Behind the Scenes of RLTE: Part One
Behind the Scenes of The Red Leather Trousers Escapade: Part One - Regarding the Prologue and Chapter 1.
But first things first: Housekeeping!
So, back when the Narnia Big Bang Challenge was underway, I was talking with snitchnipped about adding a “behind the scenes” section of the story. One of the reasons for this is because I come up with elements of the plot, characters, etc. that never actually make it into the story itself. The other reason is because I am always very interested in the writing process others use - and it is my hope that if this sort of thing interests me, it will interest someone else out there, too.
I’ve just begun to post the story to ff.net and have decided to put up the extras at the same time. Currently, the schedule of posting will be an uploaded chapter on Mondays and Thursdays, followed by the Behind the Scenes segment sometime over the weekend. (In that regard: yes, I am late with posting this first one). If you want to read the completed fic without waiting for it to be posted at ff.ent, you can head over to narniaexchange.
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SPOILERS UP TO THE END OF CHAPTER ONE FROM HERE ON OUT
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Regarding Story Prompts
The Narnia Big Bang Challenge began at the beginning of November and ran for the next six months. I signed up for the Mini-Bang, a challenge to write a minimum of 10,000 words.
One of the fun things about the challenge was the option to submit and use prompts as a starting point for the story. I initially chose three.
The first prompt, submitted by imansultan, was a quote from “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath:
Dying is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
I do it so it feels like hell.
I do it so it feels real.
I guess you could say I've a call.
Second was a quote submitted by cofax7:
“If you’re trying to take a roomful of people by surprise, it’s a lot easier to hit your targets if you don’t yell going through the door.” - LM Bujold
And third was a picture prompt submitted by snitchnippedthat depicted a girl in mist. (Unfortunately, the picture has since been taken down.)
I can tell you right off that I didn’t actually use the picture prompt, although I did write the scene that related to it and I did hang on to it for a very long time. Eventually, I had to grudgingly admit that it didn’t fit the tone of the story and cut it out. (I’ll go into that more when we get to that section of the story.)
As for the second quote - I… didn’t really use that one either, although I had initially planned it for the climax. As for the first prompt, that one I stuck to pretty much the whole way through. After all, it’s a story about playing dead - I’d say that matches the prompt pretty nicely.
Regarding the Prologue
This was actually a late edition to the story. The idea came about when I was about half through the first draft. The problem was, in writing the prologue as a set of letters and hinting that the entire story has been written out as a part of these letters, that meant the story would work best in third person narrative.
I’d been writing the entire thing in first person.
So, going through everything and switching it around was, er, fun. However, I do quite like the end result, so clearly it was worth the extra work.
Regarding the First Chapter
This entire scene had been in my head since before the challenge even began. I’d known for a long time that I wanted Eustace and Jill to have an adventure on a tropical island that involved the two of them falling in the water to be presumed dead. At first, this took place in a harbour where Jill and Eustace were hiding beneath a dock. The setting changed pretty quickly to the cliff-top (poor Eustace) and by the time I actually sat down to write the scene, I could see it all happening as clear as if it was playing out in front of me.
The final version you see is much the same as I’d first visualized although, at the same time, this is the chapter that got the most revisions. That’s one of the problems with visualizing the scene so clearly; it takes me so much longer to get the words to describe it properly.
And… that’s all I can think to ramble on about today. The second chapter will be uploaded sometime either this afternoon or tonight - I do hope you check it out. In the meantime, I’ve got some more story planning to do for my Camp Nanowrimo. (It’s three days away - check it out! Should be great fun!)
But first things first: Housekeeping!
So, back when the Narnia Big Bang Challenge was underway, I was talking with snitchnipped about adding a “behind the scenes” section of the story. One of the reasons for this is because I come up with elements of the plot, characters, etc. that never actually make it into the story itself. The other reason is because I am always very interested in the writing process others use - and it is my hope that if this sort of thing interests me, it will interest someone else out there, too.
I’ve just begun to post the story to ff.net and have decided to put up the extras at the same time. Currently, the schedule of posting will be an uploaded chapter on Mondays and Thursdays, followed by the Behind the Scenes segment sometime over the weekend. (In that regard: yes, I am late with posting this first one). If you want to read the completed fic without waiting for it to be posted at ff.ent, you can head over to narniaexchange.
+
SPOILERS UP TO THE END OF CHAPTER ONE FROM HERE ON OUT
+
Regarding Story Prompts
The Narnia Big Bang Challenge began at the beginning of November and ran for the next six months. I signed up for the Mini-Bang, a challenge to write a minimum of 10,000 words.
One of the fun things about the challenge was the option to submit and use prompts as a starting point for the story. I initially chose three.
The first prompt, submitted by imansultan, was a quote from “Lady Lazarus” by Sylvia Plath:
Dying is an art, like everything else.
I do it exceptionally well.
I do it so it feels like hell.
I do it so it feels real.
I guess you could say I've a call.
Second was a quote submitted by cofax7:
“If you’re trying to take a roomful of people by surprise, it’s a lot easier to hit your targets if you don’t yell going through the door.” - LM Bujold
And third was a picture prompt submitted by snitchnippedthat depicted a girl in mist. (Unfortunately, the picture has since been taken down.)
I can tell you right off that I didn’t actually use the picture prompt, although I did write the scene that related to it and I did hang on to it for a very long time. Eventually, I had to grudgingly admit that it didn’t fit the tone of the story and cut it out. (I’ll go into that more when we get to that section of the story.)
As for the second quote - I… didn’t really use that one either, although I had initially planned it for the climax. As for the first prompt, that one I stuck to pretty much the whole way through. After all, it’s a story about playing dead - I’d say that matches the prompt pretty nicely.
Regarding the Prologue
This was actually a late edition to the story. The idea came about when I was about half through the first draft. The problem was, in writing the prologue as a set of letters and hinting that the entire story has been written out as a part of these letters, that meant the story would work best in third person narrative.
I’d been writing the entire thing in first person.
So, going through everything and switching it around was, er, fun. However, I do quite like the end result, so clearly it was worth the extra work.
Regarding the First Chapter
This entire scene had been in my head since before the challenge even began. I’d known for a long time that I wanted Eustace and Jill to have an adventure on a tropical island that involved the two of them falling in the water to be presumed dead. At first, this took place in a harbour where Jill and Eustace were hiding beneath a dock. The setting changed pretty quickly to the cliff-top (poor Eustace) and by the time I actually sat down to write the scene, I could see it all happening as clear as if it was playing out in front of me.
The final version you see is much the same as I’d first visualized although, at the same time, this is the chapter that got the most revisions. That’s one of the problems with visualizing the scene so clearly; it takes me so much longer to get the words to describe it properly.
And… that’s all I can think to ramble on about today. The second chapter will be uploaded sometime either this afternoon or tonight - I do hope you check it out. In the meantime, I’ve got some more story planning to do for my Camp Nanowrimo. (It’s three days away - check it out! Should be great fun!)