A number of things have kept me from making serious headway with GATD... research resources are about to be assailed, but one of the things that stopped me from writing was the sense that while I knew what the beginning and end would be - and some of the things in the middle too I didn't quite know how I was going to receive redemption/comeuppance etc. And there was an unexpected fear: I usually rely on the process, the intuition, the "muse" or whatever to come up with the goods as I write, and usually it does. That said, I did have a rough outline for The Ash Grove - and I wasn't too worried, and this was rewarded, characters appeared, played their roles, pulled the levers, changed the tracks of the other characters, and went their merry ways. I had thought of doing the same for GATD but Tara kindly lent me an old book of hers, called Writing a Blockbuster - by a guy called Aaron Zuckerman (I think).
"How to" books
I usually shrink from these, I bought a few in the early days, and was fairly sure that I had learned all the lessons technically that I needed to know. I think it was helpful - I read a lot, I was absorbing stuff unconsciously. I have never thought consciously of writing a blockbuster - although like every (?) writer I've fantasised about making a lot of money. So when Tara passed me the book and said "I thought you might like to see that", I was (a) mildly sniffy (b) paranoid - was she trying to tell me that TAG wasn't good enough and needed significant work (that could be true of course)? She assured me it wasn't, and last week I suddenly had an urgent need to read it.
It is a most peculiar book - Zuckerman was Ken Follett's agent/editor... and large chunks of the book consist of a series of plot out lines by KF for his book The Man from St Petersburg (no, I haven't read it either - and no longer need to!) plus analysis of other epics such as Gone with the Wind, The Godfather, The Thorn Birds and a book by his wife, somebody Goudge - which sounds quite interesting but not in the same blockbusting category. Anyway, he makes some valid points about structure, big scenes and light relief etc. It all makes a lot more sense than trying to use a Syd French 3-act structure in a novel... and I think I might learn something from it, for GATD.
However, I am unlikely to put anything from it in the other two - I can't see either of them ever aspiring to blockbuster status - and the honest truth is that I'd rather write a really good literary novel than a blockbuster. BUT there is the fact that you could reach more people with a "message" if you could wrap it into a blockbuster. So one has to say, should I do something of that nature for GATD... I could certainly pimp it up if I felt minded to. Of course GATD isn't written yet, but today I gave myself a 2 hour writing window and worked on the outline and came out - mirabile dictu - with a plot, a strong storyline about small people doing good - although in a rather ambiguous way at times, and it all ties up fairly neatly in the end...I think it has legs - and tomorrow I am going to make it walk. I actually wrote the first few thousand words some time ago, and they will not need to change much, but at least I know where everyone is off to now!
"How to" books
I usually shrink from these, I bought a few in the early days, and was fairly sure that I had learned all the lessons technically that I needed to know. I think it was helpful - I read a lot, I was absorbing stuff unconsciously. I have never thought consciously of writing a blockbuster - although like every (?) writer I've fantasised about making a lot of money. So when Tara passed me the book and said "I thought you might like to see that", I was (a) mildly sniffy (b) paranoid - was she trying to tell me that TAG wasn't good enough and needed significant work (that could be true of course)? She assured me it wasn't, and last week I suddenly had an urgent need to read it.
It is a most peculiar book - Zuckerman was Ken Follett's agent/editor... and large chunks of the book consist of a series of plot out lines by KF for his book The Man from St Petersburg (no, I haven't read it either - and no longer need to!) plus analysis of other epics such as Gone with the Wind, The Godfather, The Thorn Birds and a book by his wife, somebody Goudge - which sounds quite interesting but not in the same blockbusting category. Anyway, he makes some valid points about structure, big scenes and light relief etc. It all makes a lot more sense than trying to use a Syd French 3-act structure in a novel... and I think I might learn something from it, for GATD.
However, I am unlikely to put anything from it in the other two - I can't see either of them ever aspiring to blockbuster status - and the honest truth is that I'd rather write a really good literary novel than a blockbuster. BUT there is the fact that you could reach more people with a "message" if you could wrap it into a blockbuster. So one has to say, should I do something of that nature for GATD... I could certainly pimp it up if I felt minded to. Of course GATD isn't written yet, but today I gave myself a 2 hour writing window and worked on the outline and came out - mirabile dictu - with a plot, a strong storyline about small people doing good - although in a rather ambiguous way at times, and it all ties up fairly neatly in the end...I think it has legs - and tomorrow I am going to make it walk. I actually wrote the first few thousand words some time ago, and they will not need to change much, but at least I know where everyone is off to now!
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