"Hero's Quest" Update 6-2-08

(The following was originally written on June 2, 2008 on my Facebook account):

Well, if anyone has seen my status, it said I've seen 200 come and go. That is very true.

Yesterday, I left the house around 8:45 am and went and sat at the Locust and Division Starbucks where I worked on writing "Hero's Quest" from about 9:15 until 11:45, before heading just down the street to the Putnam, where I had to work at noon. I started from page 199 and ended at page 204 in those two and a half hours. Granted, not my best page per hour time (when I'm "on", I do six pages per hour), but still, it was five pages. The scene was a bit rough as there was a lot of information that needed to be conveyed conversationally over ale. It needed to seem natural and not forced, and I think I did an okay job of laying the groundwork in that scene and can build upon it in future revisions.

I think what made if difficult was that this came right after a major turning point in the story, my Shadar Logoth moment for all of you Robert Jordan fans (think, "The Eye of the World"). Going from earth-shattering event-wise to world-ending emotion-wise is much, much trickier than I would have thought. Truthfully, the last fifty pages or so have been trickier than I would have imagined, as the dramatic beats used to sustain a long narrative are much different than I had ever suspected. The first hundred pages are kind of easy in that there's a lot of enthusiasm and you use that energy in laying the groundwork and getting the story going. Then, you kind of reach a point where you realize, "I've got to keep this thing going AND making it interesting AND keep it emotionally engaging." That's somewhat easy in screenplays where you only really convey action and dialogue. But with the point of view that I've chosen in this, I've got to convey thought as well.

I don't find conveying thought particularly difficult, but keeping it interesting and emotionally engaging and relevant to the character's emotional status at the time as well as the events of the story and the overall setting, well, that's where it begins getting complicated. I don't know that I'm doing a particularly good job at it - I'd wager that I'm not in this first draft (which for me is like finding the rhythm amid the jumble that was the synopsis - which is actually 17 pages. I've incorrectly said in the past that it was 12 pages). Having the knowledge of those thoughts and feelings existing within the story will help me strengthen them in the next pass and I think I'll be able to fine tune it to where I want it. I've often said I am much better at revision than I am at first drafts and also, that is where I have the most fun.

One of the decisions I've made for helping the second draft (when I eventually get to it) is to reread "The Eye of the World" by Robert Jordan and to reread "The Hobbit" by JRR Tolkien in the downtime I'm forcing upon myself in between drafts. I haven't read a lot of fantasy, but I have read both of these books (in 1995 and 2001, respectively) and I feel that "Hero's Quest" has a lot in common with them in the sense that both of those works are "journey" stories, which is what I'm attempting to write (no one should take that to mean that I put my own work on the same level as those pieces. Those guys are masters of the fantasy genre and I'm not there yet, if ever. The similarity is in the nature of the story, not the quality of the writing). I think I'm beginning to look at writing with new eyes now that I've actually reached the point in my own novel where the enthusiasm of a new project has died down and the consideration of the craft and individual story elements has taken over. When I've been reading HP Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard of late, I have the tendency to go, "Ooh, that was neat how they did that," in relation to the actual writing elements and structure, and not in regards to the story (though, I've got to say, I do enjoy their stories as well. I'm finding that in this point of my life, my tastes are changing - my literature leanings are moving more towards 1920s and 30s pulp fiction and away from mass market paperback space opera, while my musical stylings are evolving towards the grunge/alternative rock of the 1990s). I want to apply that same appreciation and desire to understand the nuts and bolts of writing to two of the stories that I'm trying to emulate, in an effort to craft a well written story of their ilk.

Not to say that I'm trying to copy Jordan or Tolkien, but, I'm trying to copy Jordan and Tolkien. I've read repeatedly that new artists (all arts - not just art) need to copy "the masters" in order to understand what it is they're actually doing and that eventually, the new artist will be able to internalize it, put it through their own filter of personal experience and preference, and regurgitate it with their own voice. That's basically what I'm trying to do - I know that I'm not skilled enough on my own at this point to do something great (maybe passable, but not great) and I see no shame getting help where I need it. I want to be pretty good at this someday and won't be embarrassed in doing things to make that so. However, if I get to the point where my work is derivative of others, or just a blatant rip-off, well, that's when I've given up caring and should probably be looking to get out.

Anyway...

Today, on my lunch break, I went to Starbucks again and did another three pages in about forty minutes. A much better pace than yesterday, which is funny as today I was exhausted from too little sleep and too much wine last night. Still, this is a tricky expanse of the story. Up until the last ten pages or so, it's been straight forward: there were my characters, there was a MacGuffin - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin - and there were my characters trying to obtain the MacGuffin. And, just as planned, at the halfway point in the story, the characters' situations changed drastically, and even while it's still very much an adventure tale and the MacGuffin is still out there and that is the characters' external objective, the internal journeys begin and the characters (and myself as the author) are forced to really look at themselves in the mirror and begin a different quest, which I think, while internal, is bigger than the quest they set out on (at least, I hope).

Long story short, I flipped their world upside down and its a much more delicate part of the story. Today, I introduced a new element and a new conflict into one of the character's internal journey and finding that rhythm wasn't necessarily easy ("new" as in, so far unseen in this story. The plot point was there in the synopsis). But, like yesterday's work, I'm happy with the first draft version. Not saying it couldn't use some work, but for what I'm doing now, it does what is needed.

Which is good. And now, this update has done what I needed, which was have something to write about that took little thought (unlike the novel itself), while I'm exhausted and not wanting to go to bed too early for fear of waking up too early tomorrow morning and burning out by the evening (I intend to write tomorrow night, durn it!). So, I'll leave it at that. I promise you all I'm not going to be doing these "Hero's Quest" updates on a daily basis - or even a weekly one. But I do like sharing some of the experience now and then. It lets me solidify my own thoughts and emotions on the project and hopefully, illuminates more of what I'm doing to anyone that's actually taken the time to read all of it. I don't know, sometimes I get the feeling that I say I'm writing a novel and some folks are just saying, "Yeah, sure you are," while nodding their heads and not really believing it. But, I am working at it. I don't think I could have made up this much crap on something I'm not actually doing. Well, I probably could, but I didn't. It's coming along, slowly, but surely. I want it done at some point this year and so, I'm working on it.

But if you'll excuse me, now, I need sleep.

- JRT