JONATHAN S BEAN

Writing, art, etc.

[jonathansbean]

Lonely Goat Running Club

I’m pleased to announce that I have a freelance professional writing gig, producing articles and content for Lonely Goat Running Club.  My first couple of pieces are already up: information on Parkrun; and a beginners’ guide to marathons.

[jonathansbean]

I finally got round to reading ‘Animal Farm’. Somehow, despite having read quite a lot of Orwell, this one had escaped me. It really is a very good book and has made me think about how to write tight, punchy stories. Books don’t need to be long to be impressive. It also got me wondering whether I would have appreciated it quite so much if I didn’t have a prior understanding of the Soviet Revolution and Stalinism...

[jonathansbean]

Salt crust on my skin; a welcome reminder of a lunch break well spent.

Jonathan S Bean, ‘Haiku 10/07/18′, https://www.instagram.com/p/BlDupe1B-KL/

[jonathansbean]

She was raised to believe the best day of your life should be the final one. Determined to ensure it would be exciting she hid in the back of the farmer's truck after the apple harvest. As the truck raced around the bend at the top of the mountain she jumped and, briefly, flew.

Jonathan S Bean, ‘Untitled, 01.11.18′, https://www.instagram.com/p/BppXn7dgON5/

[jonathansbean]

The zero draft of my novel idea is all typed up...

...and it’s possible that the vast majority of it will never get used.

I’ve been working on a novel idea for a while now, and earlier this year I finally completed a first draft of it - though I’ve since decided to call this my zero draft.  Why?

Because partway through writing this draft, two things happened:

1) I read ‘Release the Bats’ by DBC Pierre, which made me reconsider whether the story I was writing was the one I wanted to write.

2) I did an experimental fiction course at the University of Southampton, which made me consider whether a different structure might be better.

The result of these two factors is that I decided a very different story, and a fairly experimental structure would be better for what I was trying to explore with this novel idea.  However, I was loathe to completely ditch the draft, as I had put a lot of work into it.  So I kept writing it, in the same style as I had started it, before going straight to the beginning and starting again.

A few weeks ago I decided to type up the zero draft and get it out of my notebook and onto the relative safety of a computer (all backed up, naturally).  The other day, finished this typing and - even though I will probably use very little of what I have written - I’m pleased to say that I have written a novel. 

It’s not a very good one, and will no doubt go through many iterations before I get it to resemble something I can be pleased with, but I have finally put c.50,000 words of a story down.  That’s something to be proud of, I feel, and I had moments where I wasn’t sure I would ever get to this stage. 

Now, though, I’ve gone back to the beginning again, and I am probably a third to halfway through my second first draft of my Nazi-hunting patricide novel idea.  With a bit of effort, I may even finish this by the end of the year, but I’m not going to rush it for the sake of hitting a target.  After all, I’ve already done that.

[jonathansbean]

More on Arthur Conan Doyle

As mentioned elsewhere on this site, I’ve been working my way through Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novels.

I was expecting them to be fun and that I would enjoy reading them, but I was surprised by how well constructed they are.  I have found two elements of Doyle’s writing particularly interesting:

* His metafictive techniques

* His effective navigation of the opportunities and limitations of first person testimony.

The two elements are often combined and are essential parts of what makes the texts work.

If you’ll excuse the potential spoilers to come...  consider the story within a story to be found in A Study in Scarlet.  It makes up a significant portion of the whole story, and its appearance initially comes as a shock.  As we read on, it becomes apparent that this story within the story explains the mystery being investigated, though we have to read on  to reveal the truth.  This is a far more effective, and ultimately believable means of revealing the reasons for the antagonist’s actions than a straightforward confessional section.

Also, we, the reader, know that we are reading Watson’s accounts of his and Holmes’ adventures.  They are usually written in the third person, in the past tense.  This can work for the bulk of the stories, but there are occasional moments when the present tense, or a different approach is necessary - either to expedite the story, break up the rhythm, or some other reason.  In these instances, Doyle is comfortable with changing things.  As an example, consider Watson’s letters to Holmes which feature in The Hound of the Baskervilles.  The format is perfect for the part of the story that is being told, and doesn’t grate at all, due to our prior awareness that we are reading Watson’s account.

The story I’m currently working on is epistolary in construction, based on the diary entries of the protagonist, as that is the format that best serves what I’m trying to do.  However, there are moments when that format proves tricky to work with, and it is in those instances that I’ve been able to ask myself, ‘What would Doyle do?’

[jonathansbean]

Nothing left, but white shoes and black ash.

An octonovu poem.

[jonathansbean]

Shadow mice turn to stone as I pass

I had this line in my head after going for a run in the New Forest.  I thought I had seen a mouse in my peripheral vision, but it was just the shadow cast by a stone in the early morning light.

After fiddling around with it for a bit, I realised I couldn’t improve on it, so decided to let it be:  All 8 words and 9 syllables of it.

After I posed the question on Twitter, as to whether this could be a poem, Graeme Sandford suggested that I declare it to be a new poetry form.  And so, the Octonovu was born.

8 words.  9 syllables.  Those are the only rules.

I would love to see some more octonovu (it’s both singular and plural - like sheep), so please send me any you come up with.

