My friend Denise Broussard (author of
BEHIND BARS) and I have a standard weekly Skype meeting set up for...well...sometime between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm, depending upon how our day has gone. I think it was back in late November that we started using these meetings as a time to get some writing done. We catch up on how the other is doing, chat about whatever is we're excited about this week, then we write on whatever we're working on at the moment. For me, it has been the outline for this novel, but I believe she has worked on a couple of different projects over the course of this time.
I'm writing this at 4:16 pm on Monday, 13 January 2014. I don't intend to post this until after I have posted Outlines 001 through 003 because I want my posts to reflect my chronological progress through the novel.
But I need to write this right now, because I have to work out a story problem, and I might as well do it here, in the blog -- where you can read my thoughts as they occur to me -- rather than in my composition notebook. By sharing my thought process here instead of my notebook, we can both benefit from them.
But first, back to two night ago...
Rather than simply reviewing my outline and trying to add more scenes, I decided for this mutual writing session that I would create a document that I would call an "Attitude Map" and see where that takes me.
The Attitude Map is the invention of John Vorhaus, and he explains it in THE LITTLE BOOK OF SITCOM. As he explains it, it's another platform document to get you from Story Idea to Outline. It's meant to be disposable, a means to an end, not an end in itself, just thinking on paper (or the computer screen, like I'm doing now).
Vorhaus' Attitude Map consists of a character's emotions, then a Pivot (and action or change of situation) that alters that character's emotions. It's a brilliant idea! It's amazing how much the subconscious mind can create when the conscious mind is distracted by coming up with pivots (as opposed to editing, which often impedes creativity)!
So I decided to create my own version of an Attitude Map, starting with Scene 2 (the scene in which I introduce my Readers to my Hero) and just seeing how far I can get.
It's like this: I would simply write down what happens from scene to scene, making sure to end each scene with a change in the overall situation and/or my Protagonist's feelings about or understanding of said situation.
Here's what I got done Saturday night:
***
ATTITUDE MAP
Scene 2:
PHILIP BLACKWOOD (26) arrives at MISTY's house. He has brought XAVIER, Misty's neighbor, with him. Philip explains to Xavier that Misty has been bothered by monthly thumps on her roof that she feared were paranormal. Xavier laughs, and also seems embarrassed about this. Philip takes Misty and Xavier out front to show Misty the tree at the edge of Xavier's back yard that hangs over the edge of her roof. He explains that Xavier has a cat who, once a month when the moon is full, freaks out, climbs the tree and scampers across Misty's roof to get to the Benny family's back yard. The Benny's have two cats that Xavier's cat, Lilith Puffysox, likes to play with. But Philip suggests that Xavier explains WHY this happens every full moon... Xavier has a garden in his back yard, and he is Wiccan. Every full moon he performs a ritual inviting the gnomes to bless his garden. This activity freaks Lilith Puffysox right out, so she escapes Xavier's yard to play with the Benny's cats, and shows up the next morning on Xavier's doorstep. Misty had no idea Xavier was a witch; she and Xavier strike up a friendship. Philip's phone rings: TIFFANI needs a favor.
Scene 3:
TIFFANI's group CTPI is investigating the Brimes family's home. It's powerful, but not residual or intelligent ghosts. 2 cleansings failed and the Central Texas Catholic church will not sanction a cleansing. To help TIFFANI out, PHILIP will review the evidence CTPI has and decide if he will take the case. (She really wants his help, but he is hesitant because he doesn't want to investigate private residences -- they're usually not weird enough for his mind.)
Scene 4:
PHILIP reviews the evidence: It's good. DODDY, a little ghost girl, converses with the team for a couple of minutes. Inhuman growl on EVP. Night table in baby's room moves 17" on IR video. Small shadow turns into large, menacing shadow on IR video. There's certainly paranormal activity going on, but is it anything more than typical?
