Losing It

For some time now I’ve been grappling with the concept of a book on cab stories. I use the word ‘concept’ due to the fact the definitive taxi-story book is yet to be written. Can it be done and how to do it has been my dilemma these last few months.

On Monday night I carried a woman in the publishing industry and put my problem to her. The problem I have is whilst many of my cab stories read well individually, collectively they do not make a book. Namely due to the lack of a unifying theme.

I confirmed with my passenger that the only genres flourishing in the publishing game are children’s books and, narrative non-fiction such as I’m attempting. She assured me the market is waiting for such a book and encouraged me to persevere. ‘Keep the idea alive in your subconscious’, she advised, ‘then one day the answer will suddenly come to you’. Hope she’s right. It’s like a huge jigsaw with one piece missing - very frustrating.

At the same time I lamented to my passenger how I’m slowly losing my command of language. Since my immersion in computers and writing over the last few years, I’ve stopped reading books. Bringing about a noticeable decrease in language skill. Or the ability to access the exact word needed when writing my stories, which more often than not leads to settling for second best. Admittedly, most are first drafts written after work.

My passenger agreed with me when I suggested age may be responsible for this onset in degenerative memory. How depressing. ‘The words are still there’, she said. ‘It’s just you can’t reach them. You need to exercise your mind’. She advised taking up crosswords, word puzzles or the new craze, Sudoku.

As much as I loathe that sort of stuff, I may have no other choice. I can countenance losing my sight, my mobility, even my sex drive but the thought of losing my faculties scares the life out of me. And the knowledge my father in his last years developed Alzheimers Disease is cold comfort. This coupled with family telling me of late how much I’ve come to resemble my father is surely the final nail.

Nah bugger it, I refuse to go gently into the...into...you know what I mean.

Comments

[Dirk Thruster]

No problem was ever solved by worrying about it. Either you can solve the problem or you can't. If you can't , then find a way to work around it.
All you get from worrying is ulcers.

[BourbonBird]

Are you sure it's not your more paralytic passengers and their conversations with you that are making you go cross-eyed?

Like Dirk said, don't worry about it. You'll just end up with descriptors related to frustration and ire.

Your book will happen, Adrian. :)

[rola]

Yeah, Dirk and BourbonBird are right Ade. But on a lighter note, here's a tip ... if you can't find it in the Thesaurus do what narrative writers do ... go the long way round.

[dee]

Try crosswords. It worked for me. I have just passed through two, nearly three, very trying years. My mind was so scattered, at the end, that I could barely concentrate for 10 minutes straight.

Crosswords concentrate your mind and make you think - even if you have to use a thesaurus at first. It may work for you, as it did for me.

[Greg]

Yeah, try crosswords. Oops, shameless plug instead of serious suggestion.

Actually, why not short stories? They're not hugely popular in Australia from all appearances, there being so few magazines that will take one, but a collection might not do badly. (Tim Winton's latest, as I recall, was a collection.) And it isn't necessarily choosing the right word so much as saying well what you want to say, more bon mot than le mot juste, perhaps.

[PQ]

I support Greg's idea Adrian.
I think a book of short stories themed around your experiences as a cabbie would be a good read.
I have to stress that I know absolutely nothing about the publishing business, but perhaps an idea worth exploring with the industry professionals.

I have always enjoyed your "people" yarns here.

[David Crawford]

Adrian,

why not do a "Year in the Life of ..." type book. Describe both the mudane and the interesting events of a year. Sum up the changes through the year at the end of the year.

One of my favorite non-fiction books is "Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets". A writer spent a year with the Baltimore PD's Homicide Squad. (The TV show "Homicide" was based on this book.) Of course it didn't hurt that Baltimore in the late 1980's was murder-town.

(Go to Amazon, enter "Homicide killing streets". The first book is the one I'm talking about. Under the author's name is the word "more". Click on it for an excerpt of the book.)

[adrian]

Dirk, I'm not so much worried as frustrated looking for the missing link. Working around the problem may be a solution, also offered by David Crawford. Thanks mate, a great link.

And thanks for the confirmation from others regarding crosswords. Sounds like the key to stretching memory and re-vitalising language range.

Ultimately though, my proposed book will have to have a specific direction, supported by my cab encounters. Rather than a straight collection of unrelated vignettes.

Still, I'm confident it's possible plus buoyed by the suggestions and encouragements. Cheers,

[AdventureGirl]

Take up cryptic crosswords Adrian! I do them onboard when I have time. You can learn how to do them online too. There is a set of rules and I find doing them SO satisfying and it always keeps you learning! Go on old guy! :) Don't lose you sex drive! :P

[AdventureGirl]

PS For sure, your stories will make a fab book! I don't think they need a theme. Or write them all and then arrange them into themes! :)

[adrian]

Yeah Adgirl, I've printed out some 120 stories to do just that and the dominant theme seems to relate to power. Maybe I'll develop that somehow.

[Carl]

Do the stories have to be entirely non-fiction? Could you weave some fiction into it to help with the structure. If not, there ar many ways to structure a book like this. Possibly catagorising them into themes, ages of passengers, locations, occupations, hours of the day, seasons........ you get the idea.

Personally I think people are despearte to understand what is going on in this country. Our civil liberties are being eroded, we're running out of water, Govt departments like Centrelink & Child Support Agency can demand repayments but scoff at refunds if it's their mistake, we're at war, we deport our own citizens, this generation cant afford to live in Sydney........ People are desperate to understand & someone who talks to as many people as you do may just have an insight or two. You can sense it in the attitudes and actions of your subjects, they are us.

There used to be a belief in fair go, is this country growing up or growing bad?

[adrian]

Carl, 'faction' becomes an entirely different animal, somewhat removed from pure cab stories and better suited for say, scriptwriting. Now you mention it...

Regarding socio-politico issues, the average cab ride is maybe around 10 minutes. Given people - how they behave and what makes them tick - is my first interest, I invariably end up with that sort of personal material.

However, your suggested topics came to the fore last October when conducting my Cabpolls, reminding me of a future source of material. A worthwhile suggestion.

[Joann]

Our customers are alone with us encased in our cab and for a short time away from the rest of the world. We get glimpses of their lives that they might not show to others. They can relax, take off their public face, tell us their fears and their joys. These little vignettes of life are just waiting to be told.

[adrian]

Nice to hear from a fellow cabbie Joann. Give my love to SFO.

[anaglyph]

Sodoku? It's a fad. Cryptic Crosswords is definitely the thing. I like yr blog. Will look forward to catching a ride with you sometime.

Pete.

[slatts]

Adrian, you're about the same age as me, but I'm lucky, every night I get to correct others' literal mistakes. Nevertheless, I find I'm grasping more than in the past. Try to read something, anything, for at least half an hour a day. I've committed myself to learning a bush ballad by heart every month, as I reckon the mind, like all other parts, benefits from training. Agree with others on crosswords, but I find the Oz is too hard and I refuse to buy Fairfax. Finally, google for Wordweb, a great little free thesaurus/dictionary. After installation you just highlight the word, hit ctrl+alt+w and up comes definition, synonym and antonym. Hope this helps. In S&K in a fornight.

[adrian]

No worries Pete. Slatts I'm encouraged by your good memory news and will definitely take the advice. Thanks also for the great link and keyboard shortcut. Spoken like a true editor.