… Or Opening Chapters Should Suck, Right?
Welcome to Episode 1 of the Daniel’s Nemesis Podcast, reading XBook: Chapter 1 - So Might it Be.
Earnest music there welcomes us into this first episode of the Daniel’s Nemesis Podcast.
If this is the first episode of this podcast that you’ve ever listened to, then fear not, as this is where to begin.
Please bear with me as this will likely be a longer than usual introduction to this podcast as I tell you what is exactly.
But you’ve downloaded this and are giving me your time so let me explain what you are about to listen to.
Over a decade ago I wrote a book. I had just come out of my teens and having spent my entire life living in a tiny little coastal village, was experiencing small provincial suburban life for the first time. It was big and scary.
The book is called X-Book. And it is a messy jumble of Independence Day, Blackadder Goes Forth, American Psycho and Un Chien Andalou. Consequently, and I should warn you here, that this novel does contain bad language and disturbing images. Not for kids.
Each week I shall read out a chapter, and after that, I shall dissect it. I shall be looking at the good moments - my favourite moment in each chapter, or the element that I liked most about it. But I shall also be looking at the cheesy moments, picking out the quote that attempts to be the most profound, attempting to analyse the symbolism as well as the head space that I occupied as an early 20-something away from home for the first time.
I am Daniel’s Nemesis - the pen-name that I took on for myself when I wanted this published. The name is supposed to reference the darker part of my brain that I was writing from. And I liked having a possessive apostrophe in the name as it broke conventions. But for someone who was fame obsessed at the time, perhaps taking on a pen-name was me admitting that I was ashamed of this work and wanted to distance myself from it.
I would love to go more into the plot and characters, however as today’s chapter is just an introductory chapter, there won’t be much of either. Which is a bit pointless as it hardly draws anybody in, particularly as this is the first in a new series. But if you do want to know more, then please check out episode 0 in which I read a synopsis I sent off to publishers.
In a nutshell, this is a story about an alien invasion taking place just after the First World War. Our two main heroes are Ginger Jeeves, a fighter pilot in the Royal Flying Corps, or at least I think that’s what it was called. That was the level of research I did back then, and I shall stick to that spirit. He is the hero for the humans, defending planet Earth pretty much single handedly against these pesky aliens. But after four years of war, his mind is damaged and he often struggles to separate reality from his deranged delusions. Not an issue that the reader has, I hasten to mention. Our other protagonist is Skaj Frite, the Supreme Leader of the Trascon race, fleeing their destroyed home planet and having traveled for hundreds of years to the nearest habitable planet. Consequently there is much at stake here, and Skaj Frite, whose obsession with Earth leads him to take on the human name William (a reference to the conqueror), has to deal not only with an advanced human race (they were expecting the humans to be hitting each other over the head with rocks or something) but also his entire race splitting up into factions as a promise of a new home planet after centuries of cabin fever has led the Trascons to varying degrees of entitlement.
I am recording these early episodes in the room that this story was first conceived in, though both the story and the room itself have changed significantly. I shall compare this latest draft, last edited on the 24th of July, 2006 with an early draft, the earliest complete draft I can find from 1998, though this early draft shall not be read out.
This is a mess of a book. A massive clash of genres and ideas that cannot really resolve themselves in any suitable way. I’d love to say I have some of the genius and imagination of Ed Wood, but really, I think I have only his sloppy approach to creation, and his complete inability to tie ideas together.
Nobody would publish this book. I sent this out to many different publishers and agents, and those that did reply usually brushed me off with the standard “thank you for sending this in but we are currently not seeking books of this nature” response. Except for one publisher, who as well as sending me the standard card: “Thank you for your proposal. We regret to say that this does not fit into any of our published categories. Our catalogues and websites show the categories open to writers, and we shall be pleased to consider any further proposal which may fit our lists. Sorry this time,” then chose to write on top of that, and I quote from 22nd August, 2003: “Sorry, this is not a good novel. It lacks the ingredients modern readers expect to find in well constructed stories. Sorry again,” which still hurts to this day, especially as any good troll will do, provide nothing constructive whatsoever, which begs the question: Why even bother, as a professional, to go out of your way to rip my heart out, when the card with the pre-written message would have sufficed? Publishers were as big a bunch of meanies as the trolls are today. At least publishers apologise, though.
