The Novel That Bit Me

Fir the Next Great (American) Novel challenge (which, despite the title, didnae actually huv tae be American), Ah hud two ideas an' two entries. Baith included Glasgow as almost a central character. One wis heavily inspired by Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh an' a real-life experience that happened many years afore Ah started writing.

Challenge:

Weegie Wolf, the working title Ah gave it, wis gonnae be a werewolf tale wae a difference.

The background? Ah wis workin' as a Betterware catalogue distributor an' wis deliverin' tae two high-rise flats. Ah put a catalogue through the letterbox an' struggled a wee bit. Ah think it wis the furry strips they hiv, or maybe it wis jist jammed. But as Ah let it drap doon tae the flair oan the other side o' the door, ma fingers hud breached the letterbox an' Ah felt something take a swipe at me.

Cat or dug, obviously. But when Ah looked doon at ma haun, there wis still a claw stuck in ma finger.

So... cat.

Ah went hame an' ma overactive imagination (this wis long afore Ah'd unlocked it fir writing poetry, confessional pieces, fiction an' aw the other stuff unrelated tae the content writing Ah'd done previously) started tae wander. Ah began thinkin' it wis like that moment in a horror story when a character's transformed.

Ah didnae actually think anything wis gonnae happen, but Ah wondered how it might play oot.

Then years passed an' Ah joined Vocal. In the back o' ma heid, the idea wis still there. It hud grown over time, though Ah didnae realise it. Ah loved the ambiguity o' films like Wolf, where ye're never quite sure how much is real an' how much only exists inside the character's heid.

So when the challenge Ah mentioned at the outset wis launched, Ah started tae warm tae the idea o' bringing ma strange werewolf story tae life.

Ah started as Ah so often dae: by developing a character's voice. There's one o' ma secrets right there. Ah've never been a fan o' writing big character descriptions like Ah wis taught in school. Ah prefer tae form the character in ma heid, then simply write as them. Ma favourite narrative form is first person anyway, so that makes things a wee bit simpler.

By then Ah'd already written a few pieces using Glaswegian dialect. Sometimes it wis fairly broad, other times a softer hybrid.

As the challenge wis tae write the opening chapter o' a novel inspired by Trainspotting an' rooted in its own place, Ah thought it'd be interesting tae write it in a thick Glaswegian dialect. Ah kent it'd stand oot, fir better an' fir worse.

The good? Although there were a couple o' Scottish writers oan the platform, none o' them were writing in dialect. Ah figured it would stand oot.

It did.

Ah didnae place, but that didnae stop me fae using dialect in a later poem that became ma first challenge win.

Tektal's Around the World Drinking Session:

The bad, o' course, wis that some folk might struggle tae read it. One o' the many things Ah've learned since sharing ma writing is that ye cannae please everybody aw the time. Tae me, the good outweighed the bad.

As Ah wis writing the opening chapter o' this as-yet fictional, probably-never-gonnae-happen novel, Ah realised who the main character wis gonnae be.

Influenced by Trainspotting, Rab C. Nesbitt an' Billy Connolly, he wis gonnae be something o' a social commentator. Through his story, readers would learn a wee bit about life in Glasgow—or at least one person's version o' it.

Ah also realised he wis gonnae be a recovering heroin addict. Ah've been an addict masel', so Ah understand addiction, even if ma own vice wis pornography an' sex rather than heroin.

He'd been clean fir some time. He still drank alcohol an' occasionally smoked cannabis tae calm his nerves, an' his sponsor regularly called him "the poster boy of recovery," a phrase Ah kept because it made him feel baith funny an' human.

As Ah worked through the first chapter, he suffers a claw swipe before undergoing a transformation.

But Ah didnae want tae write a straightforward werewolf story. Ah wanted tae play against readers' expectations. Rather than becoming a hero or a monster by choice, he simply wanted tae stay clean. Tae him, being a werewolf wis less a gift than a nuisance.

Fir the challenge, we only had tae write the opening chapter. It's far too long tae include here, so Ah'll simply link tae it. It covers everything fae the claw swipe tae his first feeding—though no oan a human.

Weegie Wolf (Chapter One):

It wis well received, even if it didnae win or place. Looking back, Ah can see a few errors, an' there are places where it doesnae flow as well as it could.

People seemed tae love the dialect. Maist importantly, Ah'd fallen in love wae the character.

The mair Ah thought about him, the mair Ah could see the shape o' a full novel.

Every answer seemed tae lead tae three new questions.

Instead o' becoming clearer, the novel kept expanding.

His first proper meal wis a homeless man—already dead, incidentally.

The scene wis, Ah believe, baith hilarious an' utterly grotesque.

Weegie Wolf (Chapter Two): The First Cut Is the Deepest, the First Bite Is the Bitterest:

So whit's haudin' it up?

Anybody that's been following me will ken Ah've increasingly used Glaswegian, Scots an' various hybrids since that first win, an' Ah've gone oan tae place in mair challenges.

Writing in dialect is the main stop sign fir me. Or at least it has been... until now.

Because while it's pretty close tae the way Ah naturally speak, Ah've discovered it's actually quite taxing tae write. An' that's jist wae standalone poems an' short stories.

One example is The Peony Lass:

So fir a full novel, written in the first person an' narrated in a thick Glaswegian voice, there's a problem.

It's easier tae speak than it is tae write.

Even though much o' the dialect is phonetic, Ah still find masel' checking whether Ah'm using the maist common spelling o' different words an' slang variations.

Whenever Ah've tackled pieces like this in the past, Ah've had two options: write it mostly in English then convert it afterwards, or write it much slower in dialect fae the very beginning.

Whit Ah've discovered is that it takes virtually the same amount o' work either way.

So part o' the reason Ah've no worked oan whit Ah quietly think could genuinely become something special is because Ah ken it'll become aw-consuming. Once Ah go doon that road, Ah won't—or maybe Ah shouldnae—stop until it's finished.

Ah think that's the funny bit o' irony.

Ma plan wis always tae write about a man transformed against his will.

Somehow, the novel's done the same thing tae me.

Once Ah start fashioning that rich Glaswegian prose, Ah don't think Ah'll be able tae stop.