Prime Directive

Day 7: A bit stuck

Today was rough going. I was having some serious difficulty in establishing goals for my characters and I broke the prime directive: not talking about the project... at least I made it to a week. That said, I'm going to try to "get back on the wagon" and refrain/restrain myself from talking about the process save for on the blog. However, I did get some really solid advice from my Uncle Chris on the subject of motivation and getting to know your characters.

When I first created Jack, I described him as one might describe an acquaintance. Chris suggested that I try "interviewing" my characters with some general questions to suss out where they stand on things and to get an idea of where they're coming from. He also mentioned having another character from the book describe Jack.

One of the arguments I'm having with myself is just how exactly "cerebral" I should like to forge this thing. I'm a better storyteller when adventure is involved and the idea of making Jack's experience interacting with "the muse" (whomever she may turn out to be) more along the lines of "magical realism" or horror, makes me squeamish.

More to follow.