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the story moves

I find this pretty funny, I have to admit. Back in November I posted about Tied to the Tracks here, saying with utter confidence that I had settled on names for all but one of the characters. Now, in May, with 150 pages of this manuscript finished, I realize almost every name has changed.

This fits, really, given the way the characters have evolved, some of them in directions I hadn't anticipated. In surprising directions, even. Some characters I thought I wouldn't ever much like have demanded my grudging admiration; others I thought I'd be able to write with ease are still not completely letting me into their heads. John Grant (the primary character opposite Angeline Mangiamele) is ticked at me because I keep complicating his life, and John doesn't like complications. I can almost feel him pacing back and forth wondering how to get the best of me, so he can return to a peaceful life. Mwah-ha-ha-ha. Not a chance.

I don't know if I've ever mentioned the movies Pleasantville or The Purple Rose of Cairo (and I'm in too much of a hurry to do a search) -- but I have a real fondness for movies that are successful in portraying the fluid, hazy boundary between the story, the storyteller, and the audience.

May 17, 2004 03:50 PM

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