Chapbook: Draft Chapters One & Two of Disappearance

 

Don't Look Now, Directed by Nicholas Roeg 

I start with an image from Don't Look Now from 1973, as this story has the kind of uncanny twists and turns that remind me how good writing can be. Du Maurier's story continually surprises and in this film version, Roeg really understands how to visually explore this narrative so that the journey is astounding.

I have worked on the first draft chapters of my book working title 'Disappearance'.  The story itself is about a woman in her 40s who will design her own disappearance through unexpected events and curious and uncanny happenings her life will change dramatically.

The main character 'Amande' will take the reader on a journey through these events, however, I will use a God's Eye View throughout so I can, as an author, be with any character through the story at any time.  

I am completing these on Google Docs so my edits and draft changes can be seen and the writing process is clear. 

Disappearance: Chapter One

Disappearance: Chapter Two

I have now completed all my first edits and these can be seen here as comments and suggestions 

Website Creation: About Me

 

Zoe is an artist who uses photography, performance, and writing in her work.  Zoe survived comprehensive school then affected her escape to Germany at the age of 16. Since then Zoe has lived many lives but always has created artwork and writing.  She is interested in the conceptual, the uncanny, and the absurd and this bleeds into her writings, photographs, and films.  At present, Zoe is working on her disappearance and photographic death. Zoe lives high above the city and every day she contemplates her existence through art.

Zoe also teaches art, design, and media at DMU International College.  Zoe has a first degree in English and Media She also achieved an MA with Distinction in Creative Media Arts (Photography) from the London South Bank University. Zoe's film 'Let's Eat Hair' was shown at the Phoenix Cinema in Leicester. 

Creative Media Production: Timed Writing Two

 The feted day had finally arrived, she woke at the crack of dawn, this was really the beginning of the rest of her life.

It started 3 months ago, Amande trudged to work through the remains of snow, which was now a black icy slush, that was leaking into her long non-leather vegan boots.  She was stupidly wearing a short skater skirt and hold up that were now slipping annoyingly down her thighs and causing her skin to go first red then blue with cold. She suddenly tripped as she caught the edge of the pavement that she did not see under the sludge, she swore under her breath and then a small hand appeared under nose, like a child's but old looking.  Amande glanced upwards and looming close to her face was the face of, well what could be described as a dwarf, certainly a little person.  The little person was an old man with a kind inquisitive face, he looked about 60 years old and when he smiled hid whole face seemed to crinkle.  The small man gave a little laugh, and then spoke quietly to her, almost in a whisper, "make your wish and perhaps the gods will smile upon you".  Amande took the small hand in hers and stepped back up as she did so, she towered above the dwarf man, she looked down guiltily, and said; "thank you" quietly before rushing off in the direction of her work which she was now late for. 

Jason was standing by her office door when she arrived, Amande worked as a civil servant in the city councils offices.  The offices were dilapidated and in some place there were even holes in the ceiling, and buckets were dotted about as water seeped from the roof every time it rained.  The office block that she worked in was actually due to be demolished next month and they (the management) were desperately trying rehouse around 200 civil servants who worked in the brutalist wreck. "Amande I need to see you urgently about this reach out project on the Frogger Estate", Jason was the same grade as Amande in the council however he liked to act as if he was her superior and often dumped work he did not want to deal with on her desk and claimed it was management.  She knew better than to get tangled up in the disastrous reach out project so ready for onslaught, Amande quickly pushed past Jason, grabbed a file (any file) and claimed that she must rush as she had an urgent meeting with management about the budget.  Amande sailed round the corner, and then took a sharp right into the secret kitchen she had found hidden and unused last week.  At the moment it was the perfect hiding spot, contained all the right equipment and she had stocked up with coffee and biscuits, and best of all it had a private staff toilet that only she had access to as she had palmed the key and attached it to her lanyard. 

Chapbook: Planning

 

The Chap-Book: The Pipes, June 1895

William H. Bradley; Publisher: Stone and Kimball, Chicago

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

My final idea is a small novella form which will contain 4-6 chapters and I will use images that are my own and copyright free.  This book will be no more than 40 pages and is on the theme of disappearance. 

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

The form will be a novella using realism and I intend to layout the pages in the conventions of traditional book form and add appropriate images that add to the text. 

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?  

Yes, my own images and copyright free images that I will credit in the book 

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.

12-20 hours 

What do you imagine the final book will look like?  

I will use a trade book format from Blurb and this is about 5 x 7 in - It will contain a designed front cover with my name (author) and Title of the book 

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

As above - I will add this to Blurb and it will have an ISBN so it can be sold 

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

I will ask my partner/colleagues to proofread

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

I will write this on Google Docs to ensure that I can share drafts and I can edit easily whoever I may be.