Scene 5:
TIFFANI introduces PHILIP and CARLTON BRIMES (25). Carlton's wife and child are away, and he hopes to wrap this up before they come back. Philip is supicious: Why is Carlton hiding his wife and child? Carlton and Tiffani give Philip the tour of the house.
Scene 6:
PHILIP and TIFFANI talk about the case later. New house, no recorded deaths or psychic trauma. Whole neighborhood was an empty field before that. This fact interests Philip, but he won't say why just yet. Tiffani is worried this might be demonic, but since "civilian" cleansings didn't work, there might be nothing CTPI can do for the Brimes family. (During their, the 2nd, cleansing, CTPI utilized an ordained minister, so they're up against the wall.) There is another aspect that makes Tiffani want to solve the case for the Brimes family, but she doesn't want to taint Philip's opinion.
Scene 7:
PHILIP's personal life...
Scene 8:
6:00 pm - PHILIP, TIFFANI, MAX and NOEL arrive to investigate Brimes house. Philip mentions that he thinks it would be really helpful to talk to Britney Brimes, and that seems to make CARLTON really, really nervous. (This happens over dinner.)
Scene 9:
6:55 pm - Setup happens, PHILIP & TIFFANI investigate Ariel's Room while MAX & NOEL investigate the Storage Room. 45 minutes of nothing. (7:45 pm) TIFFANI & PHILIP investigate Parents' Bedroom while MAX & NOEL investigate Parents' Bathroom. Another 45 minutes of nothing. (8:37 pm) PHILIP & MAX investigate Guest Bathroom while NOEL fast-forwards through what they have of the Hallway so far and TIFFANI checks her audio to see if she has anything. 45 more minutes of nothing.
Scene 10:
9:24 pm - CARLTON has been surfing the Net in the Study for the last two-and-a-half hours. He seems nervous (acting suspicious) when PHILIP tells him they haven't found anything yet. Philip mentions this. Carlton explains that he never believed in this stuff before, and he's still not comfortable with it now. But since...since he can't deny it now, he's been noticing all kinds of strange things. He thought he saw...no, he's sure he saw a black panther at the edge of his property one night, only twice as large as a doberman, maybe larger. Britney has always been interested in this stuff, as Philip can tell from her DVDs, and a giant back cat doesn't figure into it. Philip explains that that's not unheard of in the paranormal world, but he senses that there is more to Carlton's unease. Carlton is hiding something.
Scene 11:
9:30 pm - Noel volunteers to watch the cameras (set up in the Study) while PHILIP, TIFFANI and MAX investigate the Kitchen. Tiffani leads the EVP session, trying to engage Doddy. Tiffani's questions are about what it was like when Doddy lived here. After no responses, Max asks how Doddy died. (Philip thinks this question is a mistake, but doesn't say anything.) Max suddenly can't breathe. They end the session and leave the room, and Max gets her breath back.
Scene 12:
9:51 pm - CARLTON is worried that maybe they should end the investigation for tonight. MAX absolutely does not want to! NOEL worries about an entity that would attack Max. Is it, maybe, that dark thing they saw in the hall last time? The thing that growled? (Assuming they are the same entity.) MAX is excited they're getting a response; it it wants to attack her again, she's not scared. TIFFANI doesn't want CTPI to stir up anything that they can't deal with, and then leave Carlton here alone afterward. PHILIP suspects it wasn't an attack: He points out that Max asked how Doddy died; maybe Doddy was "showing" her.
Scene 13:
10:01 pm - PHILIP, TIFFANI, MAX, NOEL and CARLTON are all in the Kitchen trying to contact Doddy. 10:44 pm rolls around with no results. 10:49 - 11:30 pm PHILIP and MAX investigate Ariel's room. 11:40 pm - 12:25 am PHILIP and NOEL investigate the Storage Room. 12:35 - 1:20 am PHILIP and TIFFANI sit quietly in the Hallway. At 1:48 am Philip and CTPI have packed-up and leave CARLTON, Tiffani insisting he call her cell phone if anything happens or if Carlton needs anything. They'll review the audio and video they caught tonight and let him know. As Max and Noel drive off, Tiffani asks what Philip thinks. He'll let the data inform his opinion, but right now he doesn't see anything especially odd about this haunting. Tiffani isn't pleased with this assessment -- she clearly wants Philip to come to some specific conclusion about this case, but she won't tell Philip what's bothering her.
