Robert Allen

I’m in the Second Cup in the Gare Centrale. It’s the Wednesday night Nanowrimo meet and Caro and I came to see what they do and who they are. We were the first ones here, the third one being a Concordia Creative Writing student. I asked him if he knew Robert Allen. He answered no, and informed me of his death, two or three weeks ago.

The last time we communicated was in February, a short while after Anne informed me of his skin cancer diagnosis. When I heard back from her last summer, she mentioned that he was doing better. Then he had a launch for a book of poetry. And now he’s no longer with us. He’s left behind a son and several books, one of which he gave to me.

Without Robert, the course of my MA thesis would have been quite different. Gail Scott told me to consult him for ideas about new “experimental” writers. He was the Editor of Matrix magazine and knew many young and talented authors. I called him and he invited me to visit him in his Concordia office, which overlooked the central hallway in the Birks building. I remember barging into the calm abode, panting and sweaty in my winter coat. One of the first things I told him was that “this,” pointing to the radio playing the CBC classical station, was annoying, “Could we turn it off?” He was always patient and generous. He gave me books of Anne’s when I couldn’t find them at Indigo. He gave me a few cigarettes, some wine and some scotch. He sent me copies of Matrix. We talked literature. He spoke to me of the trade, and of teaching, and of the magic of poetry. He once admitted to me that he started writing to impress girls. Indeed, his quill was a fine one.

I won’t bore anyone, or myself, with my ruminations of how I should have gone to that last book launch, and how I should have emailed sooner to ask how he was doing. Instead, I’ll silently swallow my guilt, and hold many minutes of silence to his memory and honour.


Obituaries from:
Véhicule Press
Jon Paul Fiorentino

Day 18

I just wanted to share that I have passed 25,000 words.
:-)

But I'm still behind...

Day 17

I’m behind. It’s Friday night. I have told myself that I would go home only when I reach 25,000 words, at which point I will still be 2 days behind. But I’m trying not to think too much about that. Funny, it seems like some days, we just have so many words in us. Other days we are simply victims of our condition.

After work I went to Aux Derniers des humains (At The Last Humans’). Ate; wrote; left. The place got dark and loud. Headed toward the Plateau and now I’m at Caféo, a relatively new café corner St-Denis, Rachel. I’ve got the huge Le Chateau sign staring at me. I’m at 22,407. I don’t know if I can reach my objective… And I hope this place doesn’t close at 10.

Every time someone walks in or out the door, I freeze. Good. It'll keep me awake.

Day 15

In the Red Violin, one of the characters is a writer: the violinist’s girlfriend. At one point in her writing, her character goes off to Russia (or somewhere). She, being the author she is, must follow him. And so she leaves England, leaves her violinist lover, to follow her character to far away country.

I had always thought this to be silly. Frivolous, even. Fiction is fiction, right?

I’ve been sitting at my computer for an hour. I spend an hour at it each morning because it’s discipline and any few hundred words help move the whole thing forward. But this morning it’s isn’t moving forward because one of my characters has just gone to see a movie at Parc. I checked the theatre’s web site last night and it just so happens that there is a movie playing there now that just happens to start at the time my character goes to see it, and it just happens to be the type of movie my character would see. So I want him to think about it as he walks down Montreal streets, but to have him think of it I must see the movie myself. I’ve tried writing around it, but can’t unless I change characters, which isn’t called for at this time. I have two chapters left to write before closing up the first part of the book. So you see, I must see this movie.

I am aware this might be a luxurious form of procrastination. I am aware the movie might be very bad and not inspire my writing one bit. I am aware I might be imitating Bret Easton Ellis’ form of critiquing popular culture (was he ever wrong when it came to Whitney Huston and U2!). I am aware I’m doing the same frivolous thing as the passionate Red Violin lover. And I am aware that as long as I remain convinced that I can’t write around this movie, I won’t. So I guess tonight I’ll just go see it. There’s a 5:30 presentation. Besides, no warm in supporting the new Parc owner.

Ps: Yesterday I passed the 20K mark !!! :-D

Day 14

I’m again a bit behind. I didn’t write Saturday or Friday and I think another day last week. Wednesday, I think. Last week was not the best of weeks. My hormones have kicked in, and when they do they sure do appreciate taking up a lot of space. That and other stuff, of course. Because hormones almost always need something else to bounce off of.

