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www.jeffnoon.com
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What's Happening Update February 2002 Jeff Noon Hi there. Here's a roundup of current projects. MAPPALUJO First of all Steve and I decided on the number of chapters we would use. We then chose twenty-five iconic figures, one for each chapter. These are famous people, real or fictional, from any field of endeavour. These icons are used to set an atmosphere for each chapter. It was decided that I would write the first chapter, so Steve chose three figures from the icon list, which he sent to me. I chose one of these; in this first case, Jorge Luis Borges. I then wrote a piece influenced in some way by Borges. This influence can take any form. It might be the merest shadow cast by the icon, a single line, say, will refer to the person; or we might utilise a borrowed technique or subject matter associated with the person; or the piece might be based on an episode from the life of the figure; or the piece might be more of a pastiche of the person's work, and so on. There are many possibilities. On the site itself, we use the idea of the iconic figure in some way "haunting" the text. Once this first piece was finished, I sent it back to Steve, with a new set of three icons. He chose one of these, and wrote a second piece in response to mine, using the new icon as an influence. In this way, sending texts back and forth between us, gradually a kind of narrative emerged. This we built upon in subsequent pieces, but working in a very loose, improvised way. Both Steve and I brought our own individual styles and imagery to the project, but the very nature of the game meant that we soon found ourselves in unknown territory. There was little discussion between us, during this initial writing period, in order to nurture the element of surprise. The middle chapter (number thirteen) we wrote together, sitting in the same room, face to face. We then swapped the order of the writing; so, I wrote the odd numbered pieces of the first half of the story, and Steve the even numbered pieces; after the swap, I wrote the even numbered pieces, and Steve the odd. Of course, as we came to the final chapters, it became more difficult, because there were fewer and fewer icons to choose from; until finally there was only one icon left, and this was used to influence the last chapter. After this first run-through, we had twenty-five chapters, all very different in feel because of the icons' varied influences, and a vague feel of a plot. We now worked together very closely on this raw material, working it over and over until we were satisfied with the final result. We were concerned, in this later stage, to bring the plot into focus. That said, we also wanted to keep the feel of the working process, so the early chapters still reveal the searching quality of the work, as Steve and I threw ideas at each other. In this particular story, the plot starts to coalesce around chapter seven. This reworking of the first draft was extensive, treating every page as a shared effort. So, rather than the various chapters being produced by individual writers, every word of the story should be considered as being written by the both of us, jointly. Working with another writer proved to be very rewarding. There were some difficult moments, as we both struggled to encompass each other's needs, but the end result I'm very pleased with. It tells an interesting story, using a variety of different techniques and atmospheres. This ties in with my overriding idea of combining experimentation with narrative concerns. One thing that emerged was the idea of Lujo itself, as a place, a landscape, a society in which other stories could be set. Steve and I would very much like to return there soon, to explore some of these other possibilities. Hopefully, all of this Lujo material will find its way into a book one day. Finally, the name. The starting point for this comes from the following passage in Joyce's Finnegans Wake: "…as they cooched down a mamalujo by his cubical crib, as question time drew nighting and the map of the souls' groupography rose in relief within their quartering…" We liked the words Mama Lujo, so we introduced a character of that name in the first story, a kind of Voodoo witch figure. From there came the idea of the country being called Lujo; and the work itself, in its various forms, making up a map of this strange land. FALLING
OUT OF CARS I like to call Falling Out of Cars a transcendental road novel. A journey through a strangely transformed, diseased, England. Four desperate people, strangers, in a beat-up old car, brought together in search of certain misplaced, and seemingly magical objects. So, there's a (very) loose connection to the classic Fantasy plot of the quest through the wounded land, albeit set in a recognisable reality. And the quest is not the governing force behind the novel; these people are, to all intents and purposes, lost. They're driving, just driving. Running away, each from their own personal troubles. The English road novel has always been seen as a problematic genre, compared to the American model. There's just not enough space in this country, for people to get lost in. However, I was interested in the number of books that have come