Scene 14:
Scene 15:
Tiffani finds out that there was a low-rent apartment complex on the land for a couple of years before the land was bought by the Tiger Group out of Japan.
Scene 16:
Scene 17:
Scene 18:
Scene 19:
PHILIP walks into the kitchen to find BRITNEY staring, silent. He asks what's up and Britney asks doesn't he see her. Her? Britney points. Philip doesn't see anything. Britney insists that "she" is right there! Philip walks slowly toward the spot, his hand outstretched, feeling. Philip stops cold when he feels a tiny hand grab his own hand. He reacts physically and AT THE SAME TIME Britney says, "Did you feel that? She just grabbed your hand!"
***
I started off with Scene 2 being blank, and proceeded to Scene 3. I didn't know yet how to INTRODUCE my protagonist. Think of that scene in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK when we see a man and 2 natives hiking through the jungle, then one native draws a gun, the man hears it, then out comes a bullwhip to disarm the aggressive native, who then runs away, and then the man turns around and reveals himself to be INDIANA JONES. We see him in silhouette and obscure closeups until after he has revealed himself to be a badass, and THEN we see his face in a heroic closeup. This is Introducing the character, and we're supposed to do this with all our important characters: protagonist, antagonist and any significant supporting characters.
So Scene 2 I left blank and proceeded to about Scene 10.
You may notice that Scenes 11 and 12 were already written in the previous outline, but I wasn't sure about their placement. I initially assumed they would be separated by a scene or two, to draw out the suspense, but I can't seem to make that work, and it may not be necessary, so they are now successive.
After I put Scenes 11 and 12 in my Attitude Map, Scene 13 seemed logical. I've managed to make a real meal out of Philip's first investigation and, I think, given the Reader a decent sense of what a paranormal investigation actually feels like -- a lot of waiting, and very little actually happening. Plus, since I'm more than a quarter of the way through the book now, I thought it time to bring in some drama: Tiffani is looking for a specific reaction from Philip that she's not getting, but she's not willing to say what or why just yet.
After Denise and I had been writing for half an hour, we checked in with each other to see how it was going and if we felt like going longer. I asked her about my Protagonist Introduction scene and she offer a suggestion.
The tone of her scene was more Melodrama -- Philip saved a little girl near a graveyard from a couple of thugs -- and this novel is playing out more like a Drama, so I thanked her and explained that I couldn't use it. (I haven't told her much about what I'm working on because an enthusiastic reaction, I have found, can cause me to stop writing just as much as a negative reaction. She's a very positive person, so if I tell her she may well really like the idea...and then I might feel like moving on to another brilliant idea, rather than finishing this one. I have psychological issues, have I mentioned that yet?)
But what Denise's suggestion did was get me thinking outside Philip's home or office! I was thinking of something along the lines of Sherlock Holmes stories, where Holmes meets the person who wants to hire his services, and then dazzles that person (and Watson and the Reader) by knowing all about the person (and probably what they want him for) by just observing the person's clothes.
By getting me to think outside Philip's home/office, Denise opened up the world to me for that Introduction scene!
Then my mind grabbed a memory of something I had been thinking about as I woke up one afternoon recently. I sometimes hear soft thumps on the roof of my apartment, thumps that could be a critter of some sort running across the roof. There are trees that overhang my apartment, and I have seen tons of cats, at least one raccoon, and I think I may have seen a possum around here once or twice. So when I hear those soft thumps, my first thought is "Paranormal?" and my immediate, almost instantaneous second thought is "Critters."
