This is highly autobiographical but I'm fictionalizing it and hope to do more during edits. The novel is inspired by Parting by Emily Dickinson, "My life closed twice before its close". I'm running two storylines concurrently.
1st - Female living in DC, great career, love interest (at work, oooooo..), fights to keep career though she keeps getting sick all the time, ends up getting diagnosed with a fatal illness.
2nd - Female, big career again, love interest, (of course), great social life in the city of New Orleans, then Hurrican Katrina, which she goes through. - after which moves to DC... (but you won't know that until the end)
Subplot - dealing with being the only female at the executive level of her work in both instances, discrimination is still in true form, etc.
Subplot 2 - struggling with her altruistic beliefs vs working for big bad corporate, but in the 1st scenario her medical costs start escalating so she's torn
Subplot 3 - mother's suicide
Both stories are one year in the life of the same girl. DC is the present and written in present tense (which I'm starting to like - very intense), New Orleans is the past and written in past tense. I'm planning on running it chapter by chapter, first in DC, then in New Orleans, so it would take the reader some time to figure out that its the same person, the timing, etc, but it would all come out in the climax. My idea is to have them intersect when she gets the diagnosis. She would remember the last time in her life when she felt like the book had been closed or things had ended, per se - when she went through Hurrican Katrina. So the Katrina chapters would come right after the diagnosis chapters (the lead in would be earlier, but the actual event would be in succession). There would also be the point that she never really dealt with Katrina emotionally, so now everything is hitting her all at once.
Then the resolution, also inspired by the great Emily: "If Immortality unveil A third event to me." Kind of being at peace with what shes been through and prepared for the rest, whatever it may be.
SO - what do you think of the tie-together? I don't want to write it as one long chronilogical story; it just doesn't seem as interesting, but I don't think my tie in is strong enough. I know i gave tons of info, but I'm hoping someone has a rockin' idea that will work some magic.
THanks!
Kate
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27,529 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 11 12
Aren't you worried that if you write the DC parts in present tense, and the New Orleans parts in past tense, that the smarter readers will immediately figure out the catch? I'm also not sure what happens with the girl's name, I'm assuming it is either never mentioned or changed after her move to DC?
I'm also not sure it's necessary to put that much weight behind the big 'discovery' that it's actually the same person. From what I can gather, there's no supernatural thing at play here, and so I think you should question if it'll ever have the effect you hope it will. The only example I can think of that had the same 'wow'-effect on me was the third season finale of Lost when it is discovered that the flash-backs you've been watching for the past two hours were actually flash-forwards, and the survivors got off the island. But Lost is a supernatural tv-show, which really broadens your options. If that's what you want, then you'd have to have her killed in Katrina and only dreaming up the DC scenes, or make it so the reader thinks it's the same person, to have the reader think he knows the catch, when in fact it's not the same person and the reader's euforia comes tumbling down. Very reminiscent of the awesome screenplay of The Game. But I'm not sure that's the road you want to take (I wouldn't...)
I think the dual storylines can actually be a very nice touch. Juxtaposition always works wonders, so having a chapter DC following a chapter New Orleans seems like it could be thrilling. However, I'm not sure if you should have her new life be so close to her old one. Perhaps you're a genius when it comes to writing subtle storylines with great poignancy, but I'm not, so my first instinct would be to dramatize it more heavily and create much larger differences. Real life (you say it's largely autobiographical?) is often much duller and messier than fiction, so I think it'll help to oversize the differences between her old life and her new life.
Having said that, I think a storyline like this really depends on the way you write and if you can touch someone with your writing. Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach is about two people having dinner, and that's awesome too.
----------I also ramble on Twitter (though sometimes in Dutch).
2008: Junior Boys (won)
2009: Guilt (...?)
16,492 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 11 32
I've been thinking about going the supernatural route and having her killed in Katrina, but its just so hard because its close to home, I had friends die. It could either be a fantastic and compelling tale or just drive me into the psych ward.
The problem is that neither of the stories are complelling enough to have them come together. Your're right - I need to do something drastic to make it work. The most obvious would be to go the easy way and just pull them back into one story, shorten the timeline, etc. The Katrina stuff is pretty amazing itself and with a little fiction could be great - sneaking in before anyone was allowed back into the city, dead bodies everywhere, breaking into your own home to see if you can salvage anything without the cops hearing you because you have no ID or keys so there's no way to prove its your home, the cops stealing cars out of the Cadillac dealership right next to your builidng, watching it happening and knowing that your boss's boyfriend owns the place. You can't do anything - cell phones don't work and well, they're the cops (and this is all still the truth). I think I could add tons of fiction for a pretty good story.