As I was saying, tomorrow is the half-month mark. I should be close to 25 K, but instead I’m still working at reaching 20. I’m trying not to become too discouraged. I figure this book keeps surprising me, and keeps teaching me something new about myself. Not so much stuff I didn’t know than stuff I didn’t know I was telling. Every time I think the story is taking a particular turn, it gears off path and goes some other way. I recognize the route because I hear my voice in it everywhere, but surprise myself finding it there. It’s strange because none of the characters are me; the whole book is me.

Day 7

I have a confession. I wrote earlier that I have sworn myself off books until I finish mine (or the month of November, whichever comes first), but that wasn’t completely true. In the metro I sometimes read magazines (The Economist), newspapers (The Gazette or Le Devoir), or William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White’s The Element Style. It’s a book on writing. I haven’t yet made it pass the first chapter. As interesting as punctuation and syntax may be, I think many will agree that it isn’t enthralling just any old time. So I’ve been reading it slowly. Still, I figure that it’ll be a positive influence on my writing. I can’t say that I am applying everything for the simple reason that I haven’t been paying a lot of attention to punctuation and syntax, but I figure it’ll seep in some way.

Good news! My word count as of today: 12,543. 25% is already done! I’m starting to wonder about (and fret a little over) general layout; will this novel even fit nicely in 50,000 words? I might run out of space...

This evening I wrote in two Montreal cafés: Café République on Bernard (in Outremont) and Café Express on Parc/Bleury corner Milton. The Café Express has a huge table in the middle that would be perfect for a Nanowrimo write-in. Pity I only know one other person in this city who’s doing it, and there doesn’t seem to be any “regional leader.” Oh well.

Day 6

YOUPPIIEEE !!! I’ve got down 10,336 words. That’s 336 words ahead of schedule! I found a great way to quicken up the writing. It won’t work every time, unless style and perspective never changes Still, it helped tonight! ☺

A strange thing: I used to listen to authors who’d say things like “I just write; it’s the characters who lead the story. They tell me where they’re going. Sometimes they surprise me and go off in the darnest directions.” I always found that kind of talk a bit too wishy-washy for me but… it’s true! At least when you’re writing a book the way I am now. I had this one character who I thought was sheepish and shy and it turns out he’s gay, a bit violent and a total manipulator. I just finished my longest chapter on him and he’s very far from what I expected.

Truth be told, writing is exhausting. Before and after work I do this incessantly. I have no idea how this whole thing will unfold but for the moment I must admit that I’m having quite fun with it.

Day 4

I’ve written 4,640 words. Technically speaking, I’m behind. To write 50,000 words in 30 days means 1,667 words a day, or about 4 to 5 pages single-spaced. This means that four days in, I should be at 6,668 words. I’m 2,028 words behind schedule.

Caro and I went to Café Rico today, a place on Rachel Street that sales free-trade coffee. I wrote for four good hours before they kicked me out at six. I wrote six pages. I was aiming for nine, but I’m still happy. Generally, I’m better off being happy for what I’ve done than unhappy over what I haven’t yet done.

I must admit, though I am completely aware that I might not finish this project with success, my slow start doesn’t frighten me too much. Actually, it reminds me of my first road trip. I drove from Montreal to New Orleans by myself. My first stop was in Toronto, six hours away. I had a lot of trouble that first day. I stopped at Miles-Iles for a nap. In T.O. I stayed at a woman’s boarding house. I explained my driving itinerary to her, and stated that I needed to be up and out by 8. I slept in until 9:30. I left a good hour later. The drive had exhausted me! And, at one point during breakfast, my host said to me disheartedly that she did not think I would reach my destination. Well, reach it I did! The first two days were a bit hard, but once I got used to it I could drive for hours on end. One day I drove for eleven hours straight. Grant it, by the time I reached my destined Youth Hostel I was shaky and hungry and in need of some company, but eventually a five hour trip seemed short to me, like a day off. I could simply look at my map to estimate how long the drive would be. Once I got used to the road, I became very comfortable with it.

I think this might also be the case with novel writing.

In any case, if I don’t finish 50,000 words by December first, I’ll at least have quite a bit more words than on October 31st!

Nanowrimo begins!

(Written at 7 PM-ish...)

OK, I’m starting now. I’m at Café Esperanza. Caroline suggested the place. I find the name quite well suited. She hasn’t arrived yet. I just ordered because I just went running and if I don’t eat soon, I’ll faint. There’ll be some kind of film projection here tonight and they’ve been playing around with the sound/music, which is annoying. I think I’ll be discovering many Montreal cafés in the upcoming month…