Arjun Basu » Blog

Wheels Keep Turning

By Arjun Basu | Published: June 13, 2015

So. The first draft. It’s percolated. Enough. I’ve left it alone for a few weeks now. Almost a month. I have ideas. I really do.

I have cuts to make. Lots of them. I have things to add. New things. Surprises. More things. Less things. Red things. Blue things. Starred things. Stuff.

I’m surprised by, overall, how ok I am with where the story ends up. The journey isn’t necessarily satisfactory, but the end kind of works. At least I still think so.

No one has seen it. I was asked if I’d started showing it and I said no, and the thought of someone seeing it, in this state, was a bit revolting. I think I tasted metal.

But I have read passages in public. Twice. And I didn’t die.

I never show a first draft of anything. Second draft, yes. Not first.

I recently wrote about that time the Habs won the Stanley Cup (it used to happen on a fairly regular basis!) and I was in Saskatchewan on my way to Banff but the piece was really about The Smiths and The Queen is Dead and what that song did to me and does to me still.

What else? I have parted ways with my agent. My old agent, the one who placed Waiting for the Man, retired and I was handed over to a new one and well, the writer-agent relationship should be worth more than that. I think my first novel was my (old) agents’ last. Life is a flat circle, to paraphrase Rust Cohl, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, Steve Perry and Lynard Skynard and just about everyone else….seriously, who hasn’t said that life/time is a flat circle/the wheel of life, yadda yadda yadda? It’s like a tautology or something.

So, yes, I’m agent-free and looking for an agent. There are leads. They want to see what I’m working on, but I’m not showing it to anyone yet because it’s not ready. The wheel of life, man. Flat. Like soda that’s been left out way too long. Or beer. Rust would have preferred beer.

Posted in Blog | Tagged agent, agents, beer, dr seuss, editing, first draft, flat circle, journey, lynard skynard, nietzsche, rust cohl, schopenhauer, steve perry, the queen is dead, The Smiths, true detective | Leave a comment

Pity the Trees

By Arjun Basu | Published: May 22, 2015

Well, no. At least they’re renewable. I believe this paper is certified or something. It’s “good” and not old growth. I can only imagine what the “carbon footprint” of my laptop is. And my iPhone. And iPad. And TV.

At least I don’t own a car.

More photos of the physical nature of my first draft. I’m about to start on my second. Consider this procrastination. Actually, all of my online musings are “procrastination.” Or “release.” Or, perhaps, “sanity.”

Maybe.

Posted in Blog | Tagged first draft, green, paper, rush, trees | Leave a comment

Alpha and Omega

By Arjun Basu | Published: May 16, 2015

And then the end of the first part happens and you remember it’s the easy part and now the hard work begins. Because it is hard. Very much so. But a milestone is a milestone. It deserves to be acknowledged. If only because the work changes now, shifts gears, the work comes from a different place inside, even though the real end feels far away, still, because the road is dark and full of mystery, and if I don’t watch myself I’ll end up writing about Red Riding Hood being a metaphor for writing and that’s stupid because we all know it’s a metaphor for puberty and that’s stupid because really it’s about the innate male fear of female sexuality.

I’ll shut up now.

First draft: level complete.

Posted in Blog | Tagged first draft, Jones, little red riding hood, novel, pew pew, writing | Leave a comment

The Me Movie

By Arjun Basu | Published: May 8, 2015

A few years back, well maybe 18 months back, so somewhere in that netherworld between a few “months” and a few “years” back, a video-journalist (I know! What a world!) from LaPresse+ (the iPad version of Montreal’s LaPresse) did a story on me. One of the major weaknesses of LaPresse+ (and perhaps its only one at that, this is a very smart, very well thoughts out – and very well backed – play in media that acknowledges that paywalls suck) is that you can’t share stuff so easily. Irony, yes. So I’ve never posted the movie. Now here’s a low res version. Posted by the journalist in question, Maxime Bélisle. Enjoy.

Posted in News & Reviews | Tagged app, iPad, LaPresse+, Maxime Belisle | Leave a comment

Because Social Media is Social!