out in the last few years, dealing with the idea of the "non-space". All those journeys around the London orbital, and through the cold wastes of suburbia. The Boring Postcards book also plays with this idea. So, maybe an English road novel can journey through these various non-spaces, this is where the sense of loss will be most intensely felt. It's a first person narrative, told through the journal of Marlene, one of the travellers. Because of the nature of the land, the disease, and also because of her own damaged psyche, Marlene is a very unreliable narrator. Exactly what is really happening, and what imagined, and how can we tell the difference? Out of this comes the question of self-identity; how, in a time of shifting images, can we really know who we are? These are themes shared with the Mappalujo project. The two works were written at the same time. Although entirely different in style, there is a strange and fruitful osmosis between the two projects. The disease that Marlene is suffering from is an invented one, whose details I will not mention at this point, beyond saying that it's an imagined outcome of certain traits in contemporary society. The actual notebook that Marlene uses is also affected by the same disease. This is the final level of ambiguity. Just what is this thing we are reading, how can we trust it? Is it really possible to capture reality in words? Marlene starts off writing in a journalistic style, and gradually a more poetic expression takes over. Only in this way, can she hope to capture her experiences. The difference between the first, and the last, pages of the novel, just on the level of personal expression, is very pronounced. Words become a part of the trip, a mutating map through which she travels. The book is a study of a woman, and a country, falling off the edge of reality. Some people have told me they found the book rather "dark". Whilst I will not disagree with this opinion, I have tried to write a truthful book about the way we live now, as I see it, and allow for a certain element of hope. I guess I'm entering my Surrealist Noir period. If this sounds all too serious, rest assured that the journey also involves various car chases, gunplay, existential gangsters, magical events, and general weirdness. I suppose the major difference between Falling Out of Cars, and my earlier books, is that this time the strangeness comes directly out of the characters' psyches, rather than being a part of the outside world. This, I hope, leads to a much more unnerving experience for the reader. The novel went through about five separate drafts, of which the first is considerably different than the last. I will talk in more detail about the actual writing process once the book is out. Falling Out of Cars will be published by Transworld Press, in November 2002. THE
VURT FILM There are serious logical problems with the plot of the novel, due to the fact that I didn't really understand such considerations in those early days. These problems would be glaring in a film, so a lot of work has gone into making the plot work, on a structural level. I've also attended more to the emotional development of the various characters. So the film will not just be about Scribble searching for Des, but also about Scribble and Beetle, and Mandy and Bridget, and the various relationships they have, and the various journeys they make, as individuals, and as a group. Some elements of the book have had to be discarded for various reasons: some of it is just dated; certain images have been seen too many times in films made since the book first came out; other elements I now find a bit weak. A lot of new stuff has been introduced. I'm always keen to present new ideas, rather than just reuse old ones. So that aspect of the writing has been fun, especially working closely with the director. But it's hard work. I've had to learn some new techniques, far different from the knowledge I've built up over the last ten years, writing novels. Basically, every line of a film script is examined in far greater detail than the lines of a novel. The director acts as a kind of incredibly strict editor. It's still early days. I've been working on the treatment these last few weeks. A treatment is a narrative version of what I imagine is happening on the screen, moment to moment. This is used to establish the structure of the plot, and the emotional arc of the characters. The main problem I've had is simply coming to terms with this way of creating a story. With my novels, I start with a vague idea, and just start writing. I build the characters and the plot up from the basic building blocks of the words. With the film, I have to do the exact opposite; start with the overall structure, and work down to the words. Once the treatment is finalised with the director and the producers, only then will I start writing the script itself. Everything moves quickly in the film world; you get about six weeks to write a first draft. I am, in truth, finding the whole process fascinating, and very exciting. COBRALINGUS Very best
wishes
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Falling
Out Of Cars Cobralingus Needle
In The Groove Needle
In The Groove - the CD Pixel
Juice Automated
Alice Nymphomation Pollen Vurt
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