Professor Zimmerman: Drafts/Redrafts

 I began to put my work together and I have redrafted the timed exercises form class  I did this after I created an introduction which gives a clear Idea of where the book is heading. After thinking about how other diaries begin I felt an introduction was essential and I liked the idea that the diaries were stolen by a former student. 

Professor Zimmerman: Introduction

Professor Zimmerman: Chapter One

I began then to put the book together on Blurb, I set up a trade book as previously and started to add the beginning pages

Armadillo: William Boyd

Armadillo (1998) by William Boyd

 I chose to look at the  writing in Boyd's Armadillo as I must have read this book at least four times, I like the set up Lorimer Black is a Loss Adjuster with a nightmare boss called Mr Hogg, the book begins with Lorimer finding a hanged man in a burnt out warehouse full of mannequins, Mr Dupree, who he was about to offer a suitcase full of cash to settle his possibly bogus insurance claim. Lorimer has always had sleep problems and goes to a sleep clinic and also, my favourite part, he writes a diary called; The book of transfiguration, which is why I am looking at it here. 

'117. The First Adjust.

The first adjust was at a shoe shop in Abingdon whose stock had been ruined as a result of a burst water pipe, inundating the basement, unnoticed over a bank holiday weekend.

How did you know the owner was lying? How did you know that the grief and handwringing was a sham? Hogg said later it was pure instinct.  All good loss adjusters, Hogg said, can spot a liar at once because they understand, at a fundamental level, the need to lie.  They may be liars themselves - and if they are they are excellent liars  - but it is not necessary. What is necessary is this understanding of the philosophy of the lie, the compulsive urge to conceal the truth, its complex grammar, its secret structures....

'How do I know you just didn't turn your hose on the rest of the stock that weekend, Mr Maurice? It seems tremendous damage for one burst pipe?'

It is the quality of the rage that gives them away.  The rage is always there, it always erupts, and Mr Maurice's rage was impressive, but something about the pitch and tone of an indifferent liar's rage rings false, troubles the inner ear, like the whine of a mosquito in a darkened bedroom, unmistakable, unerringly disturbing.

The Book of Transfiguration'   (Boyd W. 1998:129)

The book of transfiguration does reveal Lorimer himself and his thoughts as all diaries do and I chose this extract as Boyd states that; 'Lorimer's life is in a way a kind of lie, he's created this carapace around himself and slowly but surely in the course of the novel it begins to fall apart and reveal the man beneath." (Mansfield, 2020) Looking at the writing here the way that this has been written uses recount, self questioning and answers and then Lorimer's own thoughts and philosophy which is beautifully written. If we look at how the commas are used here to consider Mr Maurice's reaction to the accusation that he is a liar, give a pace and forward motion that is urgent and insistent. 

Bernstein (New York Times) considers this one of the novels that is part of the 'globalisation' of British novels, Boyd has used Lorimer as a character as; 'Lorimer Black is the son of an immigrant family. His original name was Milomre Blocj (an anagram, OK? And the family is insistent on a dot below the c and a silent j).' (Boucher, 2001).  Bernstein also reflects that 'The multiculturalism of modern Britain -- and of London especially -- has become a staple of British fiction and has supplied it with new subjects and new energies.' (Bernstein, 1998), it could be argued that we have gone so much further now as this was written in 1998, decolonisation and the reimagining of the English canon of literature and what we teaching schools and universities have now evolved tremendously.  Here, Lorimer's origins are re-imagined, and reconfigured by himself, he tries to construct a new self and considers very precisely how to do this through the way he dresses, speaks and acts throughout the novel, he collects armour but his own armour is through his new modern day persona that he has created. The name of he book does encapsulate the idea here and Boyd states;  'The Spanish word armadillo means 'little armed man' they saw these strange creatures running around and they look like they are wearing armour, so the name stuck' (Mansfield, 2020) 

The Book of Transfiguration in terms of writing is a fantastic work to consider how writing works in diary form. Boyd created a very specific and personal diary for Lorimer, through Professor Zimmerman's diaries I intend to do the same however I think they may have more in common with The Smoking Diaries as Zimmerman does like a little rant!  