By Arjun Basu | Published: April 26, 2015

We’re sharing stuff. Lots of stuff. My last book was partly about this (and that last book is out in paperback this summer – preorder now! And if you don’t like reading, you can get it as an audiobook too!). Not completely but more than one review talked about the “age of oversharing” or something like that (and a lot of people have, just link here, here and here). As an aside, you know that we are on the cusp of the Oversharing Backlash, I’m going to call it this from now on, because every action has a reaction, right? Whatever. It’s called social media because you’re supposed to be social. If your idea of being social is trolling people non-stop you have big problems. When I was growing up, those people were said to be “acting out” and usually getting their asses kicked in the school yard. Usually they came from bad homes and/or situations and were dealing with their issues by, um, acting out. Now, these people can troll folk all over the internet without ever getting out of their ratty pyjamas.

I’m not here to write about trolling. I’m here to say I’ve gone way beyond 100k words in the first draft of the new book. I’m not a counter but that’s maybe me talking about the past me because I’m noticing now, and I’ve been keeping track. Of my word count. A few years ago I would never have done this. But we evolve, you know? And evolution doesn’t mean a straight line.

It’s not the same word as progress. It never was. It just means change. It means something is different from before. And a first draft is just that, a first draft. It might suck (and it usually does) but then you build on it until it stops sucking. It’s your first attempt at telling the story that’s inside of you. One hopes that you get some good stuff out, but a first draft is not a guarantee of quality, it is just you throwing up all that crap inside of you and sorry for that image.

All of this to say, there are places one could see what I’m doing. If one chose to do so. Like if you have a list of the 100 things you want to do and you get them done, amazingly, and then you wonder what’s next…

On my Facebook author page, you can track my progress by pages. This doesn’t mean much. It just means I’ve typed and this is how much I typed on a given day.

Over on ello, I am pasting some passages from the first draft. Apparently ello is still a thing and not just acting up.

And every once in a while, I turn on Periscope while I’m writing because. Just because. (I have no clue why, in other words).

I have no timetable for the future here. Well, that’s not true. But there’s a lot that has to happen before this book is finished. Some of it is out of my control. I’m just going to work on this thing until I think it’s finished. Or at least ready to unleash on the world.

Posted in Blog | Tagged bullies, devo, ello, Facebook, first draft, Jones, krakken, trolling, trolls, word count, writing | Leave a comment

This Is What I’m Up To

By Arjun Basu | Published: March 22, 2015

I believe I’m three quarters of the way through the first draft of my new novel. If I’m following the outline (which has become more like a well-thought out list of well-thought out suggestions rather than an actual set of, you know, instructions that I’m supposed to heed), then I’m three quarters of the way through the first draft and the temptation now is to not think too hard about what I want to do or fix and just get through the first draft and then think about editing. A first draft is about bleeding. Editing is about stanching the wound; cleaning up the blood.

I have been posting some drops of blood on ello. I mean, no one’s going to see it, right? Then I posted a Meerkat (can we stop for a second and think about the idiocy of social media nomenclature for just a second? Twitter still sounds stupid. When I hear a journalist on television talk about a “tweet” I don’t laugh, not anymore, but I cringe just a little bit). Anyhow, here’s a screenshot from the Meerkat session. It was of me typing. That’s it.

@arjunbasu looked like this pic.twitter.com/tODuY6Ua90

— Martin Reisch (@safesolvent) March 22, 2015

Fun, no? (And let’s just stop here and acknowledge how great it is that “horny guys” are already looking for other “horny guys” on Meerkat. Sex is like water: it gets everywhere and it gets there first.) And, yes, it would appear that I am “watching” myself on Meerkat but to be honest, the tab was open on my laptop. I wasn’t watching myself. I was typing away. Really.

