A new book, with exercises for writers

Today I’ve been finishing a lot of edits on a new book. It’s very short, an exercise book, and very verbal and conceptual. I’ve just realised it probably has a lot to do with balancing out the very emotional book I did earlier in the year, the one about my breakdown.

I’m guessing here, but I think part of me wanted to bounce away from that towards something analytical and playful. It’s about choosing the right words and using the right rhetorical approaches for different situations. I enjoy it. It’s a very different part of me, but it is a part of me.

The book also includes images. I’ve put in four or five drawings, and what excites me about them is that each one asks me to create something metaphorical. I have to translate a concept into something visual, which has always appealed to me. It’s a different approach from the bright, colourful portraits and landscapes I usually make. These are line drawings, messy and scrappy, and not trying to look polished.

They’re monochrome, except for one picture where I’ve inserted a spectrum of bright colours, for a thematic reason.

I like the idea that all the colour in this 44-page book amounts to a single strip, about a centimetre long and three or four millimetres deep. That makes it feel like a real treasure.

What I really want to do now is test the exercises with real people, live, and see what results they get. The next step is to print some copies and invite people to join me as I work it all out.

This has been an episode of Voice Notes To The World, with me, John-Paul Flintoff. If you fancy trying the exercises with me live, reply and let me know.

jp at this domain name.