My Morning Writing
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Unlike most of the Institute, my morning writings were dedicated to a single purpose. After a stalled start, where the characters felt more like vehicles for the plot, I created a relationship map and began anew.
"An extraordinary person in an extraordinary situation is one extraordinary too many." Neil Gaiman quoting (I think) Ray Bradbury.
I've always been fascinated not with the ordinary person in an extraordinary situation, which is often what is seen in fiction, but in the extraordinary person in an ordinary situation.
How does Superman go about his day to day life?
So I wondered: How would Superman deal with PTSD when he's become a danger to those around him?
I did some research on PTSD---more is coming for the 2nd draft. Flashbacks can cause sufferers to lash out, which is a bad enough problem when you've been trained to kill. How much bigger a problem is it when you can sheer the top off a mountain?
I listened to interviews that I could find with people who had PTSD to try to get the voice right. I've played with structure---a few ideas that are kind of abandoned but may make a stronger come back in a second draft.
I wanted to use lighting to help pull people in. Start with a tight spot on John when he's in therapy and, every time we go back, widening it so that he's not as isolated on stage.
His flashback to being inside the creature is used to tighten it in on him again in the therapy scene that is the last one I've written. We hear voices from real wars out of the darkness, telling their stories, to be replaced by the people around John as they disjointedly tell the story of a trauma they haven't quite been able to work into a cohesive narrative yet.
I think the first draft is, mostly, pretty strong. There's a lot of work to be done. The scene about him not sleeping has a better kernel in my head than what got onto the page, but everything else follows the general shape that I want.
Soon, it'll be time to knock away everything that isn't an elephant, to quote the sculptor.
"An extraordinary person in an extraordinary situation is one extraordinary too many." Neil Gaiman quoting (I think) Ray Bradbury.
I've always been fascinated not with the ordinary person in an extraordinary situation, which is often what is seen in fiction, but in the extraordinary person in an ordinary situation.
How does Superman go about his day to day life?
So I wondered: How would Superman deal with PTSD when he's become a danger to those around him?
I did some research on PTSD---more is coming for the 2nd draft. Flashbacks can cause sufferers to lash out, which is a bad enough problem when you've been trained to kill. How much bigger a problem is it when you can sheer the top off a mountain?
I listened to interviews that I could find with people who had PTSD to try to get the voice right. I've played with structure---a few ideas that are kind of abandoned but may make a stronger come back in a second draft.
I wanted to use lighting to help pull people in. Start with a tight spot on John when he's in therapy and, every time we go back, widening it so that he's not as isolated on stage.
His flashback to being inside the creature is used to tighten it in on him again in the therapy scene that is the last one I've written. We hear voices from real wars out of the darkness, telling their stories, to be replaced by the people around John as they disjointedly tell the story of a trauma they haven't quite been able to work into a cohesive narrative yet.
I think the first draft is, mostly, pretty strong. There's a lot of work to be done. The scene about him not sleeping has a better kernel in my head than what got onto the page, but everything else follows the general shape that I want.
Soon, it'll be time to knock away everything that isn't an elephant, to quote the sculptor.