A Writer's Notebook, Day One-Hundred-Four
I still have a bit to wrap up on the current novel, but I am planning to start a new project tomorrow as well, and to keep working a bit on this until I finish, which shouldn't be too much longer, as I do know the shape of what is to come. The new book has yet to really be clear to me, but I know I should start tomorrow. In some ways, I think I am glad to be moving on to something new, as I found this book a beast in many ways, and I think that having another project that is on the front burner and which is more enjoyable to write, will be a good thing for me in general.
I do have some thoughts on the shape of what I want to do, as I mentioned yesterday, but I don't really know how to put it all together, or even the specifics of the characters. Of course, it might be that this idea will wait a bit, and something else will leap onto the page. That certainly can happen, if an idea is not ripe enough but another is ready. I think, this current idea needs some other thing to spark my thinking.
By that, I mean that, I often have ideas born from synthesis of two or more concepts. For example, Gus And Bow's Bus And Go combined several different ideas for novels together into one more cohesive plot. One idea concerned the concept of AI and simulation theory. Another was related to the idea of a doomsday book type voter fraud but with zombies. The overall concept of the characters and the novels general structure and style were also ideas I'd had separately. When all these elements and others came together, it catalyzed the concepts in the story and helped me to create something compelling.
Similarly, I see this current idea as being one element in something that will ultimately connect with other ideas. I am wondering if it may be helpful to sort of think through some possibilities, in a general sense, in this entry. Basically, I am hoping that there is something which I am already thinking about that will connect well with what I already know about the concept.
I think that one place to begin with this is the idea of this as having horror elements. In my mind, the aspects of horror that I am most interested in playing with here are more atmospheric and psychological. It feels like this might work well with a sort of haunting type story. I've had some ideas in that direction, but I don't feel that the one's I am thinking of really fit here, as they include some elements that I think would contradict the structural ideas I have already.
The idea of haunted spaces is still a direction that I think is worth exploring, though. I am contemplating the idea that all spaces are, in some way, haunted. For one thing, the idea that any part of the planet would not be haunted, if such things were real, is silly this far along in human history. Certainly, most places that humans live now would already have been inhabited long enough to make haunting essentially ubiquitous. Of course, the deeper idea, that all places are haunted in some personal sense, is something more essential and interesting. This aspect of haunting would also serve as a connection to the reader, with the initial story setting in motion the idea that the reader is in a world that is also haunted.
I think this is likely to be something that needs to percolate a bit more, as my current efforts seem to be spinning about. I have little doubt that I am onto something, though, as I do have a certain sense about that. It is a feeling that an idea carries with it, and which seems to signal to me that it is at a point where it is ready to be explored and turned into a full work. I also recognize that tonight I am going to have this in my mind and that it will likely develop in the background, with me having some revelation later. For now, it is quite late and I am going to call it a night. In the morning, it may well be that I have a far clearer understanding of what I am working on.
I do have some thoughts on the shape of what I want to do, as I mentioned yesterday, but I don't really know how to put it all together, or even the specifics of the characters. Of course, it might be that this idea will wait a bit, and something else will leap onto the page. That certainly can happen, if an idea is not ripe enough but another is ready. I think, this current idea needs some other thing to spark my thinking.
By that, I mean that, I often have ideas born from synthesis of two or more concepts. For example, Gus And Bow's Bus And Go combined several different ideas for novels together into one more cohesive plot. One idea concerned the concept of AI and simulation theory. Another was related to the idea of a doomsday book type voter fraud but with zombies. The overall concept of the characters and the novels general structure and style were also ideas I'd had separately. When all these elements and others came together, it catalyzed the concepts in the story and helped me to create something compelling.
Similarly, I see this current idea as being one element in something that will ultimately connect with other ideas. I am wondering if it may be helpful to sort of think through some possibilities, in a general sense, in this entry. Basically, I am hoping that there is something which I am already thinking about that will connect well with what I already know about the concept.
I think that one place to begin with this is the idea of this as having horror elements. In my mind, the aspects of horror that I am most interested in playing with here are more atmospheric and psychological. It feels like this might work well with a sort of haunting type story. I've had some ideas in that direction, but I don't feel that the one's I am thinking of really fit here, as they include some elements that I think would contradict the structural ideas I have already.
The idea of haunted spaces is still a direction that I think is worth exploring, though. I am contemplating the idea that all spaces are, in some way, haunted. For one thing, the idea that any part of the planet would not be haunted, if such things were real, is silly this far along in human history. Certainly, most places that humans live now would already have been inhabited long enough to make haunting essentially ubiquitous. Of course, the deeper idea, that all places are haunted in some personal sense, is something more essential and interesting. This aspect of haunting would also serve as a connection to the reader, with the initial story setting in motion the idea that the reader is in a world that is also haunted.
I think this is likely to be something that needs to percolate a bit more, as my current efforts seem to be spinning about. I have little doubt that I am onto something, though, as I do have a certain sense about that. It is a feeling that an idea carries with it, and which seems to signal to me that it is at a point where it is ready to be explored and turned into a full work. I also recognize that tonight I am going to have this in my mind and that it will likely develop in the background, with me having some revelation later. For now, it is quite late and I am going to call it a night. In the morning, it may well be that I have a far clearer understanding of what I am working on.
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