Setting myself up..
So, no strange stories about odd celebrities today. Just a normal Saturday for me: gym, movie (bowling for columbine), and writing.
Finally just dug in and pushed through the chapter that has been plaguing me. Nine pages that didn’t exist this afternoon are now on my hard drive, so I’m happy. Like most first drafts, I’m sure it will need expanding and revision, but there is something there. No more blank Word document.
This chapter plagues me when I realized that I am not my protagonist. I know I’ve written that here often enough, but there was a painful realization when I read what I had initially written and discovered it.
OK, the first chapter is set in a “office meeting” setting, to be vague. You know, two companies meeting, working together to do something, and there is that whole chemistry and bravado and stuff that I’ve seen so many times before. But I could care less about it. I think it’s stupid, so I just sit there, think sarcastic thoughts in my head and wait for it to end.
When I wrote that chapter, and it was set in a meeting. I slipped into auto-pilot, and it was all sarcasm and nameless co-workers around the protagonist, etc.
Problem is, the protagonist believes in this system. He is invested in it. He loves his job. His co-workers are his family. So, all his snarky comments didn’t work. Thnkfully, this is the only place this line has been subconsciously crossed, but it caused more problems, because as per usual, if they couldn’t be nameless co-workers, they had to be… new characters.
So, this meant fleshing our four or five co-workers, trying to add some background, history, humanity and camaraderie to the interactions. More work to be done this week in rewrite, I’m sure.
Thankfully, they don’t need to be too rich, since the inciting incident is in chapter two, so I don’t think any of these characters show up again. One might, but the rest don’t. Ultimately, they need to live in that moment, seem real, make you wonder where this story is going, and then - wham! - that isn’t the real story after all.
I’m not giving away any major plot point here. Every book you read has stuff that is fine to read, but you just forget about it once you hit the point where the plot starts consuming the book. Hell, my the time this thing is published, who knows how it will start.
But, today, it starts with what I just wrote. It will be re-written many times, I’m sure.
So many characters front-loading a book, though. Oh well, they all go away fast enough and then it’s all protagonist and the other characters build up more naturally.
OK, enough writing for tonight, must get away from computer…
Jeff
