What? Bolivia? No. I mean, in a minute.
First things first. Writing. Oh yes.
The talented Bill Martell has a great screen tip, which was recently re-aired, about the Antagonist. He makes the point that there's loads written on the journey of your Protagonist, but very little about the Antagonist.
Which is odd because the Antagonist is the most important character in the story. Without the Antagonist there is no story. It's obvious, so obvious it's not regarded as important. But it is.
Case in point, as you know I've been re-writing Running and it's been going a bit slowly. So I've been yanking tools out of the writers toolbox and trying them for size. They've been handy, given me some ideas and so on, but nothing's really solved the problem.
Until this script tip of Bill's popped up again and I realised that this tool had lying buried at the bottom of the toolkit under a layer of old sandpaper and blunt blades.
The story's Antagonist wasn't clearly delineated: Why was she doing what she was doing? What is her ultimate goal? I had got some of it but there was no real plan. So I sat down and had a good think - train journeys are good for sitting down and thinking - and I got it. I know what she's doing and why she's doing it. And as soon as I did that the whole story fell into my lap. (Yes, the Antagonist is female, so is the Protagonist, I might make Detective Sergeant female too, that would balance it out.)
I should probably mention that one of Jeff Kitchen's tools implies the importance of the Antagonist's actions but doesn't emphasise it as much as Bill does.
So that was good. It meant I had to change the beginning of the story, which was a shame because I liked the opening, but that's the way it goes. Sometimes you have to kill your babies.
Bolivia? Not yet.
I've started another blog but I'm guessing most people who read this one won't be interested in that one, it's a technical blog about Drupal 7 for people who know what they're doing.
Bolivia!
My daughter is going to Bolivia as a volunteer to work with the animals, to help with her own Zoo Biology degree. She needs donations so it would be really good if you (yes you! Noo not the person beside you, well that person too, but YOU) make it easier for her to get there.
She's got herself a part-time job, while studying at University. She's taken up running so she's fit enough when she gets there. And the person who contributes the most will get a Jaguar cub as a prize. (What? No jaguar cub?) Alright, well everybody who contributes can pat themselves on the back.
She's got a way to go to collect everything she needs - and everything helps. Do something else good today.
What's on the turntable? "Flowers never bend with the rainfall" by Simon & Garfunkel (I've lost my harmonica, Albert.)
