Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Peter, a Break Through!

Last night proved quite productive for the writing of Peter Pan: Betwixt-and-Between.

Besides finally getting through what I had initially scribed the first time I worked on it, I also finally felt good about the one section of it. Part of the reason I hadn't read through it all had been because every time I would sit down to write/read, I couldn't help but back track to that section. You see, it's a rather delicate matter and I wanted to polish it. It's one of those Barriesque moments of being "clearly ambiguous." In other words, a kind of purposeful confusion wrapped in specifics which seem just beyond one's grasp and yet stands as a satisfying answer. Try making sense of that... and then try writing such a thing.

I also then found myself ahead of myself. What do I mean? Well, I'd have 'just come up with' an idea and write it in the notes I keep at the end of what's written... only to discover that I already had that same or a similiar idea once before which I discovered upon reading some other notes I found. It's quite a great feeling, to be on the same page, so to speak, then and now. Such an event leads one to the believe that one is definitely on the right track, especially since the "new" note extends and amplifies the "old."

Just as I imagined would happen, I did indeed decide to dispense with an entire set of characters. They'll only convolute the story needlessly.

However, even more momentous than ironing out that tricky bit (for now!), having great match-ups of storyline, weeding out the useless and finding new ways to tie it all together nicely, something happened in the figuring which threw me for a loop.

My perception and belief about part of Barrie's tale shifted — to the very opposite of what I once thought! No, it doesn't negate anything I have already written. And no, I am not yet sure about it. I still need to ponder it further. I suspect I will just forge ahead and let Peter Pan and the other characters of this book sort it out and/or dictate it to me. But I certainly did have my mind proverbially blown when this development arose.

What part of "Peter Pan" am I talking about? All I will say for now is that I had meant to discuss it one day as a post. In fact, the very idea is brought up in another post and in it I say I will one day get back to the matter. Little did I know the matter would get back to me!

I'll continue to keep you posted about how Peter Pan: Betwixt-and-Between progresses.

(The title of this post is, of course, a play on the first chapter "Peter Breaks Through"of Peter and Wendy)
Oh... and I whipped up the drawing just now.

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