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There are no new stories. This book I'm writing? It's Orpheus in the Underworld.
That's fine. That's good. I can use that.
My original plan was that the two storylines - the 1990s and the present day - would weave and alternate like the snakes of the Caduceus.
But I don't think it's going to work like that. The problem is, the present-day story depends on you knowing who all the old characters are, and everything they've suffered through together.
This is where the Orpheus stuff comes in.
Because... what if I structure the book like Orpheus's journey? What if the 1990s section is the climb down into the darkness, and the modern day stuff is the slow, hard climb back to the light? And all the while our hero is hoping against hope that Eurydice is following behind.
I think that could work.
It's not as clever as the interweaving idea. And frankly, I'll have to do a lot of foreshadowing and setting up so that people don't get annoyed when their happy little grunge band novel suddenly turns all goth.
But the emotional journey would make sense. There's a Joss Whedon quote, something about how the characters and the audience have to be feeling the same things. I'm warming to the idea of splitting the book into two great big sections-- PART ONE:THEN and PART TWO: NOW.
Argh! Stop overthinking things, David. You haven't even finished the first draft yet.
*cracks whip*
*cowers and goes back to writing*
That's fine. That's good. I can use that.
My original plan was that the two storylines - the 1990s and the present day - would weave and alternate like the snakes of the Caduceus.
But I don't think it's going to work like that. The problem is, the present-day story depends on you knowing who all the old characters are, and everything they've suffered through together.
This is where the Orpheus stuff comes in.
Because... what if I structure the book like Orpheus's journey? What if the 1990s section is the climb down into the darkness, and the modern day stuff is the slow, hard climb back to the light? And all the while our hero is hoping against hope that Eurydice is following behind.
I think that could work.
It's not as clever as the interweaving idea. And frankly, I'll have to do a lot of foreshadowing and setting up so that people don't get annoyed when their happy little grunge band novel suddenly turns all goth.
But the emotional journey would make sense. There's a Joss Whedon quote, something about how the characters and the audience have to be feeling the same things. I'm warming to the idea of splitting the book into two great big sections-- PART ONE:THEN and PART TWO: NOW.
Argh! Stop overthinking things, David. You haven't even finished the first draft yet.
*cracks whip*
*cowers and goes back to writing*