As much as this may appeal to fans of bad movies - the ‘so bad it’s good’ style philosophy, I’m not going to comment as to whether this falls into that category. I think of this as a ‘how not to’ write a book. After all, budding writers out there need to see the best of something to get inspiration, but they also need to see the worst because that’s when the techniques they are learning about in courses really stand out due to how they have failed. A successful technique should blend in smoothly. Also, while I may be harsh about this book, it is after all my book. I don’t want to be negative for the sake of being negative. I think there are many good things, things that I’m proud of, still. And if you also see something of merit, please feel free to let me know. In this world of trolls, positive reinforcement is always a blessed thing.
For more information, please go back to Episode 0 if you haven’t already listened to it, as that will give you more information about the book, particularly the characters and the background. Don’t expect much from this podcast as today is just the opening chapter that does little to introduce the plot or any of the characters, hence the reason I talk so little of them today.
Need I say that all events and characters in this book are fictitious? How anybody could recognise themselves in any of these characters is beyond me, especially as most of the characters are based on me… cause I had no friends. Though should any of the events here match real events that took place just proves that there was a major Government cover-up at some point.
Just remember:
This is fiction,
Always fiction.
Logic is as logic does.
Chapter 1 - So might it be...
Space, as you may know, is what makes up this universe. So big, so calm, so gentle. But what is space? It is nothing. Absolute nothing, yet somehow it contains everything. And we, too, are a part of all that. But how can anything exist? What is it that makes up everything that we know, everything that we are to find out? Certainly don’t be fooled by what you see. For the universe looks so gentle, so fragile, and it always seems so close. But why, when it is the most hostile thing in existence? The universe is so random, so unpredictable and so violent. But it is there, and now so are we. We just float here, moving along in space. And it is only now that we begin to realise just how empty it is. For hours, for days we come across nothing. We shall never truly know where we are, for there are no charts. But what we are surrounded by are stars. They create a wall to space, to the universe, make it look so much smaller, so much easier to be able to accept. And this is the gentle, calm side of the universe. Where things become so big that it is so easy to forget the mechanics of how it all works. And no longer does it ever seem to matter. Just rest and take everything in, because perhaps this is the best way. That is how things should be, should they not?
But soon we are getting closer to a star. We have fallen through a solar system. The star in question is bright, still only in the early part of its life. It will take many years for this star to die. For it to expand and cool. But the star is dying. As are all stars. Perhaps this is why the universe will never be charted. Stars will form and die. Constellations will alter and disappear. The shape of the universe will forever be changing. But do we ever hope to see this? Of course we would.
Around this star are many planets. Just mere specks stretching for millions of miles. They orbit the sun, and all of them have a history. Yet it is only the fourth star from the sun that will ever have a memory. Somehow it has achieved something so great and will live, perhaps, the tests of time, long after it has gone, swallowed up by the very star that created it. But remember this last fact, for it shall become important. But what of the planet? It is barren, deserted, yet contains many scars of a previous time. Of a previous creation that the sun was also able to give birth to. It once contained life. Yet nature is a fickle thing, really. What it creates, it shall discard. And for the inhabitants of this planet, this was a particularly hard lesson to learn. Perhaps one day they will understand this lesson.
We continue on our way, but this time we head somewhere with a purpose, as if we are being pulled along. You see, we come across one of the grandest ironies of the universe. Although it is so big, the forces that are created and are played out within it are so big, its sheer size is what makes it so gentle, and yet impossible to survive within. When we zoom in, so that we can only see the smallest objects, we come across the most hostile aspect of the universe. Everything here is highly unstable, unpredictable, all sorts of energies rippling across these surfaces, yet it is because of these tiny pieces of matter that anything can exist, anything can be. Some call them the building blocks of the universe. Yet they are chaotic, and this means destruction. Somehow it works. Even when we zoom out to that of only a planet or a sun do we witness such destructive forces playing out in a fashion that we can see, are able to understand. These different energies, these different matters colliding with each other, creating a ball of such intensity. But it can never be contained. Such forces can never be contained. And it is here, out of destruction, out of chaos, that on a planet, life can sustain itself. A planet itself is by no means stable. Inside we find the same chaos, it contains all the same energies and matters, yet the fury is not so great. The grandest irony of them all, that through such destructive and chaotic forces that existence its very self can actually be.
