Editing
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Stretching
Today as the snow falls I have been picturing the warm spring morning in which Hannah spends her first day at Matheson Court House. As I have never been called in for jury duty I have had to depend on accounts other than my own to create her experience. I have of course had to do some research into the process of how a jury is selected. And of course as the internet goes it takes a lot of digging, not only to find a creditable site, but also to find more than just a mention of selecting a jury but what the process is like. While I am not yet an expert, I hope to be by the time my book is completed.
As I researched, reading articles here and there I found an interesting explaination about the differences of jury selection in each state. Logically you would think that as a country we would have a pretty standard way of doing this kind of thing. But apparently in this area state power trumps and each state is allowed to do its selection in any way it pleases as long as the defendant is given a trial by jury. As a result of this I found that technically in most cases in Utah jurors being interigated by the representatives is a rather rare event. At this point I had to rethink how I might write this section of my book. I really wanted to have this initial interaction, so my options are: one change the location to another state (which is doable, but a rather large pain and would again take a lot of research as I have never lived anywhere but Utah), two create a kind of accidental bumping into one another kind of moment (which in some aspects could be fun, but most likely it would just be one more awkward moment added to my book), and finally three write it the way I planned and just fudge that it is possible (which is the current path I am taking).
Now that I had choosen my path it lead me to question how much stretching I as an author could do in my book. Of course the idea in and of itself of writing a non-fiction book like this is that it could be possible, but it is not the actually story of someones life. So of course I can't include faries or magic or those kinds of thing, but can I make up some random street name, or ward, when does making things up cross the line into unbeliveable? Of course all authors do it, they take liberties with many things to make their story flow the way they want. And that is the difference between real life and story is that our lifes don't just flow by, life is a constant rocky path with twists and turns made by our own thoughts, words, and actions.
In the end I hope that while everything from the situation to the characters was created by me, I hope that it is a believeable and realistic book, that doesn't offend people when I take liberties of my own.
As I researched, reading articles here and there I found an interesting explaination about the differences of jury selection in each state. Logically you would think that as a country we would have a pretty standard way of doing this kind of thing. But apparently in this area state power trumps and each state is allowed to do its selection in any way it pleases as long as the defendant is given a trial by jury. As a result of this I found that technically in most cases in Utah jurors being interigated by the representatives is a rather rare event. At this point I had to rethink how I might write this section of my book. I really wanted to have this initial interaction, so my options are: one change the location to another state (which is doable, but a rather large pain and would again take a lot of research as I have never lived anywhere but Utah), two create a kind of accidental bumping into one another kind of moment (which in some aspects could be fun, but most likely it would just be one more awkward moment added to my book), and finally three write it the way I planned and just fudge that it is possible (which is the current path I am taking).
Now that I had choosen my path it lead me to question how much stretching I as an author could do in my book. Of course the idea in and of itself of writing a non-fiction book like this is that it could be possible, but it is not the actually story of someones life. So of course I can't include faries or magic or those kinds of thing, but can I make up some random street name, or ward, when does making things up cross the line into unbeliveable? Of course all authors do it, they take liberties with many things to make their story flow the way they want. And that is the difference between real life and story is that our lifes don't just flow by, life is a constant rocky path with twists and turns made by our own thoughts, words, and actions.
In the end I hope that while everything from the situation to the characters was created by me, I hope that it is a believeable and realistic book, that doesn't offend people when I take liberties of my own.
Friday, December 18, 2009
December 18th
Today I have spent time working on the trip to Park City. Specifically the 2nd day starting with Josh and Grandma Lillian's discussion and Hannah's explanation of the honey mooners wall. The idea of the honey mooners wall actually came as I was picturing the layout of the cabin and combined with a wall in my own home.
In order to see the cabin more clearly in my mind I took pencil to paper and drew it out. Being as nonartistic as I am it is not beautiful or most likely possible (so please don't attack me for not being an architect). Soon it came to life and I could see each room. Now that the cabin was created I could move forward with the story.
Soon after I had drawn out this cabin my family spent an afternoon cleaning the garage (I know you're asking, what in the world does cleaning the garage have to do with the story? Be patient I'm getting there). In the process we found an old picture of my mothers grandfather, that had been buried in a box that had not been opened since we had moved into this home. It was decided that we would find a frame and hang it. In my home there is a wall that has several black and white pictures of my extended family (great grandparents and such), so logically this picture would join them. As I pictured the found picture hung up along side the others I saw another picture. It was Jack and Lillian sitting together on a black stallion. It would be perfect to have a wall with the family pictures in the cabin. But since this was no ordinary picture it needed to be surrounded by similar pictures. And so the honey mooners wall was born.