Creating a Chapbook: Initial Ideas

 Introduction to the project 

The second project in Creative Media Production this term is the creative writing project this will be created in the format / form of a chapbook and will be no more than 40 pages long and can include both text and images.  It can take any form of creative writing but must have an overarching theme. 

Chapbooks (the format we will be using) were circulated from the 17th to 19th centuries, bought cheaply and shared, and were popular with middle-class children. 'Chapbooks were normally printed on one single sheet of paper and then folded into 8, 12, 16 or 24 pages. They would usually have been sold unbound and held together by a simple sewing.'(Ray, 2021).  When I was at university I learned book making and used different sewing techniques to create a handmade book.  Today people online are still similarly making little books and also they can be printed cheaply and easily digitally in the spirit of the original chapbook. 

Chapbooks and Chapmen

Form and theme 

In my photographic project was working on my disappearance, I would like to use the same theme for my chapbook as an overarching theme.  I would like to explore absence and presence in writing and technically I would like to explore further literary methods for creating the story of disappearance.  

One of my favourite stories of disappearance was Joris-Karl Huysmans A Rebours (Against Nature, which was about 'Des Esseintes, a decadent, ailing aristocrat who retreats to an isolated villa where he indulges his taste for luxury and excess' (Good Reads n.d).  His departure from society leads him to explore all the excessses he can think of from exotic plants, exotic women, excessive demands, and jewels however this isolation and excess do not lead to the experience he is hoping for, and in his next book La Bas, he has renounced God and fully explores the limits of evil. Huysman's disappearance from society though is what is interesting here.

I looked at a couple of reviews on this and both reviews found the text quite hard work and did not like the literary reviews and references and needing to look these up in the notes (this is the part I enjoy most as often it does link to texts I know or gives a historical or literary context) Menon states: 'These critiques are punctuated with des Esseintes’ memories (often quite disturbing) as well as his ennui and ailments which seem inherently linked with his enforced literary lifestyle and symptomatic of everything he is trying to escape. Against Nature is often humorous and self-reflective, which compensates for the lengthy book reviews within the novel which can alienate the reader.' (Menon L: 12/09/2016)

In my own work on the disappearance in the text I intend to write, I may well include a withdrawal from working life and I have some ideas on how I affect that disappearance for the character I intend to create.  I may not experience every sensual desire that I can imagine like Des Essientes however I will explore all manner of new enjoyments that come with the freedom of the disappearance. 

References

Ray, A. (2021) Chapbooks: Fleet Street Time Travellers, Kings Collections. Available at: https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/kingscollections/2016/07/20/chapbooks-a-fleet-street-time-traveller/ (Accessed: 05 February 2024). 

2. Chapbooks and chapmen (no date) University of Aberdeen. Available at: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/stories/chapbooks-chapmen/index.html (Accessed: 05 February 2024). 

Against nature (no date) Goodreads. Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/210255 (Accessed: 05 February 2024). 

Lucy Menon (2016). AGAINST NATURE | BOOK REVIEW. [online] Buzz Magazine. Available at: https://www.buzzmag.co.uk/nature-book-review/ [Accessed 6 Feb. 2024].

Creating a Website: Contact Page & Social Links

 I then wanted to add a contact page so that it would be easy for people to get in touch.  I did this by using the 'Add' Button on the left hand menu and went to 'Contact and Forms'.  I then placed the contact form in the correct position on my page and I I then set the notifications to ensure they came to my gmail address.  

Then I began to customise the form starting with ensuring that all fonts were the same as my homepage and so I used the 'Bitter' font again and I used this on the form, title and all buttons.  I then changed the input fields adding a little colour and the submit button I changed to match the background of my page.

I then just clicked on the 'Add' button on the left hand menu and then I clicked on image and then upload image and I uploaded one of my own test images from a project for the moment. I clicked on Save and the previewed to check everything is working.

The next thing I did on my website was add a social bar.  I went to add button the left hand menu and then chose 'social' and then I chose the social bar that I wanted add to my website.  I clicked on this and then I dragged this into my footer.

I then set all my social links for Blogger, Twitter/X, Linkedin and YouTube.  I then saved all my settings and work and then previewed and then I tested that the links worked correctly. 

I then checked my mobile view on the contact page and I adjusted my Header as my title of my site was not showing I then check ed that I had a back to top button and I moved the menu button to the right hand side as this was more pleasing and people tend to look right first.  I saved and then previewed to ensure all changed worked correctly.

Photography Project Plan: Disappearance

 This my project plan from Week Five, I will update on this posts over coming weeks.

Update - 29th February 2024

Initial Research  - Yes - Paul A Photography research

Initial Photo shoot with development - First Shoot for Disappearance 

Further Research - Family of Man, (Outstanding Target Market and One more research Lissa Riveria) 

Software Practice and and Concept Board

Second Shoot for final images (outstanding) 

Add any Process post x 2

Photography: Sustainability & Wellbeing

Photography Curation and Adding Images to Gallery 

Website updates and UX Testing