Back-story

My current story is a dystopian sort of narrative. I probably shouldn't give too many specific details, lest some wicked soul takes my ideas and gets to the publishers with them before I do. Besides, if this journey of mine ends happily, I will have my book published and then you should go and read it yourselves. I wouldn't want to spoil it for you, not too much.

But, a few things...

It grew out of an assignment I had for my sophomore English class in high school. It has changed significantly since then, but there are core elements that remain. It's not as cold, I don't think, as classic dystopias like 1984 or Brave New World, I think largely because my story is more character-centric and is concerned more with the characters dealing with the society in which they live than the society itself. That's not to say, obviously, that Winston isn't dealing with his society in 1984, but his character isn't as important as the politics in the story, not really. Which is kind of the point.

My story is more character-centric and has plenty to do with the various relationships between my characters as much, if not more so, than it has to do with a depiction of the society in which they live. Another difference, I think, is that my protagonist is female, which seems rare in dystopian literature (maybe in science fiction in general, however I haven't read a wide enough array to really say that).

Progress-wise: I have 90+ pages typed, single-spaced. I have a basic outline of the whole story. It's a skeleton and it's changed several times as I've gone along, but it serves as a guide. The previous two longer narratives I've written used different approaches. My first story, the one I wrote in seventh grade, was a sci-fi/fantasy story about a group of young people on a journey to save the world-- yeah, one of those stories-- and it was tied to an outline in the sense that the characters were on a physical journey. I came up with different things to happen everywhere they went, but overall, it wasn't very well thought-out. The second story took a very different approach: I just sat down and started writing. Unfortunately, this one ended up even more of a mess in terms of the plot and plot-holes because I kept writing myself into corners. So, this time, I made an outline of the entire thing to begin with-- nothing set in stone, of course, but a guide nevertheless. So far it has been very helpful, I think.

I am juggling more characters in this one than I ever have before: 9-11 (some being less central, or present, but still in need of significant development). I do feel I have a pretty good handle on most of them, though there is one who is proving rather elusive (which is actually fitting for her) and another who, apparently, has different intentions than I'd meant for him to have.

The story is still untitled, because titles are very difficult for me. But I have an inspirational quote at the top of page one that serves for now.

That quote is: "The angel of death has been abroad throughout the land; you may almost hear the beating of his wings." --John Bright

I have a couple quotes tied to this story, actually. If I divide it into three parts, I may use one for each.

This is day 2 of having a blog and already I'm second-guessing myself. I mean, without discussing the specifics of my story, what can I discuss here? Once I complete it and begin the quest to publish, I'll have more to say, but until then, what? Just me rambling on about the writing process? Writing about writing? Is that really what I'm doing here? We'll see. I doubt anyone will follow me though, if I am writing about nothing but writing itself.

We will see.

Another quote, more thematically central to my overall narrative, is:

"I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars." -- Og Mandino


Coming Up Next: ...we will know when the time comes.