We, however, are fortunate for where we float, there is no such matter. Things can be gentle, because where we are, nothing exists. Perhaps even space and the universe itself does not. This is the space that we occupy, and somewhere else are the spaces that everything occupies.
But, one thing I can tell you is that in amongst all the blackness of space, and in one of the many, many solar systems contained in one of the countless galaxies, in between various planets is just one. This planet, out of all that you could ever imagine, plus much, much more, will be the focus of the story.
This planet has been here for many, many years. So many that we can only guess at its age. It’s not the oldest planet to have ever existed, but it’s certainly not the youngest, not any more. It has a sun. Just one. Again, it is not the biggest sun, or the brightest, but this does not make it any less important. This planet has neighbours, some are much larger planets, whereas some are much smaller. Unlike many, this planet has only been graced with one moon. But, this does not make it any less important. In fact, one thing that marks this planet out is its ability to breed life. This life has developed and has advanced, perhaps more than some imagined or hoped.
Some of these inhabitants consider this planet to be the most important planet in the galaxy. In fact, many consider it to be the most important planet in the entire universe. Now that’s saying something. But they’re wrong. Just because this planet now has a name, it no longer becomes any more important. After all, it’s basically, when you get right down to it, a rock. A rock called ‘Mother Earth’. However, Earth is no longer important to just its inhabitants. It’s suddenly become important for others. How lucky this planet must be. Maybe not quite so lucky for the inhabitants.
But where is this Earth today? What has it achieved for it to be considered the centre of the universe? Nothing, for its closed-minded inhabitants do not fully appreciate who they are. By now it has been proved that the Earth is not the centre of the universe, not that anyone will ever stop believing it, in their own small ways.
Yet, Earth has evolved. People have learnt that a quest for power does not have to extend to the boundaries of their own country. That power can cover huge landmasses. Some did want the world. Others wanted revenge. But this is not all that some want the Earth for. Some are much more simple-hearted than perhaps they seem. These people want only to find a new home. But can Earth be ready to give this to these distant travellers?
Earth is now positioned in time at 1918 AD, the calendar that much of the Earth follows. It is nearing the end of the year, it is December. The passing of a month is not the most significant shift in time for the Earth. Although it has very recently entered a new era. A new dawn. For many, a new way of life. It is now a post-war era. The bitterest, bloodiest war that Earth has ever seen has just passed. A war that, for many, they could not understand, simply just war. For those who fought, who never knew what was going to happen next, it was too unpredictable. For those who did not, they would never understand its full nature. But other than it was happening, many did not know why it was happening.
Too much can be said about this war. But enough can never be said. It was that type of war. Suddenly, no-one could feel safe. It united nations as much as it separated nations. Nations next door suddenly distrusted one another. Nations on opposing ends of the world turned to each other for support. Yet, this is only the nature of war. For these feelings will never last. The balance of power stands on a knife edge. For those in the grasp of power care only for the present. Suddenly, evil warps itself. Good also warps itself. No-one can ever know if their actions are right or wrong. Sadly, this becomes the death of millions. Or so this last war has proved.
Yet this is only Earth. For the events of this book to unfold, we must look back to space. War is not the only event that can alter the course of events for millions, if not billions. Something just as remarkable has happened. Stars are born. Stars will die. At perhaps its most simple level, this staple building block of the universe is what helps shape itself. But it is not just the physicality of the universe that these stars have an effect upon. The energy from any star can spawn life. Ultimately, as it slowly dies, it can destroy life. But what happens if life existing around a particular star evolves enough to be able to predict this course of events and realises it needs to do something?
And so we come across our travellers, in some distant corner of the universe. They need a new home. This dying star has affected the lives of these billions of peoples. Yet this dying star is soon to have an effect on billions of peoples from an entirely different solar system. And so we come back to Earth.
A blood-thirsty war and a blood-thirsty sun. Two unlikely factors that have created a story. Both are greater than any one person of any race alone. Yet there are two major themes that apply to both that seem strikingly similar. That of power through destruction and that of survival. It is only in the details that they differ. In life, they are inseparable. And they have an impact. An impact that is too great. So great that people cannot comprehend. On Earth, as soldiers returned home, lives affected by the physical and mental demands of what they have been through, people at home were apathetic. The war is over, why do these soldiers need to keep on about it? Why did they live when others died? And the destiny of our travellers is not written, yet. As events unfold, will future generations appreciate the sacrifices made by their ancestors?
