Friday, May 12, 2006

Okay...next steps. Probably in no particular order. Notes to self:

1. Figure out what's going on between the aunt and Stillwater. They both have supernatural abilities, but Stillwater's are limited when compared to hers. He has no idea who she is or why she thinks he's a threat. Does she think he's a threat? Don't know yet. Gotta write and find out. Avoiding movie clichés at all times. No need for my Netflix addiction to start making people's skin all tell-tale shiny.

2. Give Stillwater and Parker some information-gathering time in Kansas. Maybe not venturing them outside the house, though. I don't know shit about Kansas and I'm not trying to make anything up.* But surely Kansas has restaurants and parks and people. I can make up the details about those generalities.

3. Leaving Kansas, they are heading to Castle Rock, South Dakota. That should be fun, mapping the route between two places I've only flown over by plane. This really makes me appreciate James Michener. That dude was amazing. Hawaii took four years to prepare, then he wrote it in three. And he wasn't searching the Internet looking up facts on Hawaii, entering various islands into Mapquest for four years. He was there, researching first hand.

4. Remember that I'm not James Michener and that this is a short story. Map the route, grow the characters. Introduce Freddie Mercury and Tim Woodman (and change that name) at a couple of intervals along the way. Get them all to Castle Rock together to meet Parker's father English Osbourn.

5. Load the dishwasher and bring the cat back inside from the balcony. Oops. Wrong to-do list.



*Yes, yes, that may sound lazy. I am making things up. The story is a made-up story. I like making things up. I'm only saying that I don't want to say things like "We partied on Main Street" when, in fact, Kansas City partiers and readers would roll their eyes at that sentence since, as they all know, Main Street holds only the courthouse and police station and the jail. Primary goal: leave as little room for factual inaccuracy as possible by saying, simply, we partied. If the party becomes integral to the story, fill in the necessary details.Or move the party to the planet Guarkbinaeh and be done with it.

4 comments:

Plimco said...

Whoah. I'm just diving in here...in the middle of your...what? Shuffleboard tournament? Dinner party? Line dance? And it's all very curious. All very curious indeed. planet Guarkbineah?! A cat abandoned on a balcony? I must investigate further...

fringes said...

You're diving into the middle of my notes. I have a draft running somewhere in the midst of commentary. Thanks for taking the time to figure it all out. The cat on the balcony belongs to me. Wrong to-do list...haha

Flood said...

I am so happy I found you I want to cry. Your blog is an inspiration.

fringes said...

flood, your comments are inspiring as well. But hey, no more sentimentality today, okay? This is, remember, the sarcastic fringehead.