And that's what paranormal investigators do, we try to debunk what others think may be paranormal phenomena. That's all we can do, because we can't PROVE a ghost/UFO/cryptid unless we catch one on video or in a picture -- and even then a hundred people will pop up to claim it's pareidolia (aka "matrixing") or it's Photoshopped or something else.
As I've observed in a previous post, most "scientific" paranormal investigators stop looking for a paranormal explanation once they've found a reasonable, rational mundane explanation for a phenomenon. If they can find a mundane explanation, they can bet that that's the explanation the skeptics are going to go with, regardless of the personal claims of the original experiencers.
But what makes Philip different is that he's willing to look deeper, and in the case of Scene 2 of this novel, he actually finds the paranormal cause of the mundane phenomenon.
This is useful for a couple of reasons:
1. It reveals (hopefully) just how very clever Philip is, and...
2. ...it lets the Reader know that even though this is a Mystery novel (a genre which generally frowns upon supernatural solutions to the mystery) the solution to MY mystery WILL be supernatural. If the Reader isn't on board with that, they can comfortable close the book after Scene 2.
Okay, so that's what needs to be explained about my Attitude Map. But that's not why I was inspired to write this post now.
I want to consider my story's progress...
I'm still not sure why Philip is hesitant to take this case.
When Philip was Alex, he didn't want to take the case because he was trying to distance himself from the paranormal as much as possible (except the paychecks, of course) so that he could have a career as a "serious journalist".
But Philip LOVES the paranormal. And he clearly likes Tiffani. So why is he trying to weasel out of this case?
My initial structure for this story has him doubting whether or not there is anything paranormal about what the Brimes family is experiencing. But the way the story's playing out so far, there is clearly genuine activity going on. Philip knew that before he agreed to take the case, just from reviewing CTPI's evidence.
So why?
When I was making my pro-Outline argument, I observed that the main difference between a short story and a long-form story is the twists and turns, the different directions the story verges off in before reaching its conclusion. Those twists and turns are motivated by the characters' motivations.
More than that, the drama is motivated by the characters' motivations. They need to want different things, and those wants can't be fulfilled until the end of the story, or else the Reader doesn't feel fulfilled.
I have (sort of) got Tiffani's motivation: She needs this haunting to be legitimate because she doesn't want to have to report the Brimes parents to Child Protective Services for possibly endangering their daughter (the unexplained scratches). I sort of, kind of have Carlton's motivation: He's secretly afraid that his wife accidentally scratched their baby and is using the paranormal stuff as an excuse.
But I don't ave Philip's motivation at all.
Now that I'm thinking out loud, it occurs to me that maybe this has to do with Scene 7...
I know, from a lifetime of watching TV and movies and reading novels, that I need Philip to have a subplot that is just (or mostly) about him as a person. I need his life to be altered by this mystery, preferably in a way that at first seems detrimental, but then turns out to be for the better.
Since Saturday, I have been toying with the idea that these personal scenes might involve Philip going to a professional psychic in hopes of increasing his psychic abilities. The running joke would be that the more he tries to be psychic, the more wrong his predictions/insights/whatever are.
But as I state the problem, I'm thinking more and more that maybe this investigation is taking Philip away from something he wants or needs to do.
The idea I'm having at this moment is that maybe Philip has a paid speaking engagement at paranormal convention, and maybe the longer this case drags on the more chance he will miss it?
I still don't know how Philip makes his money. I know he writes books, but unless you're Stephen King you don't necessarily make a living writing, especially writing paranormal non-fiction. (Even authors who write mainstream science texts don't make their living that way; the market is too specialized, there aren't enough readers out there who want to read those books.)
So if Philip has a day job like I do, maybe he's taking time off from it to investigate?
I'm an overnight master control operator for a TV station. (Three channels, actually, all broadcast out of the same station.) When I joined Texas Spiritis Paranormal Investigations I worked Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday (10-hour shifts, so I get a 3-day weekend). For the first year I used vacation days for investigations; usually two, one for the investigation and one to review the audio, video and pictures looking for anomalies that could be paranormal evidence. (After the first year, I talked to my coworkers and we shifted my schedule so that I can be off on weekends. Now I'm always free for an investigation at a moments notice.) (Btw, investigations tend to happen on the weekend, since it's usually the one time the clients and investigators have the time to do it; everybody involved has a job to go to during the week.)
