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Aug. 22nd, 2008 02:32 amI've been poking at plot bunnies. Have now got 4 characters, a theme, and a structure - 8 episodes, 2 for each character, one more about the past and one more about the future.
Already I run into the problem that episodes are pretty much about the present so being about the future is tricky. Still, sure I can do it.
It's set around high school, sixth form, and college. Character ages are 15, 16, 31, and he won't admit it precisely but probably 50ish. Or younger with more mileage.
So, I reckon I know enough about the high school experience of the 31 year old.
But I've just been poking around the 6th form website, and I realise I don't even know how many exams teenagers do now. There's a way to apply for 5 AS levels. I think I did 3 A levels and one AS level over 2 years. Er, in theory anyway, the only one I didn't resit was the AS level General Studies. And then I didn't do the resits. I think.
Long ago and far away. Not relevant now. I did Access and actually passed those.
General Studies isn't on the list any more.
And I have no idea what the difference between Art and Applied Art is.
And I think there's a lot more buildings now.
The trouble with having a plot bunny about the passage of time and the differences in experience between generations is you have to actually think about it.
It has indeed been long enough since high school that someone could be legally made at that time and by now be having same high school experience.
Woah.
So, anyway... if I want to write about kids in school I'd have to figure out roughly what their timetable is like and what subjects they'd be doing. I've complained about that before in teen stories, like they're studying whatever is metaphorically convenient this week even if combining all those subjects be tricky. But I have enough to do to figure out my own university level units and schedule and stuff. Figuring it out for three more imaginary people be... awkward.
I know what the 31 year old is doing though - Access to Higher Education at City College, Art History and the compulsory Maths unit with more units to be chosen next year. That's a bit fresher in my mind than the other stuff.
Except, oh look, I check on the CCN website and the unit structure for Access has changed. Art History is no longer offered in the Arts & Humanities course. Huh? But I studied that! er, 6 years ago, come to think.
This passage of time stuff is just... weird.
So I could ignore the details. The story isn't going to be about math class. it's going to be about demons and angels and pagans priests with showy magic and vampires and... I haven't decided yet. Probably ghosts. Ghosts are always a good one.
But. If I ignore all those details, those are exactly where the differences live, and change and time and difference are all central and essential to the theme.
Research then.
On the one hand it's a good time to be doing it, because it's applying for A levels time and there's open days and stuff. On the other hand it's a bad time to be doing it, because it's applyign for A levels time and there's open days and stuff.
(I say applying, I know it's supposed to be done more in advance, but there's still CCN stuff about it. On a pop up ad. Why do annoying popups on an education site???)
This story set is the first one for ages that actually wants to be set in geography that I live in. I can get really specific about these places. And I remember things that could be useful building blocks in the story, like the saga of the Enterprise club and what happened there before it got closed down. But then I feel like that stuff is more real than stuff I got out of newspapers, even if most of it was rumour anyway. And then I wonder what the ethics of mixing truth in your fiction may be. I mean, writers do it, but how much serial number filing need there be?
... Knowhere is a bit unhelpful. No dates on their data. The rec for the Enterprise is still on the list. Um, closed in the early 90s? Could do with updating? :eyeroll:
I have this weird uncertainty about memory. I mean, it isn't weird, because memory just isn't very accurate. People write and rewrite it as they go along and what there is in your head doesn't match the outside world very much or very often. Much psych backs this opinion. But most people blithely ignore this and wander through life declaring opinions and voicing memories as if they were facts. Me, I get stuck doing research so I can point at something written down. It's still subjective, on account of someone wrote it, but it stays still... except for when it doesn't, ie on the internet.
Then I end up sort of sulking in a corner in my head.
Reality isn't.
It's three in the morning, I'm very bored, it's technically Friday and the day before my birthday, I'm planning to go shopping on Saturday and it would help if I was awake in the daytime and help even more if I'm awake in the evenings next week, and I should sleep. I did sleep though, and then it wore off.
I have played 194 games of MahJong solitaire on this computer this week. I know because the website has a little counter on it. It doesn't tell you anything useful like how many of those games actually worked. Just how many you've played. They take about 5 minutes each. I don't really want to do the maths. But you can see how absolutely entirely bored I am just now.
