Butterfly versus Car

A couple people have asked some excellent questions about the book. In particular, someone recently asked if it was reality based or had elements of fantasy. It's a great question because when I started the thing oh-so-long ago I intended that it would have elements of "magic realism" where ordinary objects and ordinary situations would become extraordinary. So for example, the author Gabriel Garcia Marquez has a car become covered with butterflies and the butterflies carry the car away. However, in redrafting I've decided against that style, at least on the scale where the butterflies carry the cars away. Interestingly, I think you can still see elements in the plot and other "narrative devices" like the locations, characters and other general choices, (that you will have to figure out if you ever read it), that were intended to house a metaphor. That's not to say that I've removed all symbols but I've toned them down from where they once were...'course, that's probably like a drag queen wearing her Sunday dress instead of her gown.

In the original draft I also spent a lot more time on character development. I have close to 30 pages of back story which is 29 more then I ever intend to reveal in the new draft. I mean the thing read like a series of Lost episodes. However, the writing for the characters who were the subject of the aforementioned sitcom treatment is actually really a pleasure because I have at least a rough sense of how they should sound, what motivates them etc. 

There are 6 chapters planned and I'm aiming for something in the neighbourhood of 200 pages. I'm not Tolstoy here and I'm not being paid by the word. I have some time this weekend. Chapter 1 is about two plot developments and 10 pages to complete. I hope to be on Chapter 2 by the end of next week. 

Who Knew Organization Could Be So Effective?

Check! I framed the whole thing book out with a timeline. I can now say that the story takes place more or less within the span of a year. The whole thing actually only took a couple hours to map out. The best part was it seemed like I was remember things about the characters and plot that I knew all along. 

Part of the problem with just writing cold before I did the outline was I had too many versions and too many options rolling around in my mind, likely as a result of delayed execution. I suspect that's also why the framework came together quickly though when I did it. 

I actually expected to be writing this entry about how hard the framing was, because let's face it I'm not crazy about commitment and I tend to agonize over details. I shouldn't exaggerate either, the framework is rough plan. It's not like every scene is framed in it's entirety, but every chapter has a story arc and I've got homes for all of the material that I have planned and written so far. 

Who knew the key appears to be making a couple choices and then living with them? This is giving the whole project great focus. Lately, I've been pretty busy and, having completed my last goal, was satisfied to just rest on my laurel's but I think the next objective has got to be some regular writing every couple days. 

I don't want to rush this so the whole thing turns into a novella but I have a real sense that this is the time to make this happen. 

 

Typing It In

Today is October 10, 2010 (or as my husband points out 10/10/10). This entry is a delightful example of the trouble with setting ambitious, yet unformed goals. Specifically, I announced the clock was running on my projects and there were two immediate problems. First, I didn't set any clear timeline for follow up and second I didn't make an actual strategy for how I was going to proceed with getting my book in order. 

Now, in my defence when I oh-so-blithely wrote my first post I was coming home from work and writing for a couple hours every night. But there is nothing like committing to a product to cause that sort of unself-conscious inspiration to wither. That's usually where these kinds of projects die for me and why I'm in this position in the first place. I have this feeling that to get to the end of these sorts of things I have to surprise myself by more or less completing it in a state of passive inspiration. 

Anyone who has ever got anything done will tell you that is BS. Particularly when the ideas and themes for my book have been percolating for so long. It's not a question of inspiration any more, the thoughts aren't going away. It is now a question of execution. 

I've decided I want to focus on completing the book first, or at least getting the bulk of the story points outlined in sufficient detail that I can turn to it in a less structured way in the future. So far there are 46  pages of full text, 6 chapters (2 of which are outlines) and the last two page of the book. I know where the stories needs to go, I know the main plot devises by which I intend to get there but I'm still working out some of the precise interactions between the characters and to be completely honest I don't know exactly what I want to do with one of the protagonist's "friends". 

So far I've been working toward the end goal, but this can have the impact of forcing the story forward at an unnatural narrative pace. So my strategy is, for the next two or three times I open that file, to go back to developing back story and to laying out the time line in greater precision. After that, it's really easy to fill in the description and the dialogue. I think I'm going to have to say too that this will have to take place by the end of the month or else this will be a 'five year blog project' instead of a 'one year' one.