Current Story Drama
So I'm currently picking the bones out of one of my CW stories, some of you might affectionately remember by my less than clever working title "Horseboy" (Hey, all I can say is that it was due by 9 am and I was titleless at 8:45) What I really liked about the story is the strength of the voice of the main character, Jack. I knew immediately who he was and what he was about, what moved him and what terrified him. The only thing I didn't know is what he would do with the choice I gave him at the end.
In the working draft I had three endings. Two that ranged from happily ever after to Disney cartoon and the last that was like Shakespeare tragedy at it's best (think Titus) Needless to say at 5 weeks into CW and emotionally overworked I went with the last. I also second guessed myself and totally fucked the beginning over instead of going with my gut.
The funny part was, the worst crit I got was that the manuscript was a mess. (It was) And that the beginning was bungled. (It was) People liked the ending or didn't like the ending but nobody said "NO WAY I didn't believe that for as long as it took to wipe my ass with the last page of your 'script." Or anything along those lines. And pretty much everybody liked the story overall.
All good things. So six months later I take a crack at this misshapen child o mine and the muse is smiling as she's sitting on her ass getting her third pedicure for the week and I toil away religiously at my laptop. I discover that there are so many good things I left out, sharpened it up a bit, tweaked the beginning. Then I get to the end and it's like hitting a brick wall.
Suddenly I find myself longing for ending # 1 or 2. I mean I LOVE this kid. Why would I ever him? And then it hits me. This is my biggest challenge as a writer. Making the bad things happen, especially to the ones I really like. So I am struggling, hemming and hawing now because I know when I sit down to this story I am going to have to do something really bad to someone really nice. Not because he asked for it, or he deserved it. But because sometimes that's just the way life is.
The best part is, he will be a stronger person because of it. Life goes on. Funny how those things work out.
In the working draft I had three endings. Two that ranged from happily ever after to Disney cartoon and the last that was like Shakespeare tragedy at it's best (think Titus) Needless to say at 5 weeks into CW and emotionally overworked I went with the last. I also second guessed myself and totally fucked the beginning over instead of going with my gut.
The funny part was, the worst crit I got was that the manuscript was a mess. (It was) And that the beginning was bungled. (It was) People liked the ending or didn't like the ending but nobody said "NO WAY I didn't believe that for as long as it took to wipe my ass with the last page of your 'script." Or anything along those lines. And pretty much everybody liked the story overall.
All good things. So six months later I take a crack at this misshapen child o mine and the muse is smiling as she's sitting on her ass getting her third pedicure for the week and I toil away religiously at my laptop. I discover that there are so many good things I left out, sharpened it up a bit, tweaked the beginning. Then I get to the end and it's like hitting a brick wall.
Suddenly I find myself longing for ending # 1 or 2. I mean I LOVE this kid. Why would I ever him? And then it hits me. This is my biggest challenge as a writer. Making the bad things happen, especially to the ones I really like. So I am struggling, hemming and hawing now because I know when I sit down to this story I am going to have to do something really bad to someone really nice. Not because he asked for it, or he deserved it. But because sometimes that's just the way life is.
The best part is, he will be a stronger person because of it. Life goes on. Funny how those things work out.
Labels: Write Yourself Out Of This One
posted by Eddie at 6:06 AM
2 Comments:
I like it! A character I can relate to! ...challenges make it all worth while. Wouldn't you agree?
Shrog: For so long I've been a "heroics" writer (amazing people, increidble adventures, out of this world,this is why i write sci-fi ect...)but I'm finally starting to get it that less than all-wonderful characters working through bad things/challenges/obstacles is what makes a story interesting for me to read and write.
That's who I always identify with (average joe/jane) in my favorite stories. It seems a basic thing to understand, but harder to work into my writing than I thought it would be!
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