Now Entering Preproduction…

As I pen another article, dash off some more twee―insta―social media posts all into a journal, onto a page, letting them get the brief revision of writing under a short deadline just to really capture the mindset, well… yeah, this is what preproduction would look like, I’m realizing. It’s just that it’s preproduction for my next novel, and I gotta admit I haven’t really put this sort of developmental effort into a story yet. I’ve done plotting and description, but this is the first time I’ve taken to really building the ancillary media as a part of the setting. For role playing game sessions, yes, but apparently not for a story as much.

What’s also interesting here is the way the inclusion of media as an aspect of the story makes it feel more inherently marketable. Simply by dint of including the media as a form of secondary character, it feels like there’s a more direct route to selling copies. And, admittedly, I wouldn’t mind if this becomes my actual début while I’m still polishing Rail Corridor some more. I’ve been wanting to get a running start while developing a bit of a catalog, so this seems like a solid starting point.

With that said, Rail Corridor is coming along and I’ve just entered revising for chapter 16; I’m starting to get to the really juicy emotional core of that story again, and the tension’s ramping nicely. I just think it’ll take some extra care and handling to really be ready.

Back to the new and the next, though, I’ve got a pitch statement lined up:

Well, if The West Wing were about a school district’s school lunch program…

I can’t promise that I’ll meet Sorkin’s level of writing, but I definitely aspire to present a rich and complex political and emotional environment for my characters to navigate. Some of their decisions are going to have very public impacts, at points they may not recognize. To tie it to a genre, I’d say I’m writing some gay urbanist romance here; I want to imagine a better future.