Sunday, August 22, 2010

FID: Upside Down and Inside Out

For me, the best part of a story is when something in the story catches me by surprise: an unexpected twist or turn that causes me to rethink the part of the story I have already read, analyze the characters more carefully, or simply grab hold and see how this unexpected surprise will affect the outcome for the characters.

As I develop my stories, I find it thrilling when my research uncovers events (and people) in history that provide readymade landscapes for natural twist and turns.

Several years ago, when I first started contemplating the idea of "Flight into Darkness" and had decided on the basic storyline, I needed a motive for my villain. I knew what I wanted him to do, but I needed a driving reason--something he wanted more than life. As I started digging, one thing led to another. After literally years of research, I have unearthed a readymade stage that is more than perfect for the story, much like an archaeologist (someone who studies people and what they did in the past from the things they left behind).

In this blog, it is as if I am presenting the many finds from my research--from all my digging--without telling you how it all fits together. I have to assume that, at times, the post seem disconnected and fragmented--especially when you read them "upside down", as presented in the blog (last comes first). If you enjoy history, the pieces of the puzzle I spread out on the table will hopfully seem somewhat satisfying in themselves--at least for the moment; if not, you might have to wait for the novel to fully appreciate the blog.

The post so far, with the exception of a few, like my "Fact or Fiction" post, have been mostly aimed at the research behind the villain's motive. When I have finished with the villain, I will continue with some of the less-historical facts behind the story development. Of course when I do, those future post will be in the present, making the relevance of this topic outdated--in the past. So by the time someone reads down to this post, they will have already read all of my future post (which I don't even know what they are yet).


For now, I hope you will continue to follow the blog--with an eye on the prize: release of the story--enduring the "Upside Down and Inside Out" process, that is inherant with a blog.

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