What else? I’m leading a workshop in Montreal next Saturday about social media and writing. I’ve been asked to judge a microfiction contest (though at 500 words, they are pushing the limits of the term “micro”). The poster’s nice:

I went to southern California with the family and recharged. I spotted my book at the great Skylight Books in LA. We hung out in Joshua Tree and I drank a lot of cocktails by a pool in Palm Springs. We drank in the sun more than anything. After a winter that has tested the patience of the most winter-hardened among us, that warm SoCal sun was something else. I mean, sure, the entire Southwest is suffering through a drought and all and might run out of water at some point (or not), but HUMANS DON’T PLAN AHEAD. (I also note that none of the water apocalypse stories in the media point out that maybe the Southwest has too many people – I keep reading about how water intensive almonds are but there are a lot of people living in a desert and at some point that’s going to catch up to you especially if the new normal for weather is less rain and less now for the mountains….and, let’s face it, the real problem is that all the overpopulation folk have ugly websites and you don’t win the PR war with stuff that looks like garbage…)

And now it feels like the homestretch for the first draft of this thing. It’s big, even though, in the end, it’s really a portrait of a family. I described it to a friend (over Twitter!) as being about “a family and about change. And boogers. And art. And self worth. And cheap figurines. And mid century modern furniture. And old industrial chimneys. And gentrification. And dicks. And venture capitalists. And meatloaf. And bikinis.” It’s probably the best description I have for it so far. I imagine that’s what I’m going to have to tell the agents on my next agent search. Because, yes, I’m going to search for an agent again (though, to be fair, some contacted me immediately after the Giller longlist announcement but I don’t have one because I don’t really have anything to show, not just yet). Because my previous agent retired. So I think my next agent is going to have to be young. Or at least not ready to retire just yet. And awesome.

And finally, Waiting for the Man is coming out in paperback (there’s also an audiobook version now – here’s a preview). I think the cover’s kind of sweet if you ask me. It’s out later this year, in August.

Posted in Blog | Tagged almonds, audiobook, bleeding, California, Cosmonaut Avenue, drought, editing, ello, Giller, Joshua Tree, Los Angeles, meerkat, microfiction, overpopulation, Palm Springs, Quebec Writers Federation, Skylight Books, tweet, Twitter, water, workshop, writing | Leave a comment

Here Be Monsters

By Arjun Basu | Published: February 8, 2015

As a writer, I’m very protective of first drafts. Or have been. For some writers, first drafts are throw-aways, warm-ups, and nothing more. I’ve read of some writers that literally throw away their first drafts and start over because now the story is inside them or something. These people are monsters.

The first draft is usually the easiest part of writing. You just get something down on paper and then the real work begins, the editing and rewriting, the sweat, the deep thought. The meat of what you’re trying to say. Frankly, the entire writing process is evil and the only reason any one does it is because they have to. They literally have to. These people, too, are monsters.

This time around I’ve really thought about my current project. Quite a bit. I’ve mapped it out. Quite a bit. There are graphs, even, though looking at them now I don’t quite now what they mean. Here’s one. Please contact me if you know what I was going after when I drew it:

So given all this thinking about the story before I even started the first draft, I’ve felt comfortable enough to post snippets of it online. But here – and at this point, perhaps only a therapist would want to take a crack at my motivitations – I’ve posted them to ello. Yes. Almost guaranteeing that no one will see what I’m up to. (For those of you who have seen it on ello, I’m not calling you a nobody, but I am commenting on the website itself, and if you’re on it – as I am – then you’re just collateral damage). The thing is, this first draft, while nowhere near complete (because I am many things but I am not delusional….probably), is much further along than any other first draft I’ve ever written of anything. Yes, it is possible that NONE of the passages posted so far will make it into the final manuscript, and it is entirely probably that NONE of the passages will make it into the final manuscript as posted, but as I mosey along with this first draft, I’m getting more and more comfortable with where this thing is going. (You can also see a tally of how many pages I’m completing per sitting on my facebook author page – I know, really, someone needs to lock me away).

So, if for whatever reason you’re curious as to what I’m up to, this is for you. It’s just snippets, sure. But the snippets are there. In obscurity. Going up randomly. Because I’m a monster, too.

