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Roddy Doyle

1 Do not place a photograph of your ­favourite author on your desk, especially if the author is one of the famous ones who committed suicide.

2 Do be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph ­–

3 Until you get to Page 50. Then calm down, and start worrying about the quality. Do feel anxiety – it’s the job.

4 Do give the work a name as quickly as possible. Own it, and see it. Dickens knew Bleak House was going to be called Bleak House before he started writing it. The rest must have been easy.

5 Do restrict your browsing to a few websites a day. Don’t go near the online bookies – unless it’s research.

6 Do keep a thesaurus, but in the shed at the back of the garden or behind the fridge, somewhere that demands travel or effort. Chances are the words that come into your head will do fine, eg “horse”, “ran”, “said”.

7 Do, occasionally, give in to temptation. Wash the kitchen floor, hang out the washing. It’s research.

8 Do change your mind. Good ideas are often murdered by better ones. I was working on a novel about a band called the Partitions. Then I decided to call them the Commitments.

9 Do not search amazon.co.uk for the book you haven’t written yet.

10 Do spend a few minutes a day working on the cover biog – “He divides his time between Kabul and Tierra del Fuego.” But then get back to work.

sapte scriitori, publicati si nepublicati, si-au pus prozele in plicuri.
plicurile se afla intr-o cutie.
cutia se afla in ceainaria ramayana si in curind in alte ceainarii si cafenele.
puteti cere povestiri cind comandati ceaiul sau cafeaua.
se asorteaza cu ceasca, zaharul brun si lingurita.
titlurile povestirile si numele autorilor se afla intr-un meniu separat.
in acest moment, o cutie doldora de proze se afla la tirgul de martisor de la MTR, chiar la intrarea in cafenea.
cred ca e un cadou misto pentru cineva care n-ar citi o carte intreaga.

nici nu stii cind ti se face chef sa citesti!

De cite ori vad un baiat cu floare in mina ma induiosez. Se afla intr-un moment important al vietii: la prima intilnire, dupa o cearta care a pus in pericol viitorul relatiei, sau e Valentine’s Day. Oricare ar fi situatia, baiatul cu floarea in mina crede ca tija terminata in petale ii va intari demersul romantic. |ntr-un fel, baiatul cu floarea in mina se foloseste de floare, asa cum un batrin se foloseste de un toiag. |l ajuta sa mearga inainte. Dintr-un alt punct de vedere, planta rupta de care o stringe in palma transpirata e o unealta de vrajire. Daca samanul foloseste plantele in fierturi, baiatul cu floarea in mina o foloseste intreaga, ca pe o bagheta magica. In ambele cazuri rezultatul e nesigur, dar ambele imagini, ale baiatului cu floarea in mina indreptindu-se increzator spre o intilnire si cea a batrinului care arunca frunze sau tulpini intr-un ceaun au intrat in imaginarul colectiv. La citeva secunde dupa intilnire, baiatul cu floarea in mina redevine un simplu baiat, iar fata se transforma in fata cu floarea in mina. |ntre o fata simpla si o fata cu o floare in mina exista mari diferente. |n primul rind, cind se va intoarce acasa, toata lumea va sti ca a fost la o intilnire. Dar pina la acest fericit moment, fata cu floarea in mina va avea miinile blocate pe toata perioada cit dureaza intilnirea. Fata cu floarea in mina va plimba tot timpul intilnirii floarea dintr-o mina in alta. Nu se va simti in largul ei decit in momentul cind o va lasa pe masa ca sa se refugieze in toaleta. Gradul de stinjeneala e direct proportional cu marimea florii. Se cunosc cazuri in care au facut cale intoarsa cind si-au zarit partenerul tinindu-se de o gladiola. Un sondaj facut printre fete a relevat ca ghiocelul pare cea mai potrivita floare pentru primele intilniri. Poate fi purtat cu usurinta, pierdut prin buzunar, mascat de telefon, ascuns in tocul de ochelari. Dar ghiocelul e o floare de sezon. E cazul ca florariile sa se adapteze la cerintele contemporane si sa ofere sortimente noi de flori, care sa le reduca forma intr-atit incit sa ramina doar un simbol: floarea pliabila, floarea comestibila, floarea telescopica, floarea gonflabila si, minunea tehnologiei, floarea-holograma.

pagina , originally uploaded by jean_lorin.

