So just what have I been doing? As far as writing goes, not a whole
hell of a lot. A couple of years ago I joined the safety committee
at my day job, and recently the guy in charge was shuffled to another
division. So now I'm trying to tell my peers to stop and look around
a corner before they come tearing around it, driving either an order
picker or a forklift and hauling either a thousand pounds of wire or
a pallet of light bulbs. Doing that is easy. Doing it and not
sounding like an asshole is a little more difficult.
I had lunch with a friend today while my wife enjoyed some silence,
and while enjoying some quality enchiladas, my friend and I had a
conversation about Bob from the Dresden Files, and Michael Crichten's
books. This leads me to ponder something relevant to rewriting In
The Dark: How do you dump a whole lot of information onto your reader
and avoid losing them?
While my platoon sat on a ship for over nine months and waited to
find out whether or not we were going to be sent in to multiple
layers of mines, barbed wire, and people who really wanted to kill
us, we played cards, watched movies on a TV that we bought ourselves,
and did whatever we could to pass the time. I don't remember where I
got it, but one of the books I devoured during that period was The
Andromeda Strain. I had fallen in love with the original movie when
I was a kid, and thought it would be a fun read. This was back
during the period of my life when, while I was definitely aware that
sometimes things were changed between the book and making a movie, I
didn't really understand why, and wouldn't have sympathized if
someone explained it to me.
Early in chapter one I realized that this wasn't exactly the story I
already knew, and in that same chapter I began my education in
viruses, bacteria, and all other kinds of bugs that can do nasty
things to the human body. It kept my interest, because I like that
kind of stuff, but it definitely broke the spell of storytelling.
You do that, you're in trouble. Part of the reason Jim Butcher's
Dresden books work, is because Bob is part of the story, and not just
a 'talking head.' We learn the nuts and bolts of magic while the
plot advances, and we never really notice that new data has been
downloaded into our heads. The movie version of Andromeda Strain had
to do a bit of info-dumping, and they got away with it by using
shorter scenes where Person A, who knows something, has to explain it
to person B so that B can go do their job. Plot advances, mission
accomplished.
In the Dark is going to be science fiction. That's going to be
pretty obvious from the beginning. But that still leaves me needing
to say, 'Okay, people here are basically the same as you and me, with
these exceptions. If you're comfortable with these specific new
technologies, you'll have no problems in this world. There are no
telepaths, no little green men, and no lightsabers.' I've got a bit
of an advantage in that it's as close to hard science as I can make
it and still have the story. I can define by exception from the real
world rather than build a new world from scratch. There are a few
differences, but those differences are important.
So that's what's spinning around in the background of my head while
I'm trying to convince my supervisor that having everyone know ahead
of time that he's going to get on the PA system and just say 'Fire
drill,' is not a real fire drill. I'm sure whatever problems I
encounter will end up in the book.
By the way, because I promised my wife I would post it: On Friday I
came home from work, and right after I put my stuff down I went to
give her a hug. When my hand went around her, it found something
sharp on her back. As I pulled it up to look at what was lightly
stuck in my palm, she says, 'Oh there's where that needle and thread
went.' Perils of being married to a costumer. I got her back,
though. When I had a reheated Monte Cristo sandwich for dinner, and
she expressed her disdain for my sandwich, I thrust it at her,
proclaiming, 'The power of Cristo compels you!' Getting 'that look'
from her is one of the great joys in my life.
Still writing.
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