Destruction and survival. They shape the future. Become the foundations of the past. But what of the present? How do they affect those who live through them? This is where I introduce the two characters within this book. One human, who has lived through the short intensity of the Great War. The second is a traveller. The events of his story tail back many hundreds of years. But the result of these concepts have no less an effect on him. He is the one destined to close the chapter of their migration.
But first, who am I? I am Holly. There are many factors that make up life. That can also shape futures, create new destinies. And I am one of those. I am only a concept, a construct. I am a figment of imagination for the two characters in this book. But I am more, for I exist as people want me to exist. Be that true or only desire. I am different for everyone, but for these two, I am the same. It is not me that brings these two together. It is fate. However, I am the observer as these two come to meet.
But what of these two characters? And how have the circumstances surrounding them affected them? Ginger Jeeves has been involved in the Great War for the past four years. The result of which has caused his mind to not be able to accept reality, as it is too great a definition to fully understand. Skaj Frite is the leader of these travellers, whose role it is to finally get them to Earth. A role that requires a great strength of character which, perhaps, is too much for just one person. Yet, much as power and survival on such a scale normally out of the hands of just one person, it is the choices of these two, that ultimately, will drastically affect the entire future in such a way that war can. Or the creation and destruction of a solar system. This is the story, then, of two people who must take such a large responsibility into their own hands. Two people that cannot accept the responsibility of themselves. Two people that only desire me.
And there we go, the first chapter! Now let’s discuss.
General Notes
This segment talks about my overall feelings after having read each chapter for the first time in about 9 years.
Well, I mentioned before a number of different influences that inspired me in creating this book, but one that wasn’t mentioned but is relevant here is Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series of books. Being set in a fictional universe, most of his books have an introduction that sets up the world, generally introducing the theme or mystical element unique to the book rather than focussing on the plot or characters, much as I have done. He is also very concise, whereas I have taken liberties with the pacing and been quite self-indulgent. And, he has humour which I have failed to employ.
But what am I setting up? We drift around in space, and I set up some important story elements - that of aliens evacuating one planet, seeking home on another, and also setting up the terrible impact (as much as I was able to imagine it) of the Great War. But really, is that set up particularly important? Especially the great war aspect. As one publisher put it, why bother to set it in that time period? I thought I was being original. True, Cowboys vs Aliens came out some years later, but I wanted the humans to be at a disadvantage, certainly compared with the technology that we have today where we can nuke everybody and everything. Also, there was an anti-war sentiment, me being a nice, little pacifist and all. Having come out of one war, the last thing the humans want is another war. William’s intention is also to avoid war, but the Trascons, with their entitlement, are prepared to take the Earth at all costs. However, admittedly, that doesn’t come across so strongly in the final book, at least not that I remember. I could be wrong.
Should I then have spent more time in setting up the characters? Well, the first person narrative from both the major characters throughout the book does a good job in setting themselves up. So, I can argue no. But what about Holly? I’m not going to talk about her much today, let’s give it a few chapters until she really is established before I start getting into that. But was there any reason to set her up at all? I don’t think so. And why didn’t I read this opening chapter in a female voice? And Holly is definitely female! Two reasons, creative reasons that I have made in the nine years since I last touched this book. Because I don’t think she should have ever been the narrator. And secondly, she is only revealed very late in the chapter as being the narrator, and it would have been a bit strange me reading this in a female voice (an attempt of) without any apparent reason whatsoever for so long. And it just makes the final reveal that bit more humorous, I hope. So, was there a reason for this chapter at all? Could I have done without it?
So, what might my intentions have been here? I was clearly trying to establish events prior to the beginning of the story. Alien worlds need some explaining, but also the immediate post war world of 1918 is a very alien concept to us as well. I’m placing us, the reader, as the outsiders in my book, showing only slices instead of bringing in the reader and immersing them. Showing, not telling is immersive, however, I’m telling, not showing which equals outsider status and distance for the reader.
