Just a little update

Wow, that was weird. I typed a title and hit enter, and it published this without any content. So now I'm updating my update.

Which is to say, I'm simply saying I've updated my pitch for Drivers, and you can find it here. (The Drivers tab at the top of my blog.)

I've also been working on the manuscript again. Making it better. I just went back and read over the change I made to the first chapter right after Christmas, and I really like it. Love it, in fact. It was one of those, "Wow, I wrote this?" moments.

See, there are two kinds of people in this world. Those who group everyone into two categories, and those who don't. Ha! I'm so funny. Seriously, there are those who can relate to a depressed main character, and those who can't. My wife can't. Or couldn't until I started adding memories of Ash's life and how he ended up suicidal in the first place.

Gah, it's seven in the morning and my brain is already fried. How shall I explain?

Depression isn't an easy thing to understand. It doesn't make any sense from the outside. But everyone knows someone who does or has had it. Showing small slices of Ash's life gives everyone a way to relate to him, either because they've been in his shoes, or because they've been in the shoes of the people around him.

I'm not telling the story of how Ash became suicidal. I'm not telling the story of how he gets better, though he certainly does get better. I'm telling the story of a guy trying to escape from a dead-end job driving armed robotic vehicles.

But I'm also painting a picture, and it's all there in the background. How he got there, what it's like, and where he's going.

Does that make any sense at all?

Comments

  1. Kaylee BaldwinJanuary 12, 2012 at 8:57 PM

    Yes, this makes sense. I like to know my characters so well by the end of a book that I can't help but feeling connected to them. Small slices of life can really make a book for me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jolene PerryJanuary 13, 2012 at 7:25 PM

    Perfect sense.

    I'm married to someone who suffers from depression, and had a friend commit suicide just outside of high school, so I didn't give any thought to the idea that Ash was suicidal - plenty of people are or have been.

    I do love the moments when you look over something you've written and think.
    Wait. I. Wrote THAT??
    Wow.
    Very cool

    ReplyDelete
  3. S.P. BowersJanuary 13, 2012 at 7:34 PM

    I love those "I wrote that!" moments. Much better than the "I wrote that horrible pile of words?" moments.

    I thought your post made sense. And I could identify with your MC too. Not with the armed robotic vehicles though.

    ReplyDelete

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