Shelt Garner
@SheltGarner
Some 18 months ago, a bunch of so-called friends demanded that I “just write.” They wanted me to “just write” so, I guess, they could be Col. Tom Parker to my Elvis. They wanted manipulate themselves into my life so they tell me what to do.
I got rid of all those people, thankfully. And, so, about 18 months later, I am finally, “just writing.” One striking thing is how different development is from writing. I have way too much plot to work with because, well, I have no friends and no one likes me. So, I have way too much time to dwell on plot. I spoke to a script consultant recently and he threw me for a loop — I’m focusing a lot more on character motivations now.
I’m rather pleased with how things are working out, over all. I’ve already thrown out about 10,000 words. But I do think I will be able to reuse a lot of what I’ve written. I know my heroine’s personality really well. My hero’s personality is, well, much like my own, but not 100%. I’m actually basing most of the character on an old boss of mine who is really interesting.
My female romantic lead is kinda-sorta inspired by Alexa Chung. But, really, that has more to do with how much Chung talks about herself and how that can facilitate plot than anything else. I honestly don’t care about her on a personal level outside of her obvious grace and beauty.
Anyway, I love to talk. A whole lot. So, to that extent, I’m not so sort of deranged loner. Anything that’s going on in my mind, you’re going to find out about it if you’re paying attention. I am, by nature, an extremely copacetic person, even if Trump’s policies makes my blood boil a lot.
I’ve come up with a fairly effective way to develop and write individual scenes now. I’m trying to go as quickly as possible. Sometimes, I write a scene that’s so shitty that I just leave it be so I can bounce to the next one. I really, really want to write a first draft as quickly as possible. If I don’t do that, I’m afraid I’d be a decade older and still not have anything to show for all this hard work.
One thing that weighs heavily on my mind is how the COVID19 pandemic is going to dramatically change the context of this very of-the-moment thriller whenever I try to spec it. It’s set in the immediate past, so I’m probably going to drop a lot of hints as to how life is going to change for everyone once the pandemic strikes.
I have a lot of creative ideas, but I’m totally focused, totally consumed by this novel. We’ll see how it all works out.