Also, this opening chapter is at huge odds with the rest of the book, inside the character’s heads being told as a first person narrative. Again, I may be guilty there of telling not showing by using first person narration, but it certainly is immersive as I dig deep into the characters’ psyches and the conflicting emotions that explain the actions that they eventually take. This opening chapter is told by a narrator, again distancing us from immersion, and just flinging us around space without establishing us anywhere particular. In fact, all that zooming in and out of space reminds me of Google Earth, which was not invented in those days, and with the movie Cowboys vs Aliens not to mention a few other ideas I’ve had that were trumped by big releases with the same concept as I was planning them out or drafting them show that I’ve been ahead of the curve a few times by having ideas that became reality and deeply frustrating me. Call me mr Zeitgeist.
I think of this as being quite a visual chapter, though as we move around I describe very little visually but go into more of the historic and emotional content of each item. This will become a feature of my writing throughout this book.
Ultimately, it’s hard to comment on something that is so vague and has barely been established. However, I shall try in the next few segments.
The Cutting Room Floor: What Would I Change?
This segment is pretty well self explained as my latter experiences and knowledge of storytelling help me to edit out stuff that I was too ignorant to know about nine-plus years ago. The title of this segment is a bit of a reference to how, in earlier drafts, I titled each chapter as a scene as if from a movie.
This is going to be a short segment today as I’ve already spoken much of it in the General Notes.
So, what would I change? Well, I’d make it a lot shorter for one thing. Much, much shorter. It’s a big long tease, and even then ‘tease’ is not really a good word. ‘Tedium’ would be better. A big long tedious passage. Who cares about zooming in and out of space? Just let us know what the hell’s going on, please.
How would I cut it down? Simple. Dumb chumps on planet fuck it up. They need to find a new home - Earth. Done. The rest we can find out in the story when there’s actually something going on.
Also, I can’t help but notice towards the beginning that I use the word ‘star’ when I should have said ‘planet’. Dumb shit like that on the first page of my manuscript is a good indicator of why people are not going to take me seriously.
What did Change?
Okay, so I need a better title for that segment, that will come in the future.
But here I go into the differences between a very early draft and the latest, the one that I’m reading from. There are four key drafts. The first was written as a film, though it resembles more of a play as that was the medium I was most comfortable with having already written a couple of plays for my GCSE course back in the mid 90’s. Also plays don’t need all the fiddly bits like descriptions or heavy actions. Certainly mine didn’t. They do, however, need good dialogue, which I substituted with cheap laughs. The version I am comparing with is the draft where I took the script and converted it dialogue for dialogue but with a handful of extra details for reading purposes into a book. I shan’t explain too much, but merely hold it up as to how a story can really change over various drafts, time, and a few extra life experiences. There was an intermediary draft, where I really went to town scribbling and doodling over every page and adding in all the surrealism. I was being an artist, and in the spirit of punk, destroying my own work. I shall talk about that at a later date. Please stick with this podcast, as I can’t talk about all of it in the first episode. And there are quite a few teasers, aren’t there?
I haven’t read this early version for maybe 15 years if not more, so it’s going to come as a big surprise to me, as I’m far more used to the “experimental and arty” version. Just so that you know, it was last edited on Sunday at 10:14 am January 13th, 1980. Which was before I was born. But at least proves that I wrote it on the hand-me-down computer that I had before leaving my parents’ home. And all other related documents from that era are dated around 1998. So, it was last modified sometime during that year.
So what did change in this opening chapter? Well, I’m amazed actually by what stayed as the two opening chapters are so very different from each other. What stayed was really the inspiration for the zooming-in-and-out-of-space-Terry-Pratchett thing. This is the paragraph where it describes Earth as not being the oldest or youngest, biggest or smallest, or most important planet. Maybe a couple of changes here and there, but it’s pretty much verbatim, and must be the only surviving paragraph, from such an early version. A fossil left over, but reminding me that there was brilliance and life and a spark long before I decided to be an art student about the whole thing.
What absolutely definitely did change was the vast amount of spelling errors in that early draft. Spell check was not option back in those days, not for me on an already very old computer. Also, I had zero typing skills back in those days. Here’s an example of just one sentence: “Howver, Earth has no lionger become important to just its inhabitants.” Things like that may explain why I basically failed my exams at school.