Posted in Blog | Tagged arrested development, drafts, monsters, monsters inc, writing | Leave a comment

The New Thing

By Arjun Basu | Published: January 13, 2015

I’m reading this Sunday at a bar on Crescent Street. Not by myself, because that would be unbelievably awful, but with a bunch of other writers. I’m going to read a chapter from Jones. That’s what the new project is called. It’s still in first draft mode. Half way through the first draft. Meaning the stuff I read may be awful – and it may not even make it into the final version, at least definitely not in the state it’s in right now. But fuck it, this is what I’m going to read. I’ve been reading from Waiting for the Man for 9 months now. Time for a change. If you’re in Montreal, hope to see you there!

I bet it’ll be cold. Because Montreal.

Posted in Blog | Tagged cold, Cosmonaut Avenue, Crescent Street, Montreal, Waiting for the Man | Leave a comment

Scenes From the Making of a Novel

By Arjun Basu | Published: January 7, 2015

What does it look like to write a book? It’s a stupid question. I wrote Waiting for the Man over a long period, in many different circumstances. Some drafts were written by hand. Some were done entirely on computer. I do most of my editing by hand as well, so I’d print out the latest version and mark it up and then input the mark-up into my laptop, making further changes along the way, making each version not just new but kind of new-and-a-half. A lot of that work was done at the dining room table.

The new one, which I’m working on now, is being done in my home office. My wife used to “own” the room but she’s a ceramist with a studio a few blocks away and so now the office is mine. I get to put notes and outlines up on my wall and stare out the window (right now I’m staring at a lot of snow) while I think of le mot juste. The home office allows you to shut out the world, even when it presses in, demands attention, as it does on terrible mornings (the murderous attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is everywhere right now), and on lovely days as well, when the sun shines in and tries to blind me into doing something ridiculous, like taking a walk outside.

What does it look like to write a book? I don’t know. But this is what it looks like to write my book. This one. I call it “Jones.”

Posted in Blog | Tagged Jones, novel, office, writing | 1 Response

I’m Not Making A Single Resolution

By Arjun Basu | Published: December 24, 2014

I don’t believe in resolutions. I’d like to say I don’t believe in New Year’s at all, since the calendar is a human construct, but that’s not really true (the earth does revolve around the sun after all and we’re just measuring that passage) and I’m not remotely that cool. As humans we need milestones, we need reminders about the passage of time, and because we are complex, we need to celebrate them, and because we are social, we need to celebrate them together. So here we are. On the cusp of another calendar year. Thinking about things. We always do.

Personally, I think each of us should make resolutions around our birthdays. Our birthdays are not arbitrary at all, they are facts on a calendar, facts written on our bodies, hardwired into our brains, facts to be celebrated, we’ve stayed alive another year, made new friends, accomplished new things, discovered a new bourbon, tasted a new and deeper umami. (Or, here’s someone saying make resolutions monthly, which is, like, literally a 12-step program.)

Of course, December in general, but the holiday season in particular, is as much about looking back as looking forward. I don’t like that either. I’m not into nostalgia. I used to accuse my son, when he was much younger, of “instant nostalgia” – that is, he seemed to be in a constant state of nostalgia and could wax poetic about something that had just happened. Literally a second ago. I don’t like looking back. The view behind is full of building blocks, granted, the past is what makes us, the present makes no sense without the past, but history is all about context while nostalgia is context free on purpose and is presented as something outside of time.

Here’s the thing: nothing exists outside of time. Not even Elvis.

I don’t make resolutions. But if you do, and if you stick to them, and if those resolutions point you in the direction you want to go, and if that direction makes you a better you and in so doing makes the world a better place, well, I’m with you. I most certainly am. I promise this. Just don’t use the word “abs.” I don’t want to hear how great your abs are, or your workout, or, I don’t know, do people still say “burn” as if it’s a good thing? Because you shouldn’t say that around me. Don’t tell me about your workout. Either you are still high on endorphins or you’re a member of a cult but either way you’re being unreasonable. Otherwise, I got your back. I promise.

Posted in Blog | Tagged abs, Bourbon, December, Elvis, new year's resolutions, nostalgia, umami | Leave a comment

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