Like every other day that I spend working on my book I have also spent time pondering how to lengthen my introductions to the main characters and to fix portions of my story that are mostly just notes on how I would like the story to go at that part. So much has to be done, and I am constantly editing every part of the story. I hope that one day, if nothing else, I have a completed book.
I have also been developing the reasons for Josh's move to Utah. At first I had no idea what could force him from a great job where he had earned respect and clients and seemed to have everything going for him. I considered a death, even as dramatic as the death of a girl friend. But that of course seemed a bit much. So recently I have settled on the idea of Charlotte. She of course is not the reason for his leaving, but she represents it and is almost the essense of his unhappiness in Boston. At this point I don't want to ruin what's in store for Josh and Charlotte, and I am sure that there is much more that needs to be created in their relationship.
Coming up next is the writing of Ann's accident and the events that completely change how Josh and Hannah's life continue.
In order to see the cabin more clearly in my mind I took pencil to paper and drew it out. Being as nonartistic as I am it is not beautiful or most likely possible (so please don't attack me for not being an architect). Soon it came to life and I could see each room. Now that the cabin was created I could move forward with the story.
Soon after I had drawn out this cabin my family spent an afternoon cleaning the garage (I know you're asking, what in the world does cleaning the garage have to do with the story? Be patient I'm getting there). In the process we found an old picture of my mothers grandfather, that had been buried in a box that had not been opened since we had moved into this home. It was decided that we would find a frame and hang it. In my home there is a wall that has several black and white pictures of my extended family (great grandparents and such), so logically this picture would join them. As I pictured the found picture hung up along side the others I saw another picture. It was Jack and Lillian sitting together on a black stallion. It would be perfect to have a wall with the family pictures in the cabin. But since this was no ordinary picture it needed to be surrounded by similar pictures. And so the honey mooners wall was born.
Like every other day that I spend working on my book I have also spent time pondering how to lengthen my introductions to the main characters and to fix portions of my story that are mostly just notes on how I would like the story to go at that part. So much has to be done, and I am constantly editing every part of the story. I hope that one day, if nothing else, I have a completed book.
I have also been developing the reasons for Josh's move to Utah. At first I had no idea what could force him from a great job where he had earned respect and clients and seemed to have everything going for him. I considered a death, even as dramatic as the death of a girl friend. But that of course seemed a bit much. So recently I have settled on the idea of Charlotte. She of course is not the reason for his leaving, but she represents it and is almost the essense of his unhappiness in Boston. At this point I don't want to ruin what's in store for Josh and Charlotte, and I am sure that there is much more that needs to be created in their relationship.
Coming up next is the writing of Ann's accident and the events that completely change how Josh and Hannah's life continue.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Titles, Names, and Influence
Once I had decided to start writing I had to come up with few important elements of my book. Most important was the characters. It was easy to pick first names, Josh and Hannah have been some of my favorite names since I was young. But choosing last names was very difficult. I wanted them to be classic, they needed to represent an average person, yet also needed to stand out from the billions of other characters in this world. It took several days to finally settle on Joshua Cadence Hardy and Hannah Grace Nielson, but I hope that when people hear these names they will think of my book, just like Edward Cullen is associated with Stephanie Meyer.
The title was an even trickier task. Of course I wanted it to mean something to the book, and so some of the book had to be created before I could name it. As I thought more about my characters and the story I was telling I found that I wasn't telling a brand new idea, but that I was retelling a tale as old as time. Love in my opinion is the foundation of this world, as such it has exisited since the beginning of time. Of course this title was also influenced by the song from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. This song creates a connection that is essential to the relationship that Josh and Hannah form. I guess you could call it a sign, that something more than attraction is pulling Josh and Hannah together.
The title was an even trickier task. Of course I wanted it to mean something to the book, and so some of the book had to be created before I could name it. As I thought more about my characters and the story I was telling I found that I wasn't telling a brand new idea, but that I was retelling a tale as old as time. Love in my opinion is the foundation of this world, as such it has exisited since the beginning of time. Of course this title was also influenced by the song from Disney's Beauty and the Beast. This song creates a connection that is essential to the relationship that Josh and Hannah form. I guess you could call it a sign, that something more than attraction is pulling Josh and Hannah together.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)