Subplot 003

Subplot 003

Sc C1 - ALEX is depressed about his career.  No one knows him as Alex Kane, investigative reporter; to the world he is Philip Blackwood, paranormal researcher.  He's trying to distance himself from the paranormal field, and besides, he's in the wrong head-space to work with a haunting, he's vulnerable.

* But TIFFANI tells him there's a 2yo involved and the family is genuinely scared. [Alex goes from depressed to concerned.]

Sc C2 -

*  [Alex goes from concerned to worried.]

Sc C3 -

*  [Alex goes from ]

Sc C4 -

*  [Alex goes from ]

Sc C5 -

*  [Alex goes from ]

Sc C6 -

*  [Alex goes from ]

Sc C7 -

*  [Alex goes from ]

Sc C8 -

*  [Alex goes from ]

Sc C9 -

*  [Alex goes from ]

Sc C10 -

*  [Alex goes from - to depression disguised as happiness.]

Sc C11 -

*  [Alex goes from ]

Sc C12 -

*  [Alex goes from ]

Sc C13 -

*  [Alex goes from  to - inspired.]

Sc C14 -

*  [Alex goes from ]

Sc C15 -

*  [Alex goes from ]



P - Inspired, Fearless
C - Worried
N - Depressed
E - Depression suppressed, disguised as happiness

***

This is a pretty interesting document, to me.

I had forgotten all about it.

After Subplot 002 I ditched Leela and decided to focus on Alex's personal journey through the story.

When he was living with Leela, I knew more about who he was.  I didn't like who he was, but I knew who he was.

(Actually, looking at the scene-numbering system, it looks like I might not have abandoned Leela 100%... maybe just 98% at this point.)

So I created this document in order to let Alex "cross the street", so to speak, and see if I could get to know him better.

This is a more literal application of John Vorhaus' Attitude Map than I would (it turns out) be employing in a week or two.

The Attitude Map is a method of generating story moments by placing the character in a specific situation, then dropping a Pivot on her -- a change in the situation that, subtly or drastically, changes her emotional state.

So one ambitious night I creates this list, intending to fill in all 15 scenes with...SOMETHING...

Clearly, it didn't work.

The plan was a good one, but since I knew so little about Alex -- and, for that matter, the Mystery he was meant to solve -- I just couldn't come up with anything.

It happens.

I don't call it Writer's Block anymore (thanks to Mr. Vorhaus), I call it "Not Knowing Enough About My Characters And My World".

And in this instance, I believe I chose to simple not write this night.

Now, in the past a night like this might have lead me to seriously consider abandoning the project altogether.  But for whatever reason, staring November 2013 or so, I got it into my mind that I WILL publish this year.  So I didn't worry about the utter failure, I simply accepted it as what is -- now, in this moment -- and that what is will change, sooner or later.

I am not condoning not-writing.

But I'm going to take a different tack than many how-to-write authors:

Sometimes there's nothing to write, and sometimes it's just an excuse.  You know the difference.  When you're pro, you'll have deadlines, and the more you fail to write the harder it will be to make those deadlines when your career gets going.  And if you fail to write consistently, you will never become a professional writer.  Or, if you've sold a story, you'll stop being a professional writer.

...OR....

...here's a horror story to send a chill down your spine...

...you will begin trying to be a writer when you are 22, and you will fail to become one until you are 43 years old!

Now, in addition to reading about how-to-write since 1992, I have written screenplays and shorts and unfinished novels, and I've been blogging since May 2005.  So I have been toiling in my obscurity, honing my writing skills and sharpening my understanding of the craft.  And I've been living life, and I've been working my day job.

But I've also come to an understanding that a novel is merely a stack of pages that tell a coherent story.  That's it.  I mean, it's better if that coherent story is GOOD and told well!  But in the end, it's just a stack of pages.

In the 1980s when I first started reading about writing (William Goldman's ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE: A PERSONAL VIEW OF HOLLYWOOD AND SCREENWRITING) I had this in-born ideal that professional writing was some magical calling, like you would have to pull a sword out of a stone to be able to do it.  And for over 2 decades I was sort of looking for the stone wit a sword sticking out of it, but I never found it.

Then it finally sunk in: A professional writer is someone who writes a stack of pages (the appropriate number of pages for the medium they're written for, and in the correct format for that medium) and THAT'S IT.

This novel is my first stack of pages.

This blog is sharing with you, curious reader, HOW I wrote that stack of pages, as I write them.

And the above platform document represents a question: Do I write today, or not?

Actually, it's more like a series of questions:

Do I write RIGHT NOW?  If not, why?  Do I write later?  WILL I, realistically, write later?  Am I not writing because I'm not inspired?  Am I not writing because I need to do more research?  If I don't write today, will I (realistically) write tomorrow?  If I don't write now, will I finish this project by the deadline?  If I don't write right now, will I finish this project next week?  Next month?  Next year?  Next decade?

Can I be happy with the results if I don't write now?

John Vorhaus, in HOW TO WRITE GOOD, suggests that we "observe ourselves writing".  I've had 21 years to observe myself writing, so when I created this document and failed to fill it out I would make progress the next day or the next week or two weeks from then.  I know not only what my writing "looks like" when it's going well or when it's going poorly, I know what it "feels" like.  This determination to publish in 2014 feels different (more "solid", more dependable) than any other project has felt ever before for me.

How well do you know what your writing "looks" and "feels" like?

If I come off preachy, it's because the only way to fail is to quit... but... if success is a marathon (and I have it on very good authority that it is) then you absolutely DO have some control over how long that marathon lasts.

*pmb*

(That's the sound of me hopping off my soap box.)

Despite the failure of Subplot 003, I am about to get a shot of inspiration to revitalize this project...