But the biggest change is that in the early draft there was (shock and horror) some actual narrative. Not quite a three arc storyline, nor involving any of our characters, but something actually does happen. The narrator (not Holly - she hadn’t been conceived yet) moves us quickly onto Earth - ROOTING US SOMEWHERE! London, in fact, because why would aliens be interested in the States, other than it just being a large landmass? Surely they would want to go somewhere important, right? Dying days of the British Empire!
A flying saucer approaches London attracting some attention then pulls up a guy via a beam, as well as another woman, obviously panicking the rest of the spectators. We then go into a darkened room - another definite location, even though we don’t know the details yet. A spotlight illuminates the man tied to a chair. A probe is revealed - is this a suggestion of dramatic tension? A novice alien scientist worries about his first test session. But as a senior alien points out, it’s just a human. But the probe only goes down the throat - ha! tricked you! Until the senior points out a better way of inserting the probe.
So, why did all that go? Ironically, I thought it was unnecessary, and didn’t contribute anything to the actual story. Nor did it set up the tone of the new arty direction that I wanted to go in during later drafts. Also, I felt the humour was a bit weak, and the whole thing was a bit obvious. After all, that’s what aliens do, isn’t it? Just insert probes up dark passages. But, to be fair, that first version of the opening chapter does actually nicely set up the tone and humour of the original draft.
Also, more importantly, it’s concise and it doesn’t waffle on. Funny how you ignore the things you know, sometimes.
Quote of the day
Deep and profound, as well as philosophical. I attempted to be that. Who knew that these words put together could be a synonym for pretentious twaddle. This is a segment where I dig out the quote in each chapter that best matches that description in my attempts to be up there in the famous quotes of all time with the likes of Churchill, Shakespeare and Star Wars.
And what have I got for you today? Well, this is a chapter where there is not much in the way of context, so it’s hard to achieve a universal meaning when there’s nothing going on. And isn’t that what the best quotes are all about? Being able to stand apart from the context they were placed and be stand alone lines? No. That’s sound-biting, and consequently such quotes are easily manipulable. And that is certainly what I achieved.
Today’s quote has to be the opening line. As all opening lines are important in setting up the tone and style of the book. And what do I have for you? “Space, as you may know, is what makes up this universe.” I love this line for its ability to say absolutely nothing, and yet patronise you at the same time. Wonderful. Actually, for years, I was mistaken about what the opening line actually was, merging the proper opening line with one of the following lines, to get “Space, as you may know, is made up of nothing,” which, though not in the book, seems to me a much better opening line. Again, it patronises, passing meaningless and bland content as something profound and deep, and yet basically sums up the novel. Or at least the point of the novel. So, a bastardisation of a quote, which is great for the first episode, but that’s what I have for you today. Screw you. I do what I want.
Cheesiest Moment
Another self-explanatory item, so I shall not explain. I’ve mentioned this before, but the cheesiest moment is certainly the reveal of Holly as the narrator. Again, as previously mentioned, I’m not going to talk about this character yet, as she really needs a lot of explaining, and is best done when you know more about her. Holly was a late addition to the opening chapter as she was a character that I became to obsess over more and more as I rewrote the book through many drafts and revisions and she developed into something more. Essentially there is no point in establishing her before we even meet the two main characters, and the tantalising tease of who or what she is supposed to represent is pretty bloody obvious. I’m not going to spell it out for you, you make your own interpretations. But for me, it’s a tease as subtle as being punched on the nose, regardless of whether or not I know in advance who she is. In terms of craftsmanship, it’s as skilled a writing device as finger paintings stuck to a fridge with magnets.
Shining Light
In this section, I highlight something that I actually like about the chapter. After all, I need something to perk me up, and I can’t continually trash on my adolescence. I did have my moments, and many people (not publishers - the arseholes) did like a lot of the writing that I produced in that period. I performed a lot of my writing both at school and university, where I studied drama, and I often got real applause and laughter. I did have something, even if I didn’t know what it was or how to use it. I still don't, unfortunately.
But for today, the moment I am most pleased with are the descriptions of William and Ginger. And the boldness I took to set up their conflicts so early on - we haven’t even met them yet, don’t know who they are, haven’t invested in them, couldn’t care less. So, some may say that’s bad writing, but I like to buck the trend a bit. Again, this is telling, not showing (I studied a scriptwriting course at Master’s Degree level - I had that mantra kicked into me). However, when I lose sight of the characters later on, it’s nice to have a reminder of what I was attempting to do, and who the characters were supposed to be and represent, as well as their strengths, weaknesses, goals and desires.
