'How I Wrote Gus'

In June 2024, Jon ran a writing workshop for the Singapore Writers Network on how he wrote Gus using Index Cards, spreadsheets, Scrivener, Word and paper.

Here’s a video summarising the workshop.

“In early 2021 during the dark days of the pandemic, I started brainstorming ideas and scribbling notes longhand and drawing character sketches. I named this ‘The Blue Monkey Zombie Project’. I expanded key characters by exploring what they yearned for, and why. I drew mind maps for settings and action. I free wrote strange scenes and collected images of monkeys and examples of my key characters. I read about primates, Raffles’ banded langurs, and animal and human consciousness.

I started to create scenes and write these in pencil on index cards, and began to order and rewrite the index cards seeking to find coherence and arcs for characters.

I summarised the scenes in complex spreadsheets and outlined each scene. Once I was happy with the basic story I re-ordered and outlined each scene and chapter again.

I transferred the outline and scene summaries to Scrivener and began to write each scene in detail. I rewrote and rewrote, and revised and revised and revised. ”

Do contact Jon if you are interested in attending this workshop providing insights and approaches for writing a novel using “Gus: The Life and Opinions of the Last Raffles’ Banded Langur” as an example.