'Yesterday, rudely interrupted when writing by the stupid telephone, the Dean had called me, at home!  Unbelievable!  There is no peace from that man he wanted to know what I would be contributing to the termly staff meeting and how it would be interactive so that the staff would engage, he let the word linger for what seemed like hours.  I lit a cigarette and considered the best possible ways of killing him.' (Van-de-Velde Z. 2023) 

Here is an example from my own writing and here I use commas to to make a point. I consider this almost like jabbing someone in the chest with a finger; stupid telephone (jab) called me (jab) at home (jab)!  I like the pace here and the insistence and in Boyd's writing there is an unravelling of truth, of story that I want to capture in my own writing, I say unravelling as in this book it does do that. I will end on Bernstein's words as this does encapsulate much of my feeling towards this work;  '''Armadillo'' is full of loose ends, unsolved mysteries and red herrings. But it is also charming, unsettling and sneakily, serendipitously profound.' (Bernstein, 1998)

References 

Boyd W. (1998) Armadillo, Penguin Books, London.

Boucher, C. (2001) Observer review: Armadillo by William Boyd, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/sep/02/features.review3 (Accessed: 08 May 2023). 

Bernstein, R. (1998) New York Times Article Archive, The New York Times (Archive). Available at: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/nytarchive.html (Accessed: 08 May 2023). 

Mansfield, P. (2020) Insurance covered christmas special – a look at armadillo (with William Boyd), RPC. Available at: https://www.rpc.co.uk/perspectives/insurance-and-reinsurance/insurance-covered-christmas-special-a-look-at-armadillo-with-william-boyd/ (Accessed: 08 May 2023). 

Timed Writing Exercise: Continuing my book - Professor Zimmerman's Diaries

 Wednesday

Yesterday, rudely interrupted when writing by the stupid telephone, the Dean had called me, at home!  Unbelievable!  There is no peace from that man he wanted to know what I would be contributing to the termly staff meeting and how it would be interactive so that the staff would engage, he let the word linger for what seemed like hours.  I lit a cigarette and considered the best possible ways of killing him.  Death my lawnmower, falling out of the staff room window (while have an experiential moment with tears welling up in his eyes!), he has actually cried in a staff meeting and then 'shared' some painful illness that his son had suffered, and his terrible time in the hospital.   In a staff meeting, really, God, I hate oversharing! I really don't need to know the inner feelings of my work colleagues. 

Well, rant over, I will calm myself to tell you, my imaginary reader, more about my young student, Honey Devlin.  This boy, this scruffy urchin, is a most important find, I would go as far to say THE most important find.  There he was in the tutorial chair (it is a special chair, purple, worsted, and has housed the bottoms of students for decades)  picking nervously at the threadbare arm when suddenly, as if the courage has just entered him like a spirit, he leans forward and says: 'I need to tell you a true story of a miracle, and how we must pursue an investigation into the proving the miraculous without delay.  I have proof, this is not a joke and I am not a spiritual person.  This miracle will change the course of everything.' Of course, at first I laughed, he's eccentric, I liked him.  But he appeared deadly serious and not a religious nut at all.  In fact by the end of his story I understood why he wanted to pursue this academic path, as he truly believed in academia itself. I was so taken aback I agreed to a strange meeting with him, which was to take place at Best Buy the local electrical store on its last legs on the edge of town. I was to meet him there at 7pm, well the day just took a far more interesting turn that expected!  

Simon Gray: The Smoking Diaries

 I read The Smoking Diaries many years ago and I was very taken with them, I did not know Simon Gray but a friend had recommended the book and it really was a joy to read.  Gray was an English playwright and, wrote around 30 plays in his lifetime, was born in Hampshire in 1936 and died in 2008, not long after these diaries were published. He also taught English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years. He loved to smoke, drink, and to write.

