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September 01, 2005

Day 17-19: Getting Somewhere At Last

Author Boy surprised himself these past few days by making steady progress on the book at a time when he was starting to have doubts about it. The sort of doubt that in the last year has led to book projects dying. The sort of doubt that makes you wonder what the hell you think you're doing.

The transition point I've been banging on about for a while now, where the ECLIPSE narrative slips into the UMBRA narrative, has proved more tricky than I expected, but I think I'm largely through that now, and I'm making fairly decent progress, as the characters start to cope (or not--heh!) with the enormity of what's happened to them. More interestingly, my android protagonist is finding that the extensive training he received in dealing with people and their odd quirks wasn't quite thorough enough. One character has just killed himself, for example--something Our Hero, all of about three weeks old at this point, can't comprehend. At such moments I feel most like I've got a solid handle on the protagonist's character.

I'm finding him a strange guy to write about, because he has no backstory, no emotional context, no strange family and no real experience of anything. He's been put through very elaborate simulations of human life and interaction, but it's no substitute for real life, and the behaviour of real people. His bewilderment and fear and horror (notably over this suicide, for example) are challenging. All my previous protagonists have these colourful background histories, which helps enormously in developing their characters. This guy, by contrast, is like a little kid in many respects--but also something like the sociopathic Meursault (I think I spelled that right) in Albert Camus' The Outsider, who has no feelings, and doesn't give a crap about anything. My guy's reactions are often a result of him wondering what the correct response should be to a given situation, and worrying about people finding out about his Great Big Secret--and knowing that at least one person on the ship already knows, and is keen on killing him.

So, right now I'm up to 26,200 words--3000 words of which I did just today. This is very encouraging indeed.

* * *

All of which seems like such utter fatuousness, compared with the news from America this week. I'm watching the telly, and reading newsfeeds, just like I did during the immediate aftermath of 9/11 (the best single place for information and news about the unfolding catastrophe is here at Making Light). The thing that troubles me most about this post-Katrina period is that I gather the hurricane season runs until November. That's a lot of time for more hurricanes, perhaps just like Katrina, to show up and lay waste to the land. Not that it has anything at all even remotely to do with global warming, of course. [slaps forehead]

Posted by adrian at September 1, 2005 09:29 PM

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Comments

Sometimes less backstory is good. Too much and a story can seem contrived. I think if the backstory is too good, maybe the author should have told that instead of the story he or she is trying to tell.

Posted by: Luke H [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 8, 2005 06:42 AM

I feel very self-absorbed grumbling about my kids keeping me awake for a few hours, when there are people whose kids have nowhere to sleep. Thoroughly disgusted at lack of initiative from the inestimable Mr. Bush. Control over the resources of the richest country in the world, with enormous stocks of food and medicine, yet he can't seem to get his act together to help his own people. Hmmm...

Posted by: pastamasta [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 2, 2005 10:15 PM

Phwoar! on the progress, old bean!

What's happening in and around New Orleans is unfathomable. The entire city is pretty much toast. And yes, you are correct. Katrina was only the opening salvo of the most intense part of the Atlantic hurricane season. When you consider hurricanes are named alphabetically and they're already up to K -- it boggles the mind. Over at Absolute Write, there are some regulars from that area we haven't heard from yet.

Waiting is hell.

Posted by: Charlie at September 2, 2005 12:28 AM

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