by Shelton Bumgarner
@bumgarls
This weekend was a real struggle. But by Sunday evening I had managed to come out the other side and figure out some semblance of a game plan for the novel. There are still a few tactical — but existential — issues with the plot, but the characters are very strong as is the macro plot. There’s a lot of very interesting things I can hang on the plot.
One issue, of course, is I hate MAGA and the Trump Administration with a creative white hot rage and so, well, I can’t help that it’s pretty obvious who is floating around the plot like a super massive black hole — Donald John Fucking Trump. I don’t plan on ever mentioning his name, but given when the novel is very specifically set, there really isn’t anyone else “the president” could possible be. But this is meant to be a scenario, a modern political fairy tale along the lines of Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood.
But the crux of the solution I’ve come up with for the weaknesses of the plot is to simply flip the script at every opportunity. It’s working out reasonably well as of right now. It affords for the Heroine to have a huge amount of agency. She came up with a plan and she’s on the cusp of seeing it work out as the novel begins — then all hell breaks loose (as is necessary.)
A lot of my problems in development come from how much the benchmark in my mind keeps moving. That, and I keep finding massive plot holes or poorly thought out plot sequences that are so bad as to be existential and I spend a few days struggling with how to solve these issues as quickly as possible.
I have no idea if this is all just a massive waste of time or what. For once my obsessive personality is coming in handy.