So if I gave Philip my job -- which I can write about with confidence and detail -- then maybe his job is suffering because of all the time off he requires?
A possible problem with that scenario is the fact that a TV station is a bit like a conveyor line in that the station broadcasts 24/7, regardless of who is actually pushing the buttons. The only way his job suffers is if the other overnight operator is getting tired of giving up his days off.
I work with really great people in my department, but maybe Philip doesn't.
In fact, come to think of it, I would be the asshole of the department when it comes to filling in! I always tell everyone to make me their last option, because I value my time off more than the overtime pay! So what if the weekend overnight operator who has to fill in for Philip is an exaggerated version of me? On his days off he does something that he really, really enjoys doing and he gets pissed when he can't do it?
Another way to raise the stakes is if Philip has an additional responsibility that he, alone, takes care of, and that the other overnight guy doesn't want to. I'm thinking, specifically, of the couple of years in which one of my stations had a local movie review show. I'm a really good editor -- I learned by plugging two VHS machines into each other, then I learned to cut reel-to-reel tape by hand, then I learned the AVID non-linear system, and I am pretty quick to adapt to other systems. So when the producers of this movie-review show were looking for editors to cut theatrical trailers -- usually 90 seconds to 2 and a half minutes long -- down to 1 minute, 45 seconds or even 30 seconds -- I volunteered.
I want this story to take place in real-life Austin, TX, but I wouldn't use the call letters of the station I actually work for. So maybe not only the call letters are different about the station Philip works for? Maybe one of the channels he broadcasts currently has a local movie-review show! And if it does, Philip could be an editor for that show!
OR... to make matter more intense, maybe Philip is one of the hosts!
Well...that's not likely to fly. If he were one of the hosts, he would probably be replaced because of his schedule.
OOH!!!
MAYBE THAT'S THE SUB-PLOT!!!
Bare with me...
Okay, so Philip used to be with CTPI for a couple of years when he was 23 and 24. During that time he wrote a few books about the paranormal, and they sold astoundingly well (in paranormal non-fiction terms) so that he actually got a little extra spending money. But two or more of those books became sort of definitive in the field (because they were easy for non-investigators/non-researchers to follow, and yet they covered a wide range of topics). Then a cable Paranormal Reality TV show producer contacted him to use some of his work as background material. That show did okay, and maybe that producer got a second series going. He pays Philip to be a researcher for this show, too, but this is an ANCIENT ALIENS style show, so Philip gets bumped up to on-camera "talking head"! Since he lives in Austin, he Skypes in -- like Bill Birnes on UNSEALED: ALIEN FILES -- and now he makes enough money to put a little away in savings! Then this (cable) TV exposure convinces the producers of the local movie-review show that Philip can do the co-hosting job on the show, and that's been working out for him so far!
He has been co-hosting the show for 2 years now, during which time he has been forced to step away from CTPI. Tiffani didn't want to lose him, but she understood that this is a career opportunity for Philip.
And Philip can still research his books, he just does it during his days off -- Monday through Wednesday. He can't join CTPI for investigations, but he can do as much research as he likes, and even investigate if he can find someone to let him into a location during the week.
As I see it, Philip goes into work early on Saturdays to tape the show. I figure he normal goes into work at 8:00 pm (like I do), and I figure the movie-review show probably tapes around 5:00 pm -- it's a half-hour show, and the Production department wand to be done before the 6:00 pm news broadcast, so there's a half-hour transition time, unless something really bad happens and they have to re-start taping. (Usually though, such shows are treated as though they are airing live, and any flubs just get dealt with; it would take something REALLY HUGE to cause the director and producers to stop taping and start over. It almost never happens, so, functionally, these shows are treated as live events. ("Live-To-Tape" is the industry term.)) The reason the show tapes at 5:00 pm is because the types of people who do this show are Promotions type people who are used to Monday-Friday, 9-to-5 hours, and they always have plans for Saturday night.
