Duh! Randomocity . . .

I was working on the treatment for The Harvester of Faces and was wrestling with a plot point.

I wanted my antagonist--Fiona, who is a detective--to meet KC--my protagonist, and the perpetrator of a crime that Fiona is investigating. I'd created this idiotic subplot that brought in all sorts of minor characters and involved all sorts of elaborate plotting and planning, when it occurred to me--KC actually committed the crime Fiona is investigating, so if Fiona is a half-way decent detective she'd want to interview KC as part of her investigation, wouldn't she? Duh!

Realizing that your characters--antagonists or protagonists--aren't complete idiots is a major consideration, when plotting out a story. I realize that now.

Hopefully I'll at least have this thing plotted out over the weekend. I think I'm nearly done with the first draft of the treatment--there will be rewrites, as it's at a page and a half right now and I don't believe a treatment should be over a page. But it helps to know where the story is going and boy! howdy! it sort of underscores and writes out in all caps any problems with the story. It's a helluva lot easier to correct those problems in a treatment than it is when you've already written fifty pages of a novel or a screenplay. I know this from experience. Bitter. Personal. Experience.

This project I'm collaborating on is about to kick into high gear and will need to take priority for a few months, so after I finish this draft of the treatment for The Harvester of Faces it'll have to go on the back burner for now. Which will be good, actually, as I'm sure all sorts of stuff will occur to me in the meantime. And I won't stop working on it entirely--to continue the cooking metaphor, you have to stir the stuff in the pot on the back burner every now and then to keep it from scorching or getting too thick. Working on it will give me a break from this other thing, every now and then.

Anyways, that and football is my weekend. And laundry. Always laundry.

Plotting and planning randomocity

I'm going to be collaborating with a friend on a screenplay shortly.

It's a project I can't really talk about. I only mention it here to explain what I'm up to with my own projects.

I'm writing a treatment for The Harvester of Faces, just to see if it would work better as a film. I think it would. A "treatment" is where you describe the plot. There are various theories as to what works best in a treatment--some people say four or five pages, others say it should be no more than one--this is what I think, too, as if it's longer than a page it's too complicated. There is not a specific format that should be followed. There are examples all over the Internet if you're curious. Potential backers, studios, networks, etc., want to see a treatment, and you can register it to be protected from plagiarism, too. Potential backers also understand that it's a treatment, so they don't expect to see brilliant character development or high-caliber prose.

Another thing a treatment is good for, is helping you spot places in your story that you need to rethink. I've identified two weaknesses with my own story so far--I need a subplot, and I need something to demonstrate that my protagonist is every inch not somebody you mess with lightly. I think I've got that now, though I need to find a way to integrate the new stuff into the plot so that it still flows like I want it to. I'm going to think about it a little longer and then start over.

Yes, writing treatments is hard. But it's worth it, if only because of all the time it keeps you from wasting later. Even if I go back to working on this project as a novel this will still be helpful.

Anyways, this is what I'm doing while I'm also prepping on this collaborative project. Hopefully, I'll have this treatment knocked into shape in a couple of days, before I have to start giving the project I'm working on with my friend priority.

That's about all I've got going on right now. I haven't been painting or sketching any over the past couple of weeks--I'm spending all my free time writing or prepping for writing these days. About as good as it gets, for me.

Busy busy randomocity

I'm taking a bit of a break from working on a project, watching football. Man, am I tired!

You'd think sitting at a computer and typing for a couple of hours wouldn't be all that big of a deal, wouldn't you? But it wears me out.

And my Saturday is almost gone, too. Before I know it, it's almost night.

I had a bit of a heartening thought, earlier--that the younger generation will have the Internet, and have access to a world populated with people of all sorts of nationalities, religions, sexual orientations, political persuasions, whatever. So, while intolerance and prejudice will always exist, over the next few years they shouldn't be quite as prevalent. It is to be hoped.

Of course, that's working on the theory that exposure to other cultures will encourage people to form attachments--even friendships--with people outside of the sort of people they encounter in their physical locations. Maybe not. Many times it seems people seem to hate those who belong to different religions, nationalities, or whatever, who live in close proximity to them. Look at Nazi Germany, for an example.

Okay, I just depressed myself again. I guess I need to stop that.

I'm starting to have some musical ideas. Two problems with doing something about them, though:

• I've got too many prose projects on my plate right now
• I need a female lead singer.

I'm actually looking for a specific kind of female vocalist. Think Melissa Etheridge--that sort of thing. It'll be really hard to find somebody like that, I think, because most women who can sing like that probably already have jobs. Still, if I can find one who is willing to work with me, I think we can come up with some good stuff.

Anyways, that and watching football are my weekend. Which is a good thing, to me.

Soundtracks

After spending hours in pretty intense thought I think I've managed to work out all the stuff that was bothering me about my current project. Hopefully, now that I know where I'm going, I'll be able to finally write this damned thing.

One thing that helps is music. Of course, one needs to listen to the right kind of music, the sort that would serve as the soundtrack to the project if and when it gets made into a movie.

So, here's something that makes the perfect music for my current project. Within Temptation's The Unforgiving. Really dramatic music, dark but not too dark, and great for setting the tone I'm looking for. I highly recommend you check it out for yourself.

And I've made another start on this project, but this one finally feels right. Let's hope it still feels that way once I get further along into this.

Please keep your fingers crossed for me.