The engines are on
It was Memorial Day - just about three weeks ago - when I started work on books 5 and 6 (hereafter referred to as Five and Six). (They do have titles, but I’m not revealing them until later). I’ve worked on the project every day, sometimes for hours. Delving back into the world of the Camdens is like visiting old friends and figuring out how to make their lives worse. I’d be a terrible houseguest, seriously.
I have really old drafts of these two books (one of the drafts is a screenplay I wrote in 2002), so I have the skeleton. But now comes the challenge of taking all the happy-endingness of Dreams and turning it on its head. How do you reframe the events and choices that bring people to their high point so that it’s all just a setup for more conflict. Heh heh...OK, so I had foresight. All the seeds of the new conflict are already sewn in the first four books.
So with all that work, how much of the first drafts are finished, you’re wondering? (I’m not counting the old drafts as first drafts because I’m not reusing any of the work at all, only the story). Well, the answer to your question is: zero, zilch, nada, na’gahn’dah-it (my impression of Dana Carvey’s impression of George Bush). What I’ve been assembling is not drafts, but a playbook for Five and Six, including character biographies, significant events, character wants and needs, etc. I’m deep into the character biographies right now, actually in the middle of Cara’s, which is of course the longest and most in-depth.
Meanwhile, I’m also working (much more slowly) on a screenplay idea with a buddy of mine. We’re not drowning in lofty ideas about cracking through the concrete Hollywood Blvd. We haven’t even discussed what we’ll do with it when we’re finished (although I’d like to take a crack at novelizing it - naturally). So I may or may not work on both concurrently. But I’m quite sure the script won’t take nearly as much time as the two book.
Also, if you own stock in coffee, you're welcome.
So that’s what’s happening right now. What’s new with you?
-G
P.S. If you haven’t seen the Doctor Sleep trailer, check it out. Some of you are going to flip out. Some might not.
Grab your free copies of The Glen Headwood Show and Weston now!