I went through many attempts at trying to define these two, and I think this is the best, certainly the most concise. Though, if you listen back to Episode 0, where I read out a synopsis I sent to publishers, you can get more info about the two characters. It’s a shame then, that my shining light for this week is almost carelessly discarded right at the end of an overlong and meandering chapter when the reader has most likely zoned out.
The Psychologist's Chair
XBook uses a lot of heavy surrealism as well as dreams that I had that I incorporated into the story. We can debate why and the effectiveness in later episodes when all that starts to come out strongly, but that is the reason for this segment. Here, I want to look at the symbolism deployed throughout each chapter, certainly the ones where Ginger is involved, as well as the themes and personal issues that both the characters are going through, dissect them and apply them back to my younger self to work out where my head space was during writing this. Now, when I was studying film at uni, and we did a module on psychoanalysis, it was drummed into me that you never psychoanalyse the director or the writer, only the text of the movie. However, seeing as I am the author, and I can control the information given out, I don’t mind breaking that cardinal rule.
However, for a book that will use a lot of surrealism, there really isn’t anything surreal in this opening chapter, again not setting up the style too well, and not giving me much to play with in this segment.
Not to say that there’s nothing here. After all, let’s look at where we are - flying around through space, and I, as narrator, am piloting that movement. I’m basically playing God here, aren’t I? One can’t help but think that I am the Almighty Being doing a part-time job as a tour guide.
One of the major themes that I go for in this chapter is contrasting calm and chaos in various forms. Calm is the mask that one wears, the perception that I want people to have towards me, yet inside of that calm is the chaos, which is the angst hidden deep within my psyche, smaller and made up of many divisible items yet ultimately drives me on. I think of a Rolls Royce looking sleek and smooth and quiet, yet the engine is just a mass of frantically whirring cogs, radiators boiling, things grinding against each other. And at some point, even with a Rolls, everything is going to break down and the inner dirty, greasy, smoking workings revealed.
Masks, angst, flinging us around the endless vastness of space, I clearly had issues of powerlessness as a poor student, working hard for poor grades and never getting the girl. That’s what makes a God complex. I’d like to think I’m more adjusted now.
Closing
That’s it. That’s the first chapter. No characters, no plot, no location, no conflict, no goals, no normality. Everything that every screenwriting book, and creative writing book I have read says should be in the first few pages is not there. I did write this before doing a screenwriting course, and this is a novel, not a movie script. But still, I buck my early intuition and go for… nothing. This is a difficult chapter to pull apart, because it doesn’t help you, the listener, really understand anything about this book.
However, in next week’s installment, we shall see the introduction of Ginger Jeeves, and his attempts to get a little bit of leave from the British armed forces over the Christmas period. Not only that, but we also get to meet some of the other periphery characters that may or may not antagonise Ginger along his journey. I hope that you come back for that. Don’t judge this book on this first chapter, please. Judge it for the rest of the shit you’re going to hear.
If you’ve enjoyed this, and feel you have your own interpretations of this opening chapter, please feel free to leave a comment on Facebook or Twitter at DanielsNemesis - all one word and no apostrophe. Addresses can be found in the show notes. Also, if you just want to say something generally supportive, please do. I feel that ripping apart my young self is going to get a bit depressing and soul destroying, and so if you can find something to support the twenty year old me, please do, as he deserves a voice in all this as well. I shall be adding more comments there, on Facebook and Twitter, as I will no doubt think of funnier or better things after a bit more processing.
This is also my first ever podcast, so any suggestions you can make to improve the quality of this - I know the sound quality is not the best, I shall invest in better stuff - but also any suggestions as to how to improve any of the segments, or anything, would be very much appreciated.
I hope to have you all along with me in the next edition of this podcast which will be Chapter Two - The Story According to Ginger, Part One.
Thank you for giving me your time today, and it’s time to say farewell, TTFN, Toodle Pipski.
And just in case you were wondering,
all text was written by me, Daniel’s Nemesis and XBook is purely a work of fiction and is not meant to be based on anyone or any events at all.
The music was also by me, Daniel’s Nemesis as was the image that accompanies this podcast.
It sucks, doesn’t it?
But there we go.