Tuesday, September 28, 2010

New Work

I am working on something new.

I guess I shouldn't say that this is necessarily new. Technically this is something I started work on in the Fall 2008. But I let it go and now I'm reviving it in an entirely different format, which is like new. Interestingly, neither the original nor the current format is a play script.

Now, this has been bouncing around in my head for the better part of two years, but that doesn't mean I have to have a title for it. In fact, I haven't entirely sold myself on the concept for the setting yet. I think I'm almost there, but there's a few things holding me back from fully committing. I'll delve into that later.

What follows is a bit of a journal detailing my creative process. It is written primarily as a stream-of-consciousness collection of my thoughts, with which to help me focus on where I want to go with my writing. The secondary purpose is to offer those of you who are actually reading this to get a glimpse at where I'm coming from and how I go about writing something, but again, this is generally going to be a secondary purpose. If it instead comes across as the ramblings of a mad man that go absolutely nowhere, well, you've been warned as to why.

I'll try to avoid actual plot spoilers in this and subsequent "process" posts.

Those who are familiar with the way that I write know that I normally get inspired by music. The original inspiration for this work, and the song that eventually kick-started my return to it, is the song "Hail To Whatever You Found In The Sunlight That Surrounds You" by Rilo Kiley. The lyrics are a bit annoyingly repetitive yet I still find them strangely uplifting, while the music is equal parts haunting and inspiring. Needless to say, it's the kind of song that I could to low volume on an endless loop and let it sink in subconsciously while I write. In fact, that's what I'm doing right now. What's most interesting about the song is that I can't really get an handle on it. The two songs that primarily inspired On Death and Living ("All Along the Watchtower" by Bob Dylan and "One Headlight" by his son Jakob Dylan) are both songs that are definitely up to interpretation, but I had my own very clear idea about each one and thus they both informed the direction of the play. I don't really have the foggiest idea what "Hail To What You Found..." is all about, and the moods it inspires are all over the place (hopeful, bitter, grateful, mournful, adventurous) and all of these moods have in turn inspired the thematic direction of the work as I have planned it.

Make no mistake, this is the most complex (both structurally and emotionally) and ambitious work I have ever undertaken. What's more, this is not a story that can suitably told in my medium of choice (dramatic writing) nor in the medium I first selected for it (epic poem). Instead, I am going to be jumping into narrative fiction. So, I am not only undertaking the most difficult project of my life, but I'm doing it in a medium that I have little experience and no formal training in. And herein lies my hesitation. In order for this to work as a play, I fully believe that I would have to betray both the setting and my principal character. After all, I had completed the first chapter of this story as an epic poem, and it didn't have a single line of dialogue. Narrative literature allows me to delve much deeper into the psyche and thought processes of the character. In my plays, I usually create a character (either real or imagined) to serve as the protagonist's "inner voice", thus turning an inner monologue into a dialogue. This is a skill that I need to develop more naturally, and I have a feeling that this work (whether a success or a failure) will help me develop that skill. Furthermore, as I plot this thing out, I realize there are very important moments where I need characters to be completely alone, and I'm very loathe to use monologues in these instances (it's interesting how prone to short, choppy dialogue I am in my scripts given how long-winded I tend to be in real life.) I just hope I don't end up overwhelmed with everything new I'm trying.

I got sidetracked there; I was talking about the song. Interestingly, I've found a number of different interpretations of this song, and each one of those interpretations has some bearing on the work, either in part or in whole. The most common interpretation I've seen is that the song is a dig against religion, with opinions further torn between whether it's a cynical attack or where it takes a more "live and let live" approach. I don't really get it myself, but this theme does indeed show up in the work. Now, in real life there are obviously those who would use religion to oppress others, and there are those who use faith to inspire others. Both of these show up in the work in various forms. Neither are the key themes of the work, though the former concept (using religion to oppress) is one of the key themes in the first chapter of the epic poem that I wrote (which I will be posting here in its entirety). I'm not exactly subtle about it. In addition to those who use religion to spread social injustice and hatred, there is, in my opinion, another quote insidious application: a specific de-emphasis in finding present happiness. While there are many faiths with promises of a better life after this one, one should still not be neglectful of this life. The religious sect that features prominently in the beginning of my story follows a very extreme version of this practice, though it's intended to serve as an allegory for any force, religious or otherwise, that encourages people to feel as though they deserve feelings of misery or depression. I of course recognize that these nefarious religious practices are far from the mainstream (though they try their hardest to act the vocal minority), and I must take care not to be too terribly misinterpreted.

Another interpretation is that the song is about "happiness", and again there is are cynical and idealistic camps here. The idealistic side favors embracing happiness wherever you may find it; and if there is one central, overriding theme to my work, it's this. The cynical side sees the song as a bitter and sarcastic criticism of someone who is completely wrapped up in themselves and their own happiness. If there is one thing my writing has been criticized in general it's having protagonists that are bit too wrapped up in themselves, and a supporting cast that seemingly indulges them completely. I even hung a lampshade on it in On Death And Living:
Thomas: Man, I have been such an asshole!

Audience Member:
(To my partner, also in the audience) Right?
Of course, hanging a lampshade on an issue is not the same as directly confronting it. Needless to say, I will have sympathetic characters who are every bit as self-absorbed as Thomas here. However, the time for letting this behavior get reinforced in the long run is over. Characters will get called out on this, and I think the plans I have for how this will work are among that which I'm most excited about writing.

A few other notes before I wrap it up for the night:

I've avoided romantic subplots after the fairly amateur way I'd handled it in previous works (notably I Feel Fantastic! and especially Enduring Atlas), but they will feature in a BIG way in this work. There will be several such subplots, they will not all feature the main protagonist(s), and they will not all turn out for the best. I am both trepidatious and excited about this.

This will probably be the darkest thing I've ever written, and I don't say that just because it's set in a world entirely deprived of sunlight. Bad things will happen to characters you like. I am not going to be pulling any punches and I have no intention of letting anything come too easy (another common complaint directed at On Death and Living.) What's more, there will be unhappy endings, and others left quite ambiquous. I am absolutely giddy over how people will interpret the actual end of the story.

I have plenty more to share but I'll leave it at this for now. Maybe sometime soon I'll have an actual title for this thing!