second draft || [written]

[kayeaton]

All right, I've got to know: Are there any publishing outfits here? In a town this size, the chances seem slim, but for all I know, there's a paper no one's mentioned to me. I've got a story or two started, and if I could see them in print, I wouldn't mind dropping my asking price to zero cents a word. It won't hurt them to sit in handwritten piles in my apartment, of course, but stories are always better when they're shared.

It's strange to think that it's May here. It was November back in Manhattan, and that meant a lot of gray skies and windy days, and some rainy ones. Thanksgiving was coming up; between Julius and I, a whole turkey is a waste of a bird, but we were going to have something nice for dinner nonetheless. And in the meanwhile, it would have been a whole lot of pounding on typewriters and talking, no doubt.

At least I left near the start of the month. Just in case time here doesn't run faster than every other world's time, he's got a few weeks to plan out a story or two about the drunken scientist or the mutant hillbillies, and from there...well, ideally, he'd show up here one of these days, too. And if not, he's written plenty on his own before; he's not about to starve to death just because I'm not there to do my share.

I do miss him, though.

((OOC: And just in case you're curious, when she says drunken scientist and mutant hillbillies, she is, uh. Completely serious.))

Comments

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

Something as disparate from our world as possible, actually.

...what sort of world do you live in, Ms. Eaton? It might let me explain better if I know what I'm comparing my world to.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

My world? Let's see.

[It really is difficult to know what to describe in a place without any frame of reference of what you're comparing it to. After a moment, she gives it a go.]

You already know I'm from New York, of course. It was 1953 when I left--the war had just ended a few months ago, Eisenhower was president, and if there was magic like in some of these people's worlds, I never saw it. And yourself?

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

I'm from...well, I was traveling when I was brought over. [Actually, he was fighting a war when he was brought over, but...details.] Originally from London, spent a while in California for a job.

It was 2007 at the time. I didn't pay attention to who was still President in America. And my world had its fair share of magic and supernatural horrors. By my time, the world at large was well aware of some of them.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

Oh, London's a great place. California, too.

I don't know if I'll ever quite get over meeting so many people from the future--or a future, anyway. If you need something completely different from that, though...[She pauses, considering the options.] Sword and sorcery would certainly work...or you could set it in a completely different world. Depends on how much you want to put into making up the setting. And once you've got the setting--well, write your friend some kind of good versus evil, you can never go wrong with that. All you have to do is let the good win, and you've got your happy ending.

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

London is very nice. I'll argue the point on California.

...my friend's life has been some kind of good and evil. And good usually wins, but...

...there's always more evil. That's how things work, back home.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

When I was there, it was January. California was guaranteed to come out like paradise in comparison to home.

[This gives Kay some pause; to talk of good and evil in a way that means something more than political figures and fictional characters seems as though it oughtn't be that strange. And yet, somehow, it is.] Well, there'll always be more evil, certainly--that's why God gave us serials. But the promise of a decent break for the hero before his next adventure isn't exactly a sad ending for a story.

But we need something as far from your world as possible, so good versus evil is out. Maybe the main character needs to retrieve something that was lost instead.

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

...that's good. A good alternative.

[His voice is thoughtful, speculative - he's definitely listening closely to what she says.]

...maybe she lost the horse?

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

That's a good start, right there. You've got the pony and happy ending all wrapped up together.

So she's lost the horse. What's she going to have to do to get it back?

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

[The delay is slightly less this time.]

...leave her home. When she never has before.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

A journey's good. Is she going alone?

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

Yes. At first.

She doesn't want to draw attention to herself.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

But someone notices her eventually?

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

Someone has to, don't they?

A story with just one person is...terribly boring. And most societies tend to frown on people who talk to themselves.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

Stories with only one person are harder to pull off--it can be done, but it takes a lot more work, and the results might be a little lonelier than you're aiming for. here.

So she picks up a friend or two on the way to get her horse. Are they there to help out, or are they comic relief?

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

[Thinking back to Xander:]

Can't they be both?

Comic relief can be helpful.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

[And now she's thinking back to Southeast Jones' sidekick, who was always both those things.]

They can be both. If you have more than one person tagging along with her, it can help to make some more helpful than comic, and vice versa.

And how hard is it to find her pony? Are they going through some bad territory, maybe, or is someone else after the same horse?

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

Two people. Two is...balanced.

...what if they're trying to save it from being delivered into the hands of...mad, pony eating monsters?

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

And three's a good number for main characters. Not too many to keep track of, but plenty of things you can do with them.

...Yeah, I think that'd be all right. So it's a race against time. And if someone's doing the delivering, you have a showdown for the climax.

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

Three people can work very well together. As long as they're friends.

Yes, a race against time. Stopping the thief before he makes the pony irretrievable. At the last moment, of course.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

Even if they aren't, if the stakes are high enough...but it's probably better if they're friends, in this case.

Any sooner and you might lose the drama. So then they stop the thief and get the pony back?

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

Of course. Wouldn't be a happy ending otherwise.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

And they ride off into the sunset. Sounds like you've got a story.

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

Do I really?

...yes, I suppose I do. [He sounds pleased, disbelieving, and...maybe a little excited.] And not a bad one at that, really.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand.livejournal.com]

It'll be great. [It's a pretty typical plot, but Kay can't exactly throw stones on that point--and Giles is new to this. He'll put in everything his friend will like, and that's what matters.] Now's the hard part--you have to write it.

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

Y-Yes, yes of course. [His mind is already racing, stringing together words and phrases.] I-I'd record it over voice first, but at the moment my filters are absolute rubbish.

And of, of course I'll mention how much help you've been. Thank you so much, Kay.