The first story is where I have to build everything. I have to create characters, action, sprinkle in a bit of drama, and set the pace. More importantly, I have to set a first impression that's going to last with the reader probably until the end. Do I want them to feel angry? Sad? Do I want them to laugh?
It's a fun job to do this because you can't possibly go wrong in the first draft, so the pages flow very easily. Usually, I'll get anywhere from three to five pages done in a 4-hour block (my allotted daily writing time). But when I'm doing something from scratch, I can often get twice that. It's in the rewriting that it all comes back to haunt me and I realize that I'm going to have to get rid of this plotline because it leads away from that and this character needs to kill so and so in chapter four, so he can't do this in chapter one... So I'm sure that what I'm about to write about Freddy McDaniel will be completely different than what winds up in the final release.
After all, they say write the first draft with your heart, and turn off your inner editor until the first draft is complete.
Freddy is the youngest of three brothers, each of whom are at least 10 years older than himself. Kyle, he idolized, while he barely spoke to Michael. Their father had a 1973 Lincoln Continental that he loved, but which winds up being an omen of terrible things to come; of youth and innocence lost, and finally, of life itself lost. Freddy inherits the Lincoln, unable to part with it because of the memories associated with it, but also unable to respect himself for not getting rid of it. One night's mistake haunts him for his entire life, and he winds up leaving his life on the East Coast behind in favor of the glorious sunset offered by the West...
I set most of the story in the Arizona desert, in order to paint a picture of vulnerability. It's a beautiful part of the country to see, but if your car breaks down, you could very easily die out there.
Each of the characters starts out in a vulnerable place that they have to work their way out of. But Freddy's unique challenge is that he's the only one that has to do this completely alone. Without help from any of the passersby, and without companionship, he becomes lost mentally as much as he is physically. And as he becomes less sure of the difference between what is real and what is a heat-induced hallucination, he is less able to rely on himself. Finally, he is forced to face his most traumatic memory, and rectify it.
Structural and Plot Notes:
It's not the kind of piece that would make a great movie, as the struggle is mostly internal. But on the page, I really like the pacing of it. I haven't changed the language much in subsequent reads, either, as I think the characterization is solid. I am, however, waiting to do anything major with it until I've finished all of the others as I can already see some details that may need to be changed.
Also, during the first draft of this story (before grammar, or any other rewrite), I came up with a list of details that seemed insignificant when I wrote it. I almost cut them out on a second read because they didn't contribute to the story. But for now I'm leaving them in, with the intention of expanding on some of them in the stories to come. It's a nice, natural way of linking everybody together that I expected to have to work a lot harder on to achieve.
-JJ McMoon
2/27/09
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