I
was James A. Michener's assistant on his South African
novel, The Covenant. I was involved in every
stage of the book from conception and plotting to final
manuscript, a collaboration that spanned two years
from 1978 to 1980.
These
pages offer a unique look at what went into the making
of The Covenant, and provide an intimate view
of two writers and their shared passions.
The
website is organized in four major sections:
"About
an hour ago Mari brought me the mail and I had the pleasure
of reading Uys's notes about a proposed book on South
Africa. I was impressed by his organizing ability, his
thoroughness, and his keen insights into the problems
of arranging a mass of material so as to be usable,
especially in fictional form.
It
became immediately apparent that he is prepared to
start talks with me right away, because we have both
done a great deal of thinking on this matter, along
our separate lines, and we have come up with striking
parallelisms, as I suppose any two reasonably intelligent
persons would, faced with identical data."
"Uys
showed such a mastery and predilection for plotting
that again and again he came up with dazzling ideas
that again and again attracted my attention. I am no
good at plotting, hold it to be almost an excrescence,
and pay far too little attention to it, so that Uys's
bold suggestions were often appreciated. It was he who
suggested most of the coincidences, most of the confrontations,
most of the wild occurrences and it was I who rejected
a vast majority of them but I was deeply indebted to
him for certain plot lines...
He really was a remarkable man in his ability to visualize
instantly and I rarely had to waste a moment explaining
anything. Also, he had the capacity and willingness to
catch an idea and run with it in his own direction, often
proposing something so far from my intention that I was
bedazzled. I judge he could plot six novels a year with
intricate beauties; he should have been in G-2 in some
complicated war situation.”
Uys
"Scribbling Block" Plotting Notes
“Not
one of characters, Tjaart Van Doorn, Naude, Bronk,Nel
etc. even suggest picture of ‘frontier Boer' – i.e. the
wilder, independent, hard as nails individual. What we
have is a picture that evokes American Centennial-type
character + the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Unsettling
frontier element isn't there, the balance between Bible-living
Van Doorns and wild renegade types, which if time allowed,
I'd show in 50/50 proportion, is lacking.
We
have a stylized Afrikaner-heroic interpretation = Good
enough for the past and Nathan (Manfred Nathan, The
Voortrekkers of South Africa, 1937) but inadequate for
1980.
In
addition, we have scant reference to the dominant issue
then and now, i.e. LABOR. Sure,
one might argue that the American reader only needs
simplistic view. But it's wrong to offer it this
simply. It
just wasn't so.”
"Every
excerpt, every page you have written for my book these
past weeks shows that you are a writer with a superb
use of the English language, a remarkable vocabulary
and a very special turn of phrase.
You
unquestionably have the talent to write almost anything
you direct your attention to. You are a great researcher,
as your copious notes prior to our work sessions together
indicated. And you know how to put words together most
skillfully as your work on the manuscript proved."
Uys
rough draft
Each
section contains numerous cross-linked items, such
as plotting notes, research papers, correspondence
and manuscript drafts, all of which open up in the
supporting pages:
Finally,
there is a brief post-script The
Long-DistanceWriters, which details
a few testy exchanges Jim and I had as
we came to the end of our long and complex
journey together.
Go
to THE
ASSIGNMENT
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