*sigh* I know it definitely needs a big change either way. No writing genious here. Thank you for the thoughtful response; I really appreciate you taking the time.
Kate
27,529 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 11 40
You're welcome!
On a side-note, the bizarre things you've experienced in Katrina, that in itself could be a novel! It sounds completely wackadoodle and thrilling. Don't worry about the psych ward. If my experiences are anything to go by, writing about something real and awful like this really helps to process it. Sounds like a cliché, and it is, but it really does.
If you're still hung up on having a twist, while reading your post I thought of one: it all sounds so completely science-fiction, that you could maybe play with the reader's perception of what this really is. Don't give any specifics about time or place, just describe the awful dead bodies, the breaking in, the cops, the sort of post-apocalyptic scenery and then have the big revelation be that it's just a day in the life of a survivor of a real, actual hurricane. I'm sure a lot of people will think it's a science fiction story. It certainly sounds otherworldly...! It's the same devide they used in the movie The Village, but that film was fairly awful, I'm sure you'll do a much better job.
Good luck!
----------I also ramble on Twitter (though sometimes in Dutch).
2008: Junior Boys (won)
2009: Guilt (...?)
46,331 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2009 - 20 55
I wouldn't be too concerned on what readers pick up the dual story-line, that's what good readers are for and that is why you are in the Literary section. generally, surprises and wows are for short stories, in a novel, let it expand and the readers know about what is going on, even if they have to work to understand what that going on is. I am all for making the reader work, but you have to give them all the pieces to put together. If you do decide to kill off the MC in Katrina, she wouldn't have a job in DC. Why would she go there? If she did die and kept narrating the story, then that would add an interesting twist with the mother's self-slaughter.
Being a Fictionalist, I would recommend writing the character to the point of solidity where she can determine the outcome of the story. This isn't easy, but give your characters a chance, they may surprise you. If you want to keep the dual story line, then keep her alive so DC will be valid point. Also, I would suggest you look at memory. A memory is much different than the actual occurrence, especially when death is concerned. I am working on memory myself and the difference between it and the actual and between fictional and the real. (though of course, fiction is just as real as the universe we live in.)
Keep her alive and let her work out her problems, I think many authors are too quick to kill off characters because they don't know what to do with them.
16,492 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 10 34
Thank you:) Even though what I'm writing is autobiographical I guess its all fiction too, because it's my account and it was 4 years ago.
16,492 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2009 - 12 45
-- Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal declares a state of emergency as a result of the forecasted conditions of Hurricane Ida.
uhhh.. talk about inspiration. Off to the psych ward. They're coming to take me away heehee haahaa...
32,500 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 05 29
i think the way u have described it makes perfect sense - the heart of the story is human feeling - so dont feel the need to kill people off or have mad tv style surprises- i'm with the chesil beach comment - allow life to unfold in the detail.
it probably won;t be a surprise that they are the same girl, but in a way what u are saying is that we are not the same person after something like that, so i think readers (esp lit fic) readers will enjoy the echoes and subtleties.
i agree with the comment of writing it out, just keep writing it out in the way that feels right and true to u.
once u have done that u will like it - and if not u will have enough material to change/reorganise/ edit/ fictionalise further.
best wishes.
(my story also has parallel storylines running - and i'm not quite sure how it will work but i have faith that it will unfold as i go)
----------shine on.
40,867 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 06 06
I love your idea... I think you could do a lot with this in terms of real character depth and bringing the reader to an understanding of the dynamics of the human condition. I am a big fan of the dual story line. The connections between the two can actually build the plot for you, and make it grow very naturally. I am afraid that adding in the supernatural part might dilute things, as it might take something away in terms of the reader bonding with the character as a "real" person. Then again, stranger things have been done, and pulled off. If it feels right, do it.
You could just connect the two stories very subtly as you go, by revealing small details about the character. Eventually it will become clear to the reader that these two women are one in the same, and the connections could become more and more pronounced with each tragedy that she goes through.
Ultimately, I don't think you need any help. Encouragement, maybe. I think what you're planning to do sounds very engaging and beautifully structured. You just need to believe in your vision and that you'll see the connections form as you go. I am sure you will find as you write that you have the answers to the questions you asked, and that the "magic" you are seeking to connect the story lines is something you already possess.
Congrats, also on having the courage to use your own personal experiences to drive your fiction. Your insight and emotional understanding of things can only translate into a very deep, complex character, and an interesting, yet believable story.
I have undying faith that your book will be mesmerizing. Let me know if you get it published, and I will buy a copy.
32,500 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2009 - 13 36
see! me and anomolie swann have faith in u.
----------shine on.
16,492 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2009 - 09 19
You're the best! Thank you!