"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal form that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to."
- Jim Jarmusch via hrstudioplus.com

I believe simple is always best, and the novel's elliptical narrative has its origins in a German-designed plastic chair, of all things, which will be explained on the project blog in the very near future. For now, the narrative framework is this: in keeping with its elliptical structure, the writing process will last three-hundred-and-sixty days, total. Furthermore, that period of time will be broken down into units of eight - eight days a week, I love you - precisely that. Which will provide a system of organization that integrates music into the design from the start. Besides, it's only natural, given that I listen to music all day, every day, when I'm working, and I'm extremely influenced by what I listen to.

So, yes, I want to use playlists as another way of soliciting reader input, because everyone makes playlists now - please, my dad sends me playlists, and if should submit one to my project, I will try very hard not to censor him - but here's the twist. Given that this project deals largely with reinterpretation, with circular rather than linear narratives, every Saccades' playlists must be eight songs in length, and, in keeping with an octave, must begin with one song and end with a cover of that same song. One other thing: all songs must have been out before June 14, 2009, in keeping with the novel's continuity. Beyond those ground rules, anyone can post a playlist on the Saccades blog at anytime, and it's easy enough, using iTunes, for me to program any playlist that's posted. I like the idea that one of the easiest ways for a reader to contribute to the project could have a profound effect on my writing on any given day, and that, in turn, I'll be able to show how much music influences that process.

In terms of how these "octaves" will directly affect my writing process, well, the first draft of the novel is a collection of notes, basically. It's bare bones, but the bones are there. So I will begin the blog in a loose way, much like, say, life drawing, by choosing the most important pull quotes from that first draft - likely sentences no longer than one-hundred-and-forty-characters so that I always have the option of tweeting - and posting one quote per day for those first eight days. At the end of the first four weeks, I will post a new draft of Saccades on the website, and by then I'll have a clear picture of what I can accomplish in the remaining eleven months of writing.

Now, while I cannot realistically document every inspiration, influence, and edit, on a day-to-day basis, whether one post or four posts per day, I can document the overall process. Within that, I hope to answer the most basic questions a writer is asked, namely: Where do you get your ideas from? Well, I'll show you. And though it won't necessarily make sense, viewed piece by piece, cumulatively, I hope the method of my madness will be made clear.

To begin, one thing, in particular, that's always intrigued me about blogs is their reverse narrative, how a blog's story is always told in reverse order. In other words, a blog's original post appears last, and that's the key to how this story will come full circle. If forward is backward, the answer is simple: through repetition. Beyond that, beyond this basic framework, I want the project to evolve organically, albeit virtually.