Also, if you would like to see more things I have drawn, have a look at my Instagram account.  Thanks :-)

[jonathansbean]

“Maratón de Fugue” published in Like the Wind issue 16

Earlier this year I did a short evening course on Experimental Fiction at the University of Southampton. One of the texts we covered was William Gass' 'A Fugue'. I wrote my fugue as an attempt to adapt something I've experienced to a structure more usually found in classical music. I think it worked, and so did Like the Wind (thanks guys). The illustration Alex Murphy has done for it is perfect, but you'll just have to find a copy of the magazine to see it. If you've not read LtW, you should - even if you're not into running. It's contains great writing, illustration and photography, and is all put together in a great looking, proper bound magazine with quality paper. They support new writers and I'm really pleased to have had work in a handful of their issues.

[jonathansbean]

I entered the Bridport Prize

The Bridport Prize is kind of a big deal in the literary world - certainly amongst unsigned, unpublished authors.  You can read about it at www.bridportprize.org.uk/

I submitted a piece that I haven’t posted here, on Instagram, or anywhere - as that would invalidate it from the competition - but I’m proud of it and would be over the moon if it was shortlisted, let alone won.

The competition has a lot of high quality entries, so the odds are against me, but creating work I’m proud of, and putting it out into the world like this, is all part of the process of getting to the point where someone wants to put my work into print.

Fingers crossed...

[jonathansbean]

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed (or cares) that I haven't posted much on here for a while. You may or might not be interested, but I've been trying to crack on with my novel idea. Here's the opening two lines. They'll probably be completely different by the time I finish this thing (which is likely to be a long time from now...).

[jonathansbean]

Review: ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I’ll admit, this wasn’t what I expected, despite being familiar with the story from the recent film and its strong presence within popular culture.

I was expecting the descriptions of glitz and glamour, the opulence and the decadence.  What struck me though, was the subtle portrayal of the relationships, and the gradual unraveling of the Gatsby mystery.  It’s a well-written book and parts of the story are great fun to read, but it is the human element that makes it an exceptional book.

Worth a read.

[jonathansbean]

The bird diviner

I’m excited to announce that an illustration of mine has been used for Cara Bowen’s piece, ‘The bird diviner’, in Like the Wind issue 15.

For those interested in such things, it’s a pen and ink drawing, scanned, and then edited in Affinity Designer.

You can buy it from http://www.likethewindmagazine.com/shop and the very best magazine shops.

[jonathansbean]

Reviews:  ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘The Shape of Water’

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve seen both ‘Lady Bird’ and ‘The Shape of Water’.  Yes, this site is about writing (with the odd bit of other stuff), but I’ve been thinking a lot about these films, why they work, and whether I can learn anything from them that can improve my own writing.

Very probably contains spoilers...

These are both very well crafted stories.  Much of what makes ‘The Shape of Water’ such a good film are the costumes, the production design, the water, and other non-story elements.  The characterisation is also so strong - this is despite (or due to?) having a protagonist that cannot speak. 

I’m not an expert, so I can’t say why or how it works, but I do now that it has inspired me to think about characterisation, character voice, and non-standard means of telling a protagonist’s story.

The same is true of ‘Lady Bird’, as it too has got me thinking about my own writing.  It bears similarities to some of my favourite novels:  American literature where nothing overly dramatic (at least, not in a spectacular, globally significant way.  The events are very significant to a teenager and her mother) seems to happen, yet the story and the characters are captivating.  You don’t need explosions, conspiracies, and action to hold an audience’s attention.

The protagonists in ‘Lady Bird’ are capable of being model family members, enemies, pains in the arse, and everything inbetween.  They feel like real people with real relationships, not caricatures, and that seems, to me, to be what works.  If I can get that depth, with the right level of subtlety in my own writing, then I’ll be very happy indeed.

[jonathansbean]

Review:  “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick

I enjoyed this.  I watched Blade Runner years ago and though I couldn’t remember any of the details, I was aware of the general premise.

That said, the book wasn’t entirely what I expected.  I may need to revisit the film to see if this is the case there too, but what I really enjoyed was the way Dick’s style gives a voice to Deckard, the principal character.

Particularly, the shift in how Deckard deals with death.  Spoiler alert:  The first time Deckard kills a replicant it is matter-of-fact, with no fanfare.  It’s a job and something that happens.  As the book progresses, this changes into a more emotionally involved act, reflected in the way Deckard refers to it.

Dick does this very efficiently without resorting to extensively describing the emotions.  It’s apparent from the words used.  That sparsity, without being too severe, is really satisfying to read when done right - like Dick has.

Well worth a read.

[jonathansbean]

Holding stories back

I’m pretty new to this writing lark.  It’s only just been brought to my attention that journals and other publishers may not be keen on publishing work that has already appeared on this website or other social media sites.

Those that have already been posted, I’ll keep up, but I’m going to start getting more selective on what I post.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that you, dear reader, are only going to see my rejected works on this site.  Rather, there’s certain things that are better suited to posting here and some that might stand a chance of being included elsewhere.

Rest assured, that if anything is published elsewhere, I’ll make sure to let you know.

[jonathansbean]

“Flowchart”

(structure exercise one)

An attempt to see if I could write a story as a flowchart.