A Day of Writing

10:27 pm

Woke up after 8:00 pm (NICE sleep!  Very refreshing.) and finished watching JESSE STONE: SEA CHANGE.  I fell asleep watching it this morning.

I've got steamed veggies with pasta and garlic/cheddar biscuits for breakfast, but I thought I would start this blog entry first.  This is more for me than you, curious reader, because I want to map out what a day of writing might look like, you know, once I'm able to do this professionally.

The first thing I want to do is read my blog posts from last night/this morning, to catch me up on my thought process.

But first, I should probably eat.

Actually, I'm gonna jot down some place-holder scene descriptions...

Scene 24:

TIFFANI calls PHILIP.  Something scary happened to the Brimes family, they want CTPI to investigate and Britney will be there.

Scene 25:

PHILIP shows up at the TV station to bribe JAMES and tell AMBER he needs Saturday off.

She tells him he's off the show.  (She can't fire him because they are both employed by the station to do other jobs, to they are both, technically, volunteers on the show.)  She's not cruel, and she believes that PHILIP believes in this paranormal stuff, but she believes in her show.  Now he has all the time he needs.

Scene 26:

CTPI and PHILIP arrive at the Brimes house.  Update on current activity.  Activity is already happening before the investigation starts.  It looks like BRITNEY is a poltergeist agent.

Scene 27:

Scene 28:

 

Scene 29:

11:36 pm

Okay, now let's see if I can flesh out the place-holder scenes, and maybe complete this section of the outline...

Scene 24 is Tiffani calling Philip and telling him that Cartlon Brimes wants them back on the case.

Why?

Clearly, something scary happened to them.

What?

The details are god here.  We want something that is unnerving for the Reader to even think about.  I also think it should be physical force.

In my mind, this phenomena is broken up into 2 categories:

1. Ghost children
2. Elemental

The double-EVP was Poe being scary.  And the physical force is the Elemental.  (Ghosts can't move heavy objects.  They can disappear stuff and make it reappear but then can't, say, move a couch across the room.)

So I need the Elemental to have done something scary.  The Elemental generally manifests in the baby's room, which works in my favor since anything danger that appears to threaten Ariel is disturbing, and therefor story gold.

But what?

THE CRIB GET'S VIOLENTLY UPENDED!!!  :D

Ariel isn't in it, so she's not hurt, of course.  But how fucking disturbing would that be?  Any parent would be able to think only one thought: "What if she had been in the crib when it happened?!"  I don't think you even have to be a parent to be disturbed by that!

Scene 24:

TIFFANI calls PHILIP.  It was Britney.  While she was bathing Ariel in the master bathroom, she heard a loud bang from Ariel's room, and when Carlton went in to see what had happened, Ariel's crib was upside down against the wall, as though someone had thrown it there.  The Brimes family wants CTPI to come back, and Britney has agreed to be present.  They want to know what's going on in their home.

HELLS YEAH!  THAT is how you flesh out a scene!  :D

Scene 25 is actually ready to be turned into pages, except for Philip's bribe for James.

I need to know more about James than I do.

James doesn't like to work on his days off because he has something he prefers to do at home.

My first instinct is to make it something quirky.  Like he spends a lot of time on Second Life.  Only, no one knows what Second Life is anymore; it's 15 Minutes of Fame seem to have passed.  And I'm given to understand that World of Warcraft might be similar to SL, but it's 15 Minutes seem to be more or less up, too.

There are multi-player war games, like CALL OF DUTY, that might work, except that I don't know anything about them.  And the don't, to my knowledge, work as a bribe.

See, the reason SL appeals to me is because you can buy stuff in SL, so Philip could have purchased something expensive for James in-world, so that the next time James goes in-world he could enjoy SL even more.

But, as I said, Second Life is too obscure for many of the readers (if any) to get the joke.

