It’s always nice to have a little breakthrough on the first "official" day of writing. I feel like I had one today. : ) But, let’s not get ahead of myself.
I kept on my schedule pretty well, though I did veer off to
pick up some supplies (legal pads) and then dilly-dallied. (Office Depot only
had them in bulk – so now I’ve got a lot of legal pads – holler if you need
one.) Even so, I got a good solid
5 hours in today – about half of it semi- productive – so all things
considered, a success for any writer. Woohoo!
I started with a couple structure outlines and hit a road
block on the 2nd one.
That’s how it works at the beginning – you stumble quickly and often.
The first one used the current structure of the novel and
was pretty easy, but still hard to see how it was going to give the audience the thread needed to tie it all together. (I had to make a scene list once I realized how much of
the book I had forgotten.)
Then started the 2nd outline that focused more on
Cain, Mark and Macy. Opening not
at the birth, but at the church before Cain meets Mark. In attempt to turn the beginning of
Mark and Cain’s friendship into an Act One breaking point – where Macy is
introduced as an obstacle to Cain’s goal – “finding a best friend/escaping
isolation.” (Character + Goal +
Opposition = Conflict, FYI).
Anyway, it was all a big pain in the ass. Without the birth and the introduction
of the family, it just didn’t feel right.
I was stuck for a half hour thinking there’s no way this book can be a
play. And I’m supposed to come up
with 8 more outlines?! This sabbatical is a sham! I'm a fraud! Why is this house only three #*(&$*& * floors?!
This is when dancing comes into the writing process. My dance song for the day turned out to
be Ballroom Blitz by Sweet. And
that song is sweet!
(I’ve got my music library playing randomly in the
background when I’m reading, brainstorming or taking notes. Usually not when I’m doing
dialogue, but on everything else the music helps.)
And when the timing is there – like it was today – I hit a
block, I hear a great song – and I just dance it out. Then when I sit back
down, I’m sweaty, happy and laughing at myself, because let’s be honest – old people
dancing is funny.) Here's a link to the video if you haven't heard it lately - feel free to cut loose... I won't tell anyone.
So after the disco interlude, I decided to read a little. I only have 2 of my 12 plays (thanks slow-poke
Amazon) so to stay ‘on task’ I did a time frame analysis of the two I do have…
A Streetcar Named Desire – 6 months elapsed and American Buffalo – one day
elapsed. (Eek - Lost Cain takes 12 years.) Then the playwriting book I was reading mentioned Our Town. (I limited my 12 plays to the past 25
years as much as possible, so I hadn’t ordered that one.) Hopped online and found a manuscript –
and BINGO.
Cain as Stage Manager. (If you’ve not seen Our Town lately – the Stage Manager introduces, interrupts, illuminates and guides the play over a span of 12 years.) (Sounds like destiny to me.)
Derivative perhaps, but then most of my work has been
derivative – and as long as it derives from something great, like Our Town --- to quote a funny friend whose answer to every suggestion, now matter how
outlandish -
“I don't see why not?”
“I don't see why not?”
It clicked and I think we’ve got our basic
framework. Cain – as an adult –
coming into the opening when the town is abandoned and demolished – introducing
the history before we really know who he is. Which then lends itself to lots of possibilities as the
character and story unfolds.
There you have it - Day One is on the books. Tomorrow I’ll
take that skeleton and see how different outlines could start to put some meat
on the bones. But at least now
I’ve got some bones.
It’s quittin’ time.
Hope your day has been good! : ) I'm off to the gym... then Burgers... then wine.
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