few years ago I came across the following saying which one website attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt: "Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people." I'd tweak this a bit and say, "Great minds tend to discuss ideas. Average minds discuss tend to discuss events. Small minds tend to discuss people."I mention this because the woman who just read ACYW and provided feedback essentially said all I cared about were the ideas driving the plot and not the characters. While I do not subsequently align myself with Roosevelt's "great minds", I do agree with the assessment. While I grew to enjoy my characters after a lot of work, they do come second, if that, to the ideas that drive my writing.
To this end, she recommended I make ACYW a screenplay. I have never read a screenplay, but I requested some from the library and will do my homework.
This brings up some questions. First, why can ACYW afford to be less character driven as a screenplay than as a book? Second, why is it necessary to be intimately familiar with characters to appreciate the ideas at hand? Third, if a majority of the world thinks about events and people how screwed is work driven by ideas? This also, of course, begs a more personal question.
ow that a number of concerns are out of the way, I only have one distraction from writing: baseball. Every year I brace myself for a serious writing hiatus as my mind wanders to the playing field and every year I find a way to make progress nevertheless. Hopefully this year will yield more of the same.