And the bribe should function as a joke.  The first time Philip asks James to fill in, the Reader is informed why James doesn't want to.  The next time, Philip regrets taking James away from whatever it is.  So this third time, Philip presents James with...whatever he presents him with, and without explanation, the Reader understands the bribe's significance and laughs at Philip's consideration.  Set up, set up, punch.

But what?

The weak version is just that James likes to drink on his days off, and the punchline would be Philip presenting him with a bottle of (very specific) booze.

But that's weak, and it doesn't make James any more interesting a character.

12:34 am

I decided to step away from the problem for a bit, then make some coffee.

I still don't know what James' hobby is, so I'm going to skip ahead to Scene 26.

Since Scene 30 is part of the investigation, getting Investigation #2 started in Scene 26 means I've got, at least, a 5-scene investigation.  So it's got to be good, or I lose my Readers at one of the points when they should be enjoying themselves the most.

Now this situation is helped by the fact that I feel very confident that Scene 30 will be an excellent Climax to Investigation #2.  It's sort of a penultimate Climax to the story as a whole.  So whatever happens in Scene 26 -- to let Philip and Tiffani know that the activity has definitely increased with Britney in the house -- doesn't have to be big, it only has to be creepy.

I think I should bring the garden outside Ariel's room into this investigation.  I would really like to plant the Elemental aspect here.

Ooh!  I got a great idea!  Maybe Philip doesn't make the offering to the Elemental in Scene 37...  Maybe he brings Xavier along to do that!  :D

I had considered a scene in either this stretch of the book or the last stretch in which Philip knocks on Xavier's door to ask him some leading questions about dealing with Elementals.  But if Xavier just shows up at the end of the story, I wonder if that might give the Reader a more powerful rush of insight and understanding.  A jolt of recognition when they remember all the way back to Scene 2.

It might not work.  If this were a film, it would work, because the moment they saw Xavier, they would wonder why he looked familiar, scan backward to the beginning of the film, then immediately figure out what is about to happen.

But novels are different from films in that the reader may plow right through to the end, or they may set the book down for days, weeks, even months at a time.

Although, if the Reader sets this book down for a week or more, I'm probably doomed, anyway.  I'm designing this book to be a tight, fast-paced read (I'm thinking each scene will be a chapter), so if the reader's attention wanders from the novel I probably haven't done my job well enough.

So if I wanted to play it safe, I would go back and include a scene where Philip talks to Xavier somewhere near the middle of the book, to reintroduce the reader to the character and suggest that he may still be important to the story.

In fact, talking about it, I may go ahead and do that.  The scene can always be cut at some later stage -- rewrite, editing -- but its absence might feel like a cheat.

The fun thing, though, for me is that Xavier wasn't invented for any significant role in the story!  He was just invented to introduce my protagonist!  :)

You know, thinking about it, maybe bringing Xavier along for the big Wrap Up isn't the best idea.

I could always have Philip visit Xavier and state that he wants to ask him some questions about Elementals, then "cut to" Philip at the Brimes home, performing the offering.

I mean, it should have the same effect on the Reader, if they recognize the character from the second chapter of the book, but it doesn't require them to remember Xavier in order to get understand what's going on i the scene.  So it's sort of like I'm insuring against non-recognition, without foreshadowing the solution to the mystery.

That seems like the best way to go.

Okay, back to what I was doing...

We've got a 5-scene investigation, and we know the last scene (Doddy touches Philips hand and Britney sees it happen).

Scene 1 - Activity has increased.
Scene 2 -
Scene 3 -
Scene 4 -
Scene 5 - The ghost girl touches Philips hand and Britney sees dead people.

I'd like to milk the poltergeist hypothesis as long as possible.

OH YEAH!

Side-tracking again:

I wanted a scene that mirrors the opening of the book, only Philip is one of the people who witness it!  This is the beginning of Philip solving the case!  Because Philip analyses the speech and discovers that the exact words aren't "I'm the devil" but "Ime da debbul", like they're being spoken by a young child.

In fact, I'm going to go ahead and put those scenes in my outline, because I know I want them...