Simon Gray 

 The Smoking Diaries, Diski states that you can; 'take Simon Gray's diaries for just what they seem to be: a grouchy-hearted, grimly comic rant against the world by a playwright in his mid-60s who finds himself neglected by the modern theatre' (Diski, 2004).  It is a man getting older and as all of us get older the world becomes a place we less and less understand as it moves forward and we are still stuck in our youth (in our head).  the book begins with Gray lamenting how he hates Christmas as this seems to be now the time that those he loves die.  This is the other thing with age you begin going to more funerals than weddings or christenings. 

Grays's diaries are obviously highly edited and written with a reader in mind, Diski argues that; 'I'm inclined to reject the innocence of the diary form, especially this elegant and carefully crafted version of it. There are those who say that all fiction is autobiography. I'm of another party, the one that says all autobiography is fiction.'  (Diski, 2004).  This is a highly crafted book that uses the diary form well and the reason I wanted to discuss it here.  Gray has elevated this with a fine balance where the reader feels that they are intimately involved (as one should in a diry) however it is clear that Gray is also not giving anything away that he has not as Diski states fictionised to an extent.  This has been beautifully done here.  There is a pace to the writing that moves the reader with the sentence here is an example; 

'The rehearsal room is in a church hall off Kensington Church Street and actually within walking distance of here - not that I actually walked it, Victoria drives me, or I take a taxi.  It's a large handsome room on the first floor and I can smoke in it.  I sit on a chair beside another chair with an ashtray on it, and watch the actors, watch Harold [Pinter] at a long table directing the actors, watch and watch, sometimes saying something, but often not.' (Gary S. 2006:139)

Here I am transported immediately to the kind of rehearsal room that all actors are used, the community hall in the church, when I was younger I loved to write and direct plays, I acted in some but I think I much preferred directing.  I imagine here being in Kensington in London and walking the street, getting a taxi through the streets of London a good hansom cab.  the joy here of smoking inside is terribly bad now but I also used to enjoy this pleasure.  I can imagine the wooden chairs lined up to watch the rehearsal, quietly.  With writing you must make the reader connect to the scene and Gray does this perfectly here, it brings back to me my own memories and that is possibly why I enjoyed this, like sitting in your favourite chair, the familiarity, the comfort, is always a joy.  The use of commas gives the pace to sentences, they help you breathe and pause within the text, which gives you time to ruminate on the scene presented and the feeling of the moment he describes.

My lesson is about to begin but I will be returning to this post!

References

Diski, J. (2004) Review: The smoking diaries by Simon Gray, The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2004/apr/10/highereducation.biography (Accessed: May 4, 2023). 

Gray S. (2006) The Smoking Diaries, Granta, London

Gray, S. (2014) Playwright, diarist, novelist and screenwriter, Simon Gray. Available at: https://simongray.org.uk/ (Accessed: May 4, 2023). 

Timed Writing: Beginning my book...

 Monday 

Oh the misery! another day seeing my dreadful students in the Philosophy 101.  These students, I don't think they have ever had a single thought about anything that is outside of themselves.  I could cry thinking about the future of Philosophy itself!  Aside from it being Monday and having the worst class ever, my stomach is still playing up and Doctor Smallback is sending me for 'further tests'.  There should be dignity and grace in old age but it seems there is only humiliation, indignity and memory loss!

I did not think the memory was that bad, and I can recite Hegel at will and consider deeply his idea of the actualization of the will, but I can never find my glasses, the book I was reading yesterday or where I left my keys.  I wish Hegel could explain these things to me, I think I would be better here at thinking of the philosophy of Montaigne, I remember clearly he said; ‘to learn that we have said or done a stupid thing is nothing, we must learn a more ample and important lesson: that we are but blockheads… On the highest throne in the world, we are seated, still, upon our arses.’ And, lest we forget: ‘Kings and philosophers shit, and so do ladies.’ - he was not afraid to face our bodily functions and I am starting to think we should focus more on how our bodily functions really affect our thoughts..

Damn it all, I also met with Dean today, he is a new appointment and is a pompous ass!  He obviously has been educated at one of these new universities and kept talking about meetings and how they should be more 'experiential' worse, so much worse than that, he started going on about a 'team building day trip', I would rather eats maggots...why in the world do I need to get know people I work with better!  I frankly see quite enough of them each week and I really don't want to know or see anymore of them, or listen to them, or have to interact with them 'socially' - my god, what a bore! 

