it down further I may find that medium. At the moment I'm just writing, writing writing, trying to get it all down. It's all over the place at the moment, and I've started to write in the first person, so it's very confusing, but I'm still focused on the main plotline but really just want to get the foundations up and write 80,000+ words.

A work in progress...29

Too many distractions. Too Many ideas.

I seem to be losing my way with the book, I've got to 70,000 words, but it's all a muddle with no coherent narrative or voice. I've scrapped the idea of publishing or editing it online, although I may publish bits on this blog. I'm getting confused by striving to make the writing original and not conform to the traditional structure of a novel. I havew been hugely influenced by Mark Z Danielewski's House of Leaves, but trying to emulate such a work is way beyond my capabilites. I do however think the influence of DJs and film editors is one to follow, and I'm going to try and blend all the stories into one mix and create a dynamic read.

I have the rest of the week off and I'm going to get my writing pants on and get the bloody thing finished. I also have lots of feature ideas that I'm working on for the newspaper, some are interesting and will be fun to do. I also need the cash, as ever.

I wish I could sit all day and just write, but unfortunatley I have to work, having said that I have a cool job which at least doesn't take all my time and energy.

Once I have some semblance of order I'm going to start talking about the book more and psoting sections, I feel as though I need feedback.

A work in progress...28

I managed to find a new Moleskine notebook after a trawl around London's West End on Friday. Finances are particularly bad again this month so can't afford a richie hawtin CD, but got a download off the internet. I didn't do much writing over the weekend, just didn't have any energy. Hung out with the kids, read the papers and watched a couple of movies.
Wrote some more first-person stuff on the train this morning. Trying to work out a rhythm and ending for the book.
Got excited about writing in the moleskine, little things like that inspire me. I want to fill it full of beautiful poetry and prose. I write with an auto pencil, and it feels so natural and organic. I have two days off work this week and maybe the weekend to write. I'm going to try and write another 10,000 words and aim to tie up all the loose ends and then get down to work on editing it.