1:33 am

I just fleshed out Scenes 37 and 38.  I really like them now.  I even made myself a little weepy writing Scene 38!  (That's always a nice accomplishment if you can do it!)

And I have 9 SCENES LEFT!!!  :D

Fewer than that, actually, but I need to flesh them out...

So what do I tackle first?  The investigation, or James' bribe?

I could go on the Internet and see if I can find a cool hobby idea.

I think I'll do that.  Research might refresh my mind a bit...

2:20 am

I now have a decent idea what Geocaching is, and am mildly fascinated by the concept...  But I haven't got a hobby for James yet.
Okay, the story-purpose for the hobby is:

1. Explain why James hates to work on his days off.
2. Make James a more interesting character.
3. Give Philip a way to compensate James for covering for him.


Just got a weak idea: James has a hot wife and he like to spend time with her, and that's why he doesn't like to work on his days off.  Philip could give him some exotic gift (like jewelry) to give to her.  But the problem is people who work overnight tend not to be married, or even be in serious, live-in relationships.  It's far from impossible, it just tends not to be the case.

Just realized that Scene 37 needs to be the reporter giving Philip the information about the kids who died on the property in 1998.  That needs to immediately proceed Philip talking to Xavier and then making an offering to the Elemental to confuse the Reader, but also set them up for Philip's Big Reveal in Scene 39...

3:31 am

I after updating the outline, I stepped outside to help my brother perform a minor adjustment to his car.  (He's not an overnight guy, but he's a night owl, too.)  And when I say that I helped, what I mean is that I held a flashlight and made sure ninjas or zombies didn't sneak up on him while he was working.

I also thought that an excuse to go outside and stop thinking about the novel for a bit might prove useful.

I've been working on this for 5 hours now!  Not bad!  If my full-time job was writing, I could call it a day about now.  ...assuming I weren't desperately racing to finish an outline.

Speaking of which, where are we now?

I'm missing 6 scenes.  I am 6 scenes away from having a completed outline!  :D

Okay, before I go into Investigation #2, I really want to clear up this James thing.

I wanted a hobby that Philip could contribute to, but that's really not necessary.  The scene might play just as well if James, who has been silently seething the last 2 times he filled in for Philip, were to begin a long, loud rant about how much he hates working and how self-centered Philip is for asking James to fill in and--

James holds up a bottle of Tito's Handmade Vodka in a velvet gift bag.

And a bottle of Mr & Mrs T Bold & Spicy Bloody Mary mix.

James, accepts them and says filling in on Saturday won't be a problem at all.

Not bad, right?

I mean, it's not the most elegant solution, nor is it the funniest punchline, but I think it works.

Moreover, it can always be rewritten.

I believe in John Vorhaus's process of doing the best you can with each platform document, and keeping moving.  This outline is a platform document, getting me to the next platform, which is the First Draft.  The First Draft will be the platform document getting me to the Second draft, and so on, until it is released to the public and then belongs to the Reader.

So I'm using the Tito's joke and moving on.

OKAY...!

So now I need the arc of Investigation #2...

I have the beginning and ending:

Scene 26 - Activity has increased with Britney present.
Scene 27 -
Scene 28 -
Scene 29 -
Scene 30 - The ghost girl touches Philips hand and Britney sees dead people.
Scene 31 - Philip meets "Da Debbul".

So I need to flesh out 26 and fill 27 - 29...

This investigation is the entire mystery in a nutshell.  It's climactic, so I can pull out all the stops.  If every scene is big, that works just fine.  Also, if the activity gives the reader a glimmer at the solution, that's fine, as well.

But I guess the fundamental function of this investigation is to convince CTPI that the activity is poltergeist activity, and then convince Philip it's not.  And I have the "convince Philip it's not" part figured out already.

I need to bring attention to the garden.  I'll need be sure to write that into some earlier scene, too, but I really need to bring the reader's (and Philip's) attention to it here.  Like maybe the end table in Ariel's room--

DUDE!!!