Tuesday

Had a terrible dream/nightmare that I was stuck in a lift with my work colleagues, the Dean and the student that smells of garlic constantly.  I was screaming to get out in the end, the lift got hotter and hotter, the phone was broken in the lift and the smelly kid had started to touch me.  I woke up sweating and hyperventilating.  I think my blood pressure is too high, I need to see Doctor Smallback again, I am afraid he thinks I am a hypochondriac and I hate the smell of his rooms they remind me of death.

A small pleasure I have in life is smoking - I do love a cigarette, the post-prandial cigarette is truly a joy, the meal of course has to be good for the cigarette to be perfect.  I digress after my terrible dream I went outside onto the porch and sat on the steps it was early and it was quiet, then I look over to my neighbour across the road (another single man) and he appeared to be digging in his garden, I could only see the spade moving back and forth and the earth flying about, the small fence covered the area itself.  Very odd man, 

The Chapbook: Planning

 

The Smoking Diaries (2008) By Simon Gray

• What is your final idea?  Please explain in two sentences the theme and the form your writing will take.

I will create the diaries of Professor Zimmerman, a character from The Story of Honey. The diaries will work on characterisation, a narrative that brings pace and there will be remarks related to 'Honey' to bring this piece together with my two previous works.

• Considering the form, how do you intend to layout your book pages?

This will be in the form of a diary with a short introduction. I may do this over months or it could be snapshots from different years..

• How many pages do you expect there will be?

30-40 pages

• Are you going to use images?  Are these your own images (illustrations/photographs) or copyright free images that you will source? 

I want to use images like in Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald where they relate to the event or a memory

• What is the plan of your time and how much you will need to spend on this?

Remember writing is something that you will need time and concentration without disturbance - you must make sure that you plan time to do this.

I will spend 8-10 hours, writing, drafting, rewriting and proofing this book and with additional hours spent on image sourcing, front cover and completing publication

• What do you imagine the final book will look like?  

I am hoping it will look a little like The Smoking Diaries or Austerlitz.  Beautiful wring ad images that excite the senses and the memory and create connections for the reader. 

• Have you considered the cover page/contents page/back cover with blurb?

I will create this on Blurb and I will source a suitable cover image or I will take it myself - at the moment I am nort sure what that will be.

• Drafting and redrafting will need to be done?  Who would you get to proofread your work?

I will ask my partner to proofread this work

Write down any other thoughts or comments related to your plan on your blog post.

I will be working on researching other diary forms to consider how I will structure my own to make sure that this will make sense to the reader and will really get the elements I discussed earlier through to the reader.

Creative Writing: Introduction to the Chapbook and Ideas

 Another term and I will be creating another chapbook.  This small book of joy could follow on from my previous two books or could be something entirely new!

Alain de Botton (2005) On Seeing and Noticing

My last two books were the story of milk and honey but there was a character I created called Professor Zimmerman who I really wanted to explore more.

I want to write his story this term and I thought about maybe the diaries of Zimmerman or it could just be a chapter of his life.  While I was think of this I thought of Nabokov's Pnin - this book of the professor who is always out of place is a beautiful characterisation of a man that is touching, deep, funny and engaging. 

Vladimir Nabokov (1957) Pnin

Charles Poore of the New York Times described Pnin as; 'a comedy of academic manners in a romantically disenchanted world.' (Poore, 1957) This would explain why I am drawn to this book, written in 1957, however that same disenchantment comes to every academic's life.  But this is a book about the society that produced him and through his eccentricities, you come to love this character.

Evelyn Waugh (1928) Decline and Fall

Also I thought of Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall - again a comment on academia, society and a very British class system exposed.  The idea as well that failure leads to teaching...

References

Poore, C. (1957) Books of the Times: Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov, The New York Times. The New York Times. Available at: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/03/02/lifetimes/nab-r-pnin.html (Accessed: May 1, 2023).