Wonk

Wonk - a person preoccupied with arcane details or procedures in a specialized field; broadly : nerd <a policy wonk> <a computer wonk>

Today’s blog entry is going to be very “Writer Wonky”.

I’ve been dancing around some outline work – hesitant of jumping in, for fear of what I may find, or not find, as the case may be.

First some Wonk… These aren’t all the parts, but the ones I’m concentrating on today…

Inciting Incident – Sets the stage, sometimes the opening scene- often before the play begins. (Think Hamlet’s father’s death.)

Plan of Action (Goal identified) – Hero/Heroes set forth with a goal or mission

Intermission Act Cliffhanger – Keeps the audience from going home during intermission.

Complications toward goal – obstacles, distractions, shifts, etc. Basically the middle (and most of the play, really).

Crisis – The thing that changes everything for everyone.

Climax – Great forces coming to battle. Somebody wins.

So in mapping out what I have today… some were easy, some not…

Inciting Incident – Birth

Plan of Action - ??

Break Cliffhanger – Macy’s arrival? (little weak)

Complications – Getting saved, Dance, Bushes, Affairs, Photographers, etc.

Crisis – Found kissing in the Baptismal

Climax – Drowning and Peggy/Neil/Lola confrontation.

No plan of action, no clear Cliffhanger.  Uh-oh.

So initially I’m thinking this idea of finding “Beauty” could be the plan… 

A need to be seen/validated that Miss B and Cain share. She in the culture/people/land, he in the sense of seeing his experience reflected.

And beauty is definitely a central theme. What makes someone/something/some place beautiful? 

However, that’s a pretty passive goal. It has to be more concrete. But I’ve got so many scenes setting up the characters that I don’t have a clear plan early enough. The Plan of Action needs to be within 10 minutes or so of the inciting incident. And as much as I love the details of the novel that unfold life with Momma Jewel, the store, etc. They aren’t theatrical moments.

So – Think more. Get lost in a little music. (I love not knowing what song from my past is going to play on my random list.)   Today we have Livin' La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin. However your breeze blows, there's some eye candy for everyone.

Fix Lunch. Make some notecards. Play around with Structure.

What if I do the Prologue (Arrival at the abandoned town), then the Birth (inciting incident) and then instead of going through Cain’s childhood, open Scene 2 with Cain waiting to see Brother Neil at the church to make sure he really got saved?

There may be ways that he could tell/reveal the backstory of his childhood. The storyteller could come through and you light up Cain, as a child, underneath the Oak Table hearing the men talking about ‘bits and pieces’ of Dip being sent home. Lights up on the bus, the humiliation, exile, etc.

Anyway, the goal would be to somehow give that background and push up to Scene Two the REAL plan of action… Cain finding a best friend.  Concrete, universal, active, consequential - especially for a bullied kid.

If I do some more rearranging, Cain could have the conversation with Miss B about beauty and the pictures in the magazine before he goes to see the preacher. 

Instead of learning from Brother Neil at the end of their conversation that he has a son around Cain’s age, as happens in the book, it could be that Cain knew of Mark beforehand and has set out to find someone who “won’t know any better,” - won’t know that Cain is the town outcast. 

Maybe that’s why Cain went down the aisle in the first place when he didn’t really understand what “getting saved” meant. And was so frustrated to be siphoned off to a Deacon instead of getting to pray with Brother Neil.

This could put a whole new sense of purpose on several scenes that I enjoy – Billy Ray flipping him the bird, Miss B and the magazines, Lola at the church.

Making Cain have a plan beforehand gives those scenes a more theatrical purpose.

So…

Inciting Incident – Cain’s Birth

Plan of Action – Finding a best friend (a connection for a person lost)

Cliffhanger – Now, this puts Macy’s arrival on a new level. If we’ve seen Cain manipulating, finding, gaining this friend – then the arrival of Macy and her big old boobs does create a little bit of a cliffhanger (If I’ve gotten the audience to really care about Cain.)

Complications – Sparring with Macy, Sunday School betrayals, graveyard visits, the bridge, the Dance – Becoming friends with Macy. Kissing Macy…

Crisis – The discovery of Cain, Macy and Mark kissing in the Baptismal by Brother Neil – where everything changes and they are set down a path none would choose.

Climax – Macy’s suicide attempt and the drowning lead to the final confrontation in the church.

I’ll have to add something to show the real buildup of Cain and Mark’s friendship. Difficult, but doable. And I’ll map out similar plans for each of the other characters who will be on a journey – Miss B, Lola, Macy, etc. They get their own 'plan of action' and complications threaded throughout.

With the clarification today, I think figuring out how I fit the other journeys into this overarching one will be easier. Still a lot of sifting, but some of that will have to wait until the first draft stage. The foundation seems sturdier now.

So, that’s a little of my day’s work.  I may or may not take off tomorrow. If I do, I’ll still post a fun Friday song. : ) (For those who’ve sent an encouraging message about enjoying seeing the process – thank you!) (This has been fun and has really been helpful in adapting to my new schedule. It definitely keeps me honest.)