When concept and reality don't meet. [writing post]
Yesterday I finished the early expansion - revisions of “Matter of Who” and it wasn’t gratifying at all. Reasons for this are the fact that I am writing, while my sinuses conduct biological experiments inside my head and I am coughing my lungs out; I am outside my element this whole week for personal reasons, but most importantly because the story didn’t turn out to be what I envisioned to begin with.
“Matter of Who” initially was a silly whim and reversed the roles in the well known and old demon hunting and exorcism gig. The protagonist was a cocky demon, who after being freed from imprisonment decided to eat some raw human, only to be slain by the victims, who staged their helplessness and in fact turned out to be in the demon slaying business. This was the reason I picked the title and started to work from there. It usually happens like this. The title comes first, then the characters and after that the actual story.
Upon revisions I decided to expand. I wanted to give the demon a back story, give the slayers an identity and explain the world and magic and everything. I still have to work on these tasks to be called successful, but so far the result has taken several turns away from the original concept. There is no element of surprise and it doesn’t fit the title. I know what to do in theory and that’s to change the title and go for another vibe with a different structure of the scenes.
But here comes my problem. I believe in the power of names at least on a subconscious level without obsessing. I believe that a name given to a human, object and an abstract product like fiction captures the essence of its bearer. I am a writer, who starts with the title, then the characters and after that the story itself. Almost always. So to change the name of a project is a complicated matter with me, since I commit to a title and try to stay true to it and its meaning.
So what happens with you when concept and reality don’t meet? It is always an individual approach. In the case of “Matter of Who”, I will strive to get rid of the suspense movie feel, which doesn’t fit literature and tell the story with more attention to the characters and an accent on opposition, stepping into one’s own right and keeping true to the reputation. As a writer there is so much fun with bloodshed, sword fighting and offensive, often destructive spells at work, but as I work on the action and look within the characters I find something as a meaning why this story is written, so here are my new suggestions for a title. Hope you can help me pick one:
“Playing Games with the Hunter”
“Hunter Games”
“Bloodshed Expectations”
“Death and Reputation”