Adapting to the paradigm shift

Obama's victory last night has shifted realities, realities that I have to consider for the book. I've edited the prologue and should finish editing chapter one today, but as I go forward I will have to consider how to adapt to last night's events.

Do I forge ahead because, in general, people associate Washington politicians as being out of touch, above it all and out for themselves no matter what year it is? This approach, in light of recent events, I reckon would only go to show that I am the one out of touch.

Do I eliminate the element of national politics altogether because Obama is the opposite of the characters I have and because he represents a new paradigm? That would be naive, especially since he hasn't even taken office yet. That being said, I could eliminate the national perspective and simply make it a more local story. This is a viable option, but it is not a cure-all as it presents its own problems/questions.

The 2008 U.S. presidential campaign was historic for specific reasons. And while still freshly minted, the mere mention of the 2008 campaign will evoke specific memories for people. I now fear that setting the story in that year during that campaign without those players or players like them would jeopardize a certain credibility.

Now that I think about the totality of the book and how much the presidential candidates make up, I realize that when the story comes to its climax, they are on the sidelines. It is the local officials that are more front and center. So here's what I'll do: I'll keep the presidential candidates a part of the story, but I'll keep them on the sidelines. This is do-able and realistic. Cool.

That's what I like about this blog. Not only does it force me to keep making progress, but it allows me to think things through outloud, if you will, while also taking in feedback from friends and others.

Good. And now back to editing!

Amen

This blog is about the writing of a book. Last night, though, something tremendous happened. I sang the national anthem with my hand on my heart for the first time in 8 years. I also felt proud to be am American again for the first time in a looooooong time. Why? Because U.S. voters affirmed what the world wanted: Barack Obama as president. And if his presidency and the new paradigm it presents means Any Color You Want doesn't get published because its message is now dated or no longer true, well, then, I'll make that trade every single time.

To change a line from the movie Head of State, "God bless America and everywhere else." Hallelujah.

African Proverbs

Earlier in the year I did research regarding African proverbs (and those particular to Botswana) which I could pepper my main characters' speech with. Tonight I'm going through the proverbs and making notes about where best to use them. In some cases, I'd like to use them as chapter titles to get away from the old "Chapter One", "Chapter Two" business. A chapter with its own title sets it apart and also gives the reader something to look forward to. How many times have you looked over a book's table of contents at the chapter titles?

Here are a few choice proverbs:

When the elephants fight, the grass suffers.

You send a wise person on an important mission, not a long-legged person.

One should not ignore an elephant and throw stones at a small bird.

The result of continually chasing a chicken is that your hand touches some dirty ground.

When the drumbeat changes, the dance changes.

Too much haste splits the yam.

When a bird gets tired, it will land on any tree.

The shoe doesn't need a sock. (ie, Nothing closer to the truth.)

Motown Moment

So I was in Jackson, Michigan the other day doing a little work for another campaign office and meeting a friend of a friend. While there, a native Detroiter and I were working when she opened up her iTunes and said, "Bruce Springsteen or Sam Cooke?" I reckon the former was a nod to my neck of the woods; the latter to hers. That's when I knew where I was.

Excuses, excuses

Now that the baseball season is officially over, you'd think I'd have an extra three hours to write, right? Yeah, me too. Then the local campaign folks sunk their teeth into me. I'm pretty much a goner from now through 11/4. Fortunately, one of the guys at the campaign office knows the folks at the bakery where I'd like to work for a couple weeks, so hopefully we can work that out. This would be key. For as much as I've learned about the area since 10/20 (today I had my first Coney Island (a hot dog with chili, mustard and onions) and learned that tonight is Devil's Night in the Detroit area...), I have not made inroads with the local Arab population. The baking gig would, potentially, improve that.

So, basically, editing hasn't gone as fast as I'd like. I'll plug away tonight, but between now and the election may be a wash. I hope not. There is no reason I can't finish editing the prologue tonight. Lord knows I got enough hot chocolate and potato chips to pull it off.

Fortunately, my next distraction doesn't start till 11/17: Davidson hoops. Pre-season #20, baby. That should give me some incentive to bang this shit out so I can enjoy the season.

Double Sessions

I reckon I can edit pritnear all 19 chapters before leaving Dearborn. This'll mean one a day, but probably more like editing double sessions. I prefer to read through a chapter first making notes as I go (eg, add description here, what's another example of this there, etc...) and then to go back and fill in the blanks. At one point or another I typically hit a wall which is where reading or baseball comes in to provide a break so splitting the editing into two sessions a day should work well.

As I edit I've set out some goals:

1) Smooth transitions: Make sure you get from one word to another, one sentence to another, one paragraph to another and one chapter to another smoothly. Don't leave the reader behind without any bread crumbs.

2) Physicality: A complement to conversational humor is physical humor. Physical description also gives the reader a better feel for the characters. Lastly, it breaks up conversation which may move too quickly without it and with it may help build up a sequence.

3) Know your characters: Few of us know everything about those in our lives, but we know a few key things. This is an area where I need to do a better job. Plus, the more you know about a character, the more flexibility you have for humor, action and conversation.

4) Keep it tight: Every field of work and every couple have their own jargon. So does this book. The book's jargon touches on cars, U.S. history, Eddie Murphy films, baseball and Arab culture. What I can't do is extend references or allusions too far beyond that already wide swath otherwise I'll lose readers' interest, frustrate them and ask them to do too much work. While I enjoy reading good books more than once (mining them for more because I probably missed something the first time), the reader's reward should not come in the second or third reading. A reward should come the first time around.

Make no mistake, I refuse to "dumb down" this book. I refuse. Standards are already low enough out there.

How Far We've Come

70 posts. 17 chapters. A Prologue. An Epilogue. Over 54,000 words and 150 pages later, done with the first draft of Any Color You Want.

This is, of course, the first of several finish lines. Next is a fattened up, more thorough, descriptive, consistent and detailed second draft. Once that's done, I'll start passing it around to those interested in reading it for feedback. Then a third version which responds to the feedback. Then, if I'm feeling good about it, I'll start sending it around for rejection.