# Write A Book - Project **Up**:: [[Writing (MOC)]] **Related**: [[Book or story ideas]] - - - ## Overall - Plan: - 2025: Research - 2026: Write & Publish - Main philosophical theme and style: [[Existentialism (MOC)]] - Idea: allegorical/minimal existentialist work on the loss of confidence in self and the mundanity of early adulthood, only to be rediscovered - purpose and meaning - Overlap with [[Narrative identity]]? - Deep cut our modern social-media world. Not directly but parallel senses to it. - Inspirational mechanics: - Loose punctuation in dialogue - [[No Country For Old Men (Book)]] to promote lack of clarity around dialogue, deeper reading, and questionable internal vs. external monologue. ## 6-Month Minimalist Existentialism Immersion Plan Assistance from #ai🤖 on a plan toward building a book around this specific style. ### Overview A structured reading and practice plan to internalize the style of Camus, Buzzati, Kafka, and adjacent authors — moving from core examples → deeper philosophical works → experimental variations. **Goal**: By the end of 6 months, you’ll be producing original work in a similar style with confidence in scene-setting, mood, and tone. --- ### Months 1–2 — Core DNA: Internalize the Essentials **Goal:** Absorb sentence-level simplicity, emotional detachment, and mood-based description. 1. [[Albert Camus]] – [[The Stranger (Book)]] - First read: flow and overall feel. - Second read: underline and break down sentence mechanics. - Prompt: *How does Camus make me see the scene with so little description?* 1. [[Dino Buzzati]] - **[[The Tartar Steppe (Book)]]** - Environment as metaphor for time, aging, and waiting. - Map the slow escalation of atmosphere. 1. [[Franz Kafka]] – [[The Trial (Book)]] - Absurdity normalized through repetition and tone. - Highlight every environmental description — note rarity and potency. --- ### Months 3–4 — Philosophical Depth & Allegory **Goal:** Add complexity — more internal monologue, political undertones, symbolic layers. 4. [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] – [[Nausea (Book)]] - Heavier inner life; focus on *texture* in description. 4. [[J.M. Coetzee]] – [[Waiting for the Barbarian (Book)]] - Political allegory + Camus-like clarity. - Setting as moral and thematic space. 4. [[Samuel Beckett]] – [[Molloy (Book)]] - Playful minimalism; fragmented narration; absurd yet human. --- ### Months 5–6 — Variations & Experiments **Goal:** Stretch understanding of the style so you can adapt it to your own voice. 7. [[Kazuo Ishiguro]] – [[The Unconsoled (Book)]] - Kafka dream logic in a modern voice. - Study rhythm of long, looping scenes. 7. [[Robert Walser]] – [[The Assistant (Book)]] - Quiet, delicate absurdism. - A masterclass in restraint. 7. [[Antonio Tabucchi]] – [[Pereira Maintains (Book)]] - Political existentialism told through understatement. --- ### Companion Practices #### Scene Log — Detailed Method The Scene Log is your lab notebook for style reverse-engineering. 1. **Quote a short passage** (1–3 sentences max) - Example: From *The Stranger*: > “The sky was already filled with light. The sun was beginning to warm the sand, and I could smell the salt.” 2. **Summarize what is described** - “Light, warmth, and smell of salt — tied to physical sensation, not visual excess.” 3. **Note what is omitted** - “No people, no sound except implied; no mention of location name, colors beyond ‘light.’” 4. **Identify the effect** - “Minimal sensory detail → intimacy + immediacy; creates emotional detachment but sensory presence.” 5. **Write a one-sentence imitation** (inspired, not copied) - “By noon, the heat had thinned the air, and the tar in the road smelled faintly sweet.” > Over time, this log will train you to spot *why* a sentence works — and then replicate its DNA. --- #### Biweekly Writing Exercises — Variations Each exercise should be 300–500 words and obey the constraint fully. - **Sensory Limit:** Only use 2 senses in the whole piece (e.g., smell + sound). - **Time Compression:** Describe a moment that takes 10 seconds in real life — stretch it to 300 words. - **Omission Game:** Show a political, personal, or emotional crisis **without stating it outright**. - **Kafka Clock:** Write a scene where a simple task is delayed by an absurd obstacle. - **Buzzati Wait:** Describe a place of waiting (station, border, office) without telling the reader what is being waited for. - **Camus Weather:** Let the weather be the main “character” of the scene — but never personify it. --- #### Extra Direction - Keep every exercise **in-world** — no explaining, no breaking tone, stay inside the moment. - Read your piece aloud — if you trip over a word, it’s likely too ornate for this style. - Revise by subtraction — delete 30% of your adjectives and see if it’s stronger. - When in doubt, **choose one striking image** and build the scene around it. --- ### Notes - Read slowly — re-read paragraphs. - Keep details lean, always tied to mood. - Notice what’s absent as much as what’s present.