Ce se intampla cand fiecare pagina dintr-o carte inspira un alt cititor? Obtinem o carte noua, pe care si-au lasat impresiile de lectura 186 de ilustratori, corectori, redactori si comentatori - pe scurt, coautori.

Pentru ca fiecare cititor este un autor, Editura Vellant a pregatit doua editii ale aceleiasi carti: una in care autorul este singurul stapan pe text, alta in care fiecare pagina este insemnata de un alt cititor.

In total, 186 de pagini personalizate de 186 de cititori.

Vino joi, 25 februarie, h19:00, in mansarda Carturesti, sa-i cunosti si sa afli care este cartea surpriza!

Printre coautorii inspirati se numara Alexandru Andries, Matei Branea, Marius Chivu, Iulian Comanescu, Marius Constantinescu, Florin Dumitrescu, Dumitru Gorzo, Alexandrina Hristov, Ada Milea, Pisica Patrata, Costi Rogozanu si multi alti prieteni ai editurii Vellant.

cum as fi si eu, la pagina 180, cu ajutorul miinii lui gilu.

recent am fost prezent la penultimul tur din muzeul de arta modesta de apartament (M.A.M.A.)
muzeul e situat intr-un apartament situat pe linga hristo botev, in apropiere de spitalul coltea.
se ajunge ca, si la lorgean theatre sau galeria 29, numai cu invitatie sau daca stii pe cineva invitat.
pe mine m-a adus cineva. eram curios sa vad si alte manifestari ale artei de apartament. pe luiza o stiam de la nenumarate evenimente ale urbei, dar nu schimbasem niciodata mai mult de citeva replici.
n-am de gind sa descriu ce am vazut, doar luiza o poate face, ea fiind artist, curator, gazda, ghid. din ce mi-a spus, n-a interesat-o publicitatea asa ca e putin probabil sa gasiti alte marturii in afara blogurilor.
in casa ei am vazut cele mai multe obiecte din orice casa vizitata pina acum. credeam ca eu am multe, dar am constatat ca la mine nu sint nici 20% fata de ce am vazut in cele trei camere al muzeului.
am adus si noi un obiect, (ca la lorgean theatre), iar la sfirsit s-a facut o tombola (ca la galeria 29 a lui mircea nicolae) si fiecare vizitator (n-am fost mai multi de zece) a primit unul dintre obiectele celorlalti, astfel ca expozitia a ramas intacta pentru ultima editie.
am dus o pereche de sosete curate, am primit o piatra si un nas de clovn.
pe linga starea de confort oferita de lucruri familiare, m-am bucurat si de instalatiile construite din materiale reciclabile.
practic, am asistat la un fel de performance al istoriei personale, reprezentata prin material culture.
de preferat oricarei expozitii la mnac.
si, ca la orice eveniment situat in spatiul domestic, a urmat o socializare nefortata.
casa a fost intotdeauna un spatiu folosit pentru happeninguri si evenimente artistice, dar pina acum am intilnit doar trei proiecte care s-au bazat pe concepte coerente de integrare si valorificare a spatiului casnic.
M.A.M.A. e unul dintre ele.

Margaret Atwood

1 Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can’t sharpen it on the plane, because you can’t take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils.

2 If both pencils break, you can do a rough sharpening job with a nail file of the metal or glass type.

3 Take something to write on. Paper is good. In a pinch, pieces of wood or your arm will do.

4 If you’re using a computer, always safeguard new text with a ­memory stick.

5 Do back exercises. Pain is distracting.

6 Hold the reader’s attention. (This is likely to work better if you can hold your own.) But you don’t know who the reader is, so it’s like shooting fish with a slingshot in the dark. What ­fascinates A will bore the pants off B.

7 You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip on reality. This latter means: there’s no free lunch. Writing is work. It’s also gambling. You don’t get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but ­essentially you’re on your own. ­Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don’t whine.