OOH! And I can write a version of this SUPER-HOT, SUPER-COOL producer/host I worked for in real-life when I was editing for the actual show this is based on! It'll be awesome to hang with her again, even if it's a fake her. (She has, sadly, moved on since then.) I had an itty-bitty crush on her. But Philip can have a huge, raging crush on her fictional counterpart!
AND...!!!
She's not going to be happy with him since she has to find a replacement for him for one or more of the shows during the course of this novel!!! :D
Reality Check:
I just realized that Philip can't be a regular host. Part of hosting a movie-review show is going to see movies. Media screenings tend to be held on the weekend...when Philip is working.
So maybe he just has a regular segment or two. The first thing that comes to mind is a "trailer-review" segment. Philip helps pad the show by reviewing the coolest and least-cool trailers on the Internet this week.
Then, thinking about the Internet (which wasn't in full swing back when I was editing for the real-life movie-review show), Philip could further pad my hosting an Internet Buzz segment! He could talk about a movie or movies that have particularly strong "buzz" this week.
The benefit of Philip hosting these segments is that he can have done the video-editing and writing needed for these segments during the week, so that it would be much easier for someone to simply role his clips and read his copy off teleprompter. But the segments would, naturally, be harder on the person reading the copy because, since they didn't write it themselves, they wouldn't be able to hit the emphasis that Philip wrote into it -- they would come off sounding a bit "wooden" or "stiff".
THIS IS FRICKIN' GENIUS!!!
Mind you, I am not judging myself to be a genius, nor am I judging the quality of the material to be better-than-average.
I mean, yeah, I've got a huge ego and am a pretty big fan of me.
But what's awesome is that when I sat down to write this post (about 2 hours ago) Philip didn't have much of a life outside solving this mystery, and I didn't have any legitimate dramatic tension going on!
BUT NOW...!!!
AND... I'm excited by the fact that I got to share it with YOU, semi-curious reader! You watched it happen AS IT HAPPENED! :)
I would LOVE to be sitting in the room with Joss Whedon or Aaron Sorkin as they hash out a story problem, and watch them go from problem to solution!
I can only apologize that I am not Joss Whedon or Aaron Sorkin. :(
But the point of this section of the blog is to let you in, as intimately as humanly possible, into the process of how this novel is getting written.
The closest I have seen before was Russell T. Davies' & Benjamin Cook's DOCTOR WHO: A WRITER'S TALE, in which Cook and Davies exchange emails during the course of the 4th season (and actually a bit further) of the current DOCTOR WHO. Davies reveals A LOT about his process in that book, and in the first edition of the book you can even read early drafts of script pages, to compare them to what actually made it to air. (In the second edition, they had to jettison the draft pages to make room for more email exchanges, since the second edition covers the year of specials wrapping up David Tennant's tenure as the Doctor.)
As I've been doing these posts, I have become aware that even posting different versions of the outline don't let you in as intimately as I would like to, because there is a lot of thinking that goes on between each version, and the more time that passes between drafts of the outline the more the details of why I made each choice become more hazy.
But with this post, I have actually succeeded in showing you my process!
Now, is it the "right" process? Am I going about this the "correct" way? Is this the way you should write your novel/screenplay/whatever?
No, of course not.
If you find something in here that helps your writing process go more smoothly or be more fun, by all means use it.
But no two people write alike. (Unless, maybe, they're staff writers on the same show. But even then, I doubt it.)
Denise and I couldn't be more different in the ways we approach writing, and we sometimes collaborate.
But I'm thrilled that I got to share how I do what I do with you because you can now analyze what I do, compare it to what you do, and see if there's anything helpful you can gank from me. :)
Okay, need to go to the "day job" now.