Carlton picked his first batch of cherry tomatoes the night Ariel got scratched!  And the day Carlton's friend got shoved in the guest bathroom was the day that...  What?  Maybe he accidentally trod in some carrots planted in the garden?  The Elemental is protecting the garden.

Carlton had Ariel with him when he was planting, and she was eating cherry tomatoes as fast as Carlton could plant his zucchini, and that night she got scratched.  Then his friend accidentally steps in the carrots, and he gets shoved.

I have a hare-brained idea that maybe Philip tries an experiment wherein he plucks a flower from the garden, quickly goes to a different part of the house, then enters the section with Ariel's room and the guest bathroom, and gets tripped by something unseen.

Maybe Philip is putting things together during this investigation, so while CTPI are testing for poltergeist activity, Philip is actually working a different angle.

How does one test for poltergeist activity?

Scene 26:

Brimes Home, 5:15 pm - TIFFANI is listening to BRITNEY explain what happened Tuesday night.  PHILIP observes them while NOEL and MAX set up the equipment.  Footsteps can be heard running down the hall.  Philip had an audio recorder rolling in Ariel's room; it should have picked the sound up.  Tiffani confers with Philip: The investigation hasn't even begun and the activity has already started.  Philip observes that that doesn't prove Britney is a poltergiest agent, and Tiffani concurs, "But it doesn't prove she's not, either."

Scene 27:

At dinner, MAX coos over the salad.  Britney beams that they're from Carlton's garden.  She says that Ariel doesn't like vegetables, but she love's Carlton's tomatos.  carlton tells the story of how he had Ariel in the garden with him while he worked, and she was tearing out cherry tomatos by the handfull...  Not s much to eat them as to play with them.  Britney excuses herself from the room.  Philip asks when this was.  Carlton recalls it was probably 3 months ago.  Around the time when she was scratched?  Come to think of it, yes, around that time, why?  Did Carlton pick these vegitables earlier today?  No, he picked them Tuesday; they've been sitting in the refrigerator since then so he thought he make a salad out of them tonight.  The friend who was shoved in the guest bathroom, had Carlton shown him the garden?  Carlton can't remember, probably, why?  Parent's bedroom door SLAMS, scaring everyone out of their seats.

Scene 28:

In the study, everyone watches again and again as NOEL replays the video of the Parents' Bedroom door slamming shut all by itself.  BRITNEY walks out of the bedroom, then 12 seconds later the door slams shut.  Britney has no idea how that happened.  CARLTON says that door never opens or closes by itself.  TIFFANI wants to ask Britney some questions.  Everyone clears the Study and Tiffani begins asking how Britney is doing, if she had been feeling stressed before this stuff started happening, if Britney can remember hearing or seeing things as a kid that grownups told her was her imagination, and so on...  PHILIP knows the drill and takes this opportunity to sneak out.  Minutes later he slips into the Kitchen, holding a flower, and listens for a few minutes as MAX conducts an EVP session.  Then Philip slips quietly out of the kitchen and walks down the hall toward Ariel's room.  He trips and face-plants on the ground, dropping the flower.  Tiffani and Britney rush up to him, they saw it on the monitor.  No one can find what Philip tripped on.  Philip also can't find the flower he had dropped.

5:23 am

I think I'm about to call it a day.

7 hours of writing isn't bad at all!  AND, most importantly, I have all but 4 SCENES outlined!!!  If I were on a professional deadline, I could start writing this novel tomorrow!!!

But I have some eggrolls in the oven and I'm about to nuke some Asian dumplings, and I think I'm ready to unwind and let the rest of the weekend drift past.  (I haven't visited my dinosaurs on Jurassic Park Builder in a couple of days; I might catch up on some of my paranormal podcasts while tending to the dinos and playing some Candy Crush.)

This has been an exciting weekend!

And hopefully these blog posts have been informative for you, vaguely-curious reader!

:)