There’s a lot going on behind the scenes with this Grievous project. The bones of the story were in my head when I first began writing, but the complexities were not fully mapped. With my last two parts of the story, I realized I could not go much further without starting to document what’s going on that isn’t in the writing. Yesterday I started a timeline including all the events I’ve written about that refer to a period of time in the characters’ lives. I am up to more than 36 items I will need to keep track of as I write. I am going to start filling in other events that have yet to be mentioned in the story.
I have a few characters already with interesting personality traits that may affect their decisions. I need to start documenting these separately so I don’t make them do things against their ‘will.’ Maia exists in my head as a person and I feel I know her well. But she is a combination of people I’ve met, or stories I’ve heard and I feel I need to find a way to keep track of her feelings and philosophies in a separate place. I’m not sure if there is a technology solution for this. I like the idea of having these things in a place that can be easily searched. Thus far, I have been reading the entire story before I write each time!
The story takes the proportions of a novel, in my mind. I’m stripping back words and details to keep the posts short and ‘bloggable.’ However, I do still have those thoughts about writing a novel. I’ve heard many first novels are more for practice, and rarely get published. So, is this my first novel? Am I writing it in this public space so I can get feedback to write something better? I have no goals. I didn’t plan to start writing like this, it just hit me. It gives me pleasure, and pleases a few who give me feedback, and that carries me. But should I be more ambitious? I created a new Twitter account for my writing, recognizing that I wasn’t engaging with readers and writers as much as I would like using my other account. I’m also ready to accept that injenuity and jentropy are two very different brands and need their own digital identity.
One interesting thing I’m realizing, is that I don’t have the opportunity to do a full edit and revision like you would with a book. I’m still writing hastily and pushing ‘publish,’ like I did when I was blogging. I’m not spending time to re-read, proof and edit. What this means, is that I have to keep the full story, past and future in my head. I can’t really make too many changes to the general plot, because people have already read some of it. I find this interesting and it makes me wonder about the future of novel writing. Is this an opportunity for the reader to be more involved? I don’t think I would sacrifice anything to please a reader, but I like the idea of feeding a bit on reader response.
I still think the story is yours. I try to leave much to the imagination, so each reader can find their own meaning and explore how the story makes them feel. I don’t really want to add more detail and description, because I want you to be able to discover it on your own. So I have this ‘story behind the story,’ the timeline and character descriptions, and I think each reader would have their own ‘story behind the story.’ The unwritten piece, the story in your head, the way you feel, your hopes and dreams, disappointments and fears about the characters, IS the story. You are writing it for me. I only wish I could read them all!
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