8 You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious page of a new book, because you wrote the thing. You’ve been backstage. You’ve seen how the rabbits were smuggled into the hat. Therefore ask a reading friend or two to look at it before you give it to anyone in the publishing business. This friend should not be someone with whom you have a ­romantic relationship, unless you want to break up.

9 Don’t sit down in the middle of the woods. If you’re lost in the plot or blocked, retrace your steps to where you went wrong. Then take the other road. And/or change the person. Change the tense. Change the opening page.

10 Prayer might work. Or reading ­something else. Or a constant visual­isation of the holy grail that is the finished, published version of your resplendent book.

pornind de la cele zece reguli ale scrisului ale lui elmore leonard, the guardian a cerut mai multor autori sa-si expuna propriile reguli. pentru diversitatea lor, mi se pare ca merita un miniserial. am mai citit pe tema asta volumul lui stephen king despre scris dar am gasit sfaturile lui anoste.

elmore leonard

1 Never open a book with weather. If it’s only to create atmosphere, and not a charac­ter’s reaction to the weather, you don’t want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead look­ing for people.

2 Avoid prologues: they can be ­annoying, especially a prologue ­following an introduction that comes after a foreword. But these are ordinarily found in non-fiction. A prologue in a novel is backstory, and you can drop it in anywhere you want.

3 Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue. The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But “said” is far less intrusive than “grumbled”, “gasped”, “cautioned”, “lied”. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with “she asseverated” and had to stop reading and go to the dictionary.

4 Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said” . . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances “full of rape and adverbs”.

5 Keep your exclamation points ­under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful.

6 Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose”. This rule doesn’t require an explanation. I have noticed that writers who use “suddenly” tend to exercise less control in the application of exclamation points.

7 Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly. Once you start spelling words in dialogue phonetically and loading the page with apos­trophes, you won’t be able to stop. Notice the way Annie Proulx captures the flavour of Wyoming voices in her book of short stories Close Range.

8 Avoid detailed descriptions of characters, which Steinbeck covered. In Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”, what do the “Ameri­can and the girl with him” look like? “She had taken off her hat and put it on the table.” That’s the only reference to a physical description in the story.

9 Don’t go into great detail describing places and things, unless you’re ­Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language. You don’t want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.

10 Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them.

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10: if it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

duminica trecuta am hotarit sa facem repetitie desi ne aflam in tari diferite. eu in romania, alexandra in germania, edi si maria in serbia. nu conta locul unde eram, important era sa facem in aceeasii si la aceeasi ora lucruri ca si cum am fi impreuna. am fost un pic avantajat, fiind singurul care puteam sa accesez sala unde ne intilnim de obicei. mi-a venit ideea sa chem oameni cu acelasi nume. am avut norocul sa gasesc rapid prieteni pe care nu-i mai vazusem de mult si care aveau afinitati cu muzica. a iesit cu ceva foarte asemanator cu unele dintre repetitiile obisnuite. tot ce conteaza sint aparentele qed.

tudor octavian ne-a povestit la un curs sau la o intilnire sau a scris intr-un articol despre un pictor care s-a facut cunoscut pentru faptul ca intr-o vreme folosea intensiv o culoare.
toti criticii vorbeau cu admiratie despre obsesia monocroma a artistului si perioada respectiva din viata lui a fost numita perioada bej sau verde, nu mai tin minte culoarea, dar nu era albastru si nici pictorul nu era picasso.
de fapt, in acea perioada pictorul era sarac si nu-si permitea alte culori decit pe cea primita gratis de la un confrate intr-o cantitate mare.
cam asa e si cu proiectele mele: fie ca e vorba de antropologie, teatru sau film experimental, toate sint localizate in spatiul privat. ma invirt in aceeasi zona, indiferent de ceea ce fac. poate ca acesti ani vor fi denumiti cindva perioada “domestica”.
cauza e aceeasi.
nu credeam ca o sa ajung sa consum atit pateu vegetal, desi nu sint vegetarian.

dupa doua saptamini fara net (scriind acum acest inceput de fraza, mi-am amintit ca am scris cindva un scenariu intitulat “dimineti fara net”, ramas nefilmat, ca mai toate), m-am hotarit sa merg intr-un internet cafe.
cind m-am intors acasa, netul functiona.