*sigh*
Already I run into the problem that episodes are pretty much about the present so being about the future is tricky. Still, sure I can do it.
It's set around high school, sixth form, and college. Character ages are 15, 16, 31, and he won't admit it precisely but probably 50ish. Or younger with more mileage.
So, I reckon I know enough about the high school experience of the 31 year old.
But I've just been poking around the 6th form website, and I realise I don't even know how many exams teenagers do now. There's a way to apply for 5 AS levels. I think I did 3 A levels and one AS level over 2 years. Er, in theory anyway, the only one I didn't resit was the AS level General Studies. And then I didn't do the resits. I think.
Long ago and far away. Not relevant now. I did Access and actually passed those.
General Studies isn't on the list any more.
And I have no idea what the difference between Art and Applied Art is.
And I think there's a lot more buildings now.
The trouble with having a plot bunny about the passage of time and the differences in experience between generations is you have to actually think about it.
It has indeed been long enough since high school that someone could be legally made at that time and by now be having same high school experience.
Woah.
So, anyway... if I want to write about kids in school I'd have to figure out roughly what their timetable is like and what subjects they'd be doing. I've complained about that before in teen stories, like they're studying whatever is metaphorically convenient this week even if combining all those subjects be tricky. But I have enough to do to figure out my own university level units and schedule and stuff. Figuring it out for three more imaginary people be... awkward.
I know what the 31 year old is doing though - Access to Higher Education at City College, Art History and the compulsory Maths unit with more units to be chosen next year. That's a bit fresher in my mind than the other stuff.
Except, oh look, I check on the CCN website and the unit structure for Access has changed. Art History is no longer offered in the Arts & Humanities course. Huh? But I studied that! er, 6 years ago, come to think.
This passage of time stuff is just... weird.
So I could ignore the details. The story isn't going to be about math class. it's going to be about demons and angels and pagans priests with showy magic and vampires and... I haven't decided yet. Probably ghosts. Ghosts are always a good one.
But. If I ignore all those details, those are exactly where the differences live, and change and time and difference are all central and essential to the theme.
Research then.
On the one hand it's a good time to be doing it, because it's applying for A levels time and there's open days and stuff. On the other hand it's a bad time to be doing it, because it's applyign for A levels time and there's open days and stuff.
(I say applying, I know it's supposed to be done more in advance, but there's still CCN stuff about it. On a pop up ad. Why do annoying popups on an education site???)
This story set is the first one for ages that actually wants to be set in geography that I live in. I can get really specific about these places. And I remember things that could be useful building blocks in the story, like the saga of the Enterprise club and what happened there before it got closed down. But then I feel like that stuff is more real than stuff I got out of newspapers, even if most of it was rumour anyway. And then I wonder what the ethics of mixing truth in your fiction may be. I mean, writers do it, but how much serial number filing need there be?
... Knowhere is a bit unhelpful. No dates on their data. The rec for the Enterprise is still on the list. Um, closed in the early 90s? Could do with updating? :eyeroll:
I have this weird uncertainty about memory. I mean, it isn't weird, because memory just isn't very accurate. People write and rewrite it as they go along and what there is in your head doesn't match the outside world very much or very often. Much psych backs this opinion. But most people blithely ignore this and wander through life declaring opinions and voicing memories as if they were facts. Me, I get stuck doing research so I can point at something written down. It's still subjective, on account of someone wrote it, but it stays still... except for when it doesn't, ie on the internet.
Then I end up sort of sulking in a corner in my head.
Reality isn't.
It's three in the morning, I'm very bored, it's technically Friday and the day before my birthday, I'm planning to go shopping on Saturday and it would help if I was awake in the daytime and help even more if I'm awake in the evenings next week, and I should sleep. I did sleep though, and then it wore off.
I have played 194 games of MahJong solitaire on this computer this week. I know because the website has a little counter on it. It doesn't tell you anything useful like how many of those games actually worked. Just how many you've played. They take about 5 minutes each. I don't really want to do the maths. But you can see how absolutely entirely bored I am just now.
*sigh*