Back To It...

As of 1:38 am 26 January 2014 my blog posts are up-to-date with my writing.

Which is kind of a bummer.

I spent last weekend updating the blog instead of making progress on the outline.

However, a nice thing about the blogging is that it reminded me how excited I was 2 weeks ago when I wrote the entries about Subplot 004.  That's not nothing!

I began this night hoping to write some more scenes, though, and I just couldn't be bothered.  I wasn't feelin' it.  But I also couldn't NOT make SOME progress, so focused on getting the blog up-to-date.

And now I'm in a better head-space, creatively speaking.  Just remembering why I was so excited 2 weeks ago seems to have helped.

But I have a few brick walls to dismantle...

Before I started updating the blog, when I looking over my Outline, I noticed that Scene 23 is really begging to be fleshed-out.

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Sc 23 - PHILIP and TIFFANI learn that CARLTON BRIMES thinks that BRITNEY BRIMES accidentally scratched ARIEL BRIMES and he wants them off the case!

--

That's still my structural place-holder scene.

I know that it's supposed to be a dramatic scene, and it should really shock the Reader when it comes, but I don't really have solid motivation for it.  I've been hinting, so far, that there's something suspicious about Carlton Brimes, but I haven't flesh-ed it out yet.

Also, I know that Britney Brimes is way-into Paranormal Reality TV -- enough so as to make her motivation for calling on CTPI seem a bit suspicious to the ghost-hunters.  ("Does she want our help because of the paranormal activity, or does she want our help because she hopes we'll get her on TV?")

But I haven't come up with the story beats that let all this play out dramatically.

On the positive side, though, while editing the blog post before this one I realized that Scene 7 can actually be 2 scenes!

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Scene 06:

Thursday Night - As soon JAMES gets in PHILIP begs him to cover Saturday.  James obviously wants to say "no", argues in his head for a few minutes, then says he'll do it.  RELIEF!  Philip tracks down AMBER.  They banter (maybe even flirt?) for a bit, then Philip dives in: He gives her a jump drive with his scripts and video and begs her to forgive him for not being able to make it Saturday.  Amber becomes an ice queen.  Philip tries to explain that he wouldn't do this if he had a choice.  Amber asks, rhetorically, "Why should I care of you bail on the show?"   He's not bailing, he just can be here Saturday.  "That's fine", Amber says, but Philip knows it's not fine.

Scene --:

At the TV station, PHILIP visits AMBER's office.  He wants to apologize again for Saturday.  Amber apologizes instead for her behavior: Amber is barely holding this show together, scrounging every bit of advertising she can con out of someone because the General Manager keeps hinting the show doesn't make enough money to keep it on the air, and Philip not showing up Saturday seemed like maybe he sensed the ship was sinking and was going overboard before it sank beneath them all.  A little flirtatiously, Amber asks if Philip DVR-ed the show.  He did, and he loved her changes to his segments.  Amber says she had to tweak his scripts a little because the way he writes is so... HIM.  (She makes it sound like a compliment...and maybe a come-on.)  Philip has to get back to work.

--

See what I did there?

Now Scene 6 is (theoretically) a bit more shocking because Amber's actions don't have any obvious motivation.  If I have the Reader's attention, they should be wondering why she would go from hot to cold with Philip just because he wants a day off.

Then the next time they see her, she has warmed back up to Philip, and the Reader and Philip now discover what motivated her behavior.  So now Amber is a much more interesting character, and since the scene ends with her flirting with Philip again, the Reader likes her again, only much more because she's not only a person who can admit she was wrong, but we now understand that she endures stresses that she (usually) keeps away from the rest of the review-show crew.  She's now a strong-but-human character.

And it's going to suck SO HARD when Philip discovers that he has to ask for another night off! MWUHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!

Had I realized this last week I would have been excited that I now have 28/40...but I really should be closer to 38/40 by now.  :(  I would like to begin February with a finished outline, and start writing pages on February 1st, but that's not looking very likely.

It's not impossible, though!

What I accomplish tonight and tomorrow night will tell the tale.

With my schedule at work, I really can't count on having the energy to do any writing before our after.  Especially since Tuesday is a 12-hour shift, so I have to get to sleep early Tuesday morning so I can wake up early Tuesday night, which means I'll probably be pretty beat when I get off work Wednesday morning.

Anyway...  What else has me stumped?

OH!  I should explain the Tangie/Amber thing!

It's simple, really: I realized that with Tiffani being my primary supporting character, I needed to change Tangie's name to something that doesn't start with a "T".  I couple of days ago I watched Iliza Shlesinger's WAR PAINT comedy special, and the name "Amber" popped up and I thought that might be good for Tangie's new name.

Viola!

Oh, wait...  The baby's name is Ariel...

...however, the baby is sort of more a prop than a character, speaking functionally.

You know what?  I think I'll leave it for the first draft.  I'll see if any of my Beta Readers notice it and/or have a problem with it.  I really like the name Amber for Philip's producer, and I like the name Ariel for the baby.  If anyone brings it up after the first draft, I'll change it, but for now I'd rather worry about getting the outline finished.

But how?

OMG this post is becoming SO LONG!  I wonder if I'll even bothering posting it.  Or maybe I'll need to cut it down.

For now I'll just keep writing.  Maybe I'll come up with something.

So Carlton doesn't want to introduce Britney to the investigators because he thinks she's a little wacky.  But I need the investigators to meet Britney so I can have Scene 19 where Philip catches her talking to Doddy and then Doddy touches his hand.  And I would rather not move it because that's a raise-the-stakes scene in its current position, so I have about 5 scenes in which to Convince Carlton to let her be present for the next investigation.

Come to think of it, I have 5 scenes to convince Philip to take another day off...

I have an idea...

Jim Butcher (author of THE DRESDEN FILES) recommends a Scene/Sequel approach to writing a novel.

According to his method, the "Scene" is a section of the story wherein stuff happens.  The "Sequel" is that immediately follows, wherein characters react to what just happened.

Now, this approach is expandable and collapsible.  You can work this within a scene, or within a sequence, or within the story as a whole.  In this context, I'm applying it to the story as a whole.

The first 7 scenes are about getting Philip to investigate the Brimes family's house.  The next 6 scenes are the investigation.

So maybe I spend the next 5 (or so, depending on what I need) scenes in "Sequel" mode, letting Philip and Tiffani see what they've got to work with, and building up to Philip having to ask for another day off.

I have this idea that maybe Philip will be forced to investigate on another Saturday, but he will work it so that he can record the movie-review show, then meet CTPI at the Brimes' home.  This keeps him in good with Amber, but it's probably pushing James to a breaking point.

It's worth exploring.

Done blogging.  Time to write.