This project gets bigger and bigger.
I started a second draft before I finished the first, and even this draft is getting rewritten in ways which would normally happen later. My desire to complete this draft as close to perfect has come from using The Snowflake Method (see link at bottom of the page). It made me delve into my characters deeper than I ever had in an initial draft.
For those who haven’t read the previous blogs about this project, it’s a novel using The Wizard of Oz for inspiration and features an older woman named Dorothy who befriends three gay guys.
So, how has the story changed from my outline?
Recently I switched the year it is set from 2023 to 2008. There were certain aspects about Dorothy’s behaviour as a sixty-six year old woman which made her too naive for modern day. Little did I realise that once I changed the year, her and her husband would have been in their 20s during the 1960s sexual revolution, overriding the reason I made the alteration.
So, another plot twist had to be added to partially justify her sense of being out of place. And even that twist is going to be updated throughout the manuscript to give it more authenticity.
This change in year also helps with two other aspects of the book. One of the characters writes for a successful night time drama, and in Australia, there are virtually no prime time dramas being produced now. We’re either watching reality shows on broadcast television, or US and UK, and maybe the occasional Aussie show, on streaming services.
The change in year also helps with a character being in the closet.
Toby is the character who needs courage and in my initial notes he just needed to find that inner strength to deal with Oliver, his ex boyfriend. Their issues are based on a couple I know who I always felt had unfinished business. When they were together in the 2000s, one suffered from internalised homophobia. So, that was an issue Oliver was dealing with, making it harder for Toby to resurrect the relationship.
But then the obvious hit me. Toby is a main character, not Oliver. And if Toby represents the cowardly lion, then he needs courage to come out to his parents after coming to terms with his sexuality. And this is easier for the reader to accept in a gay guy who doesn’t live in an age of marriage equality or hook up apps.
So many scenes have been tweaked, and now Oliver encourages Toby to accept his sexuality in an unorthodox way (well, it’s not that unorthodox among gay guys, and today it’s more accepted in general).
Initially, the way Jagger finds his heart was also underdeveloped.
I don’t want to give away spoilers, but one twist and one method of helping Toby out with his inner homophobia, make it clear why Jagger is such a bitch early in the story.
He has also become smarter. Once I changed the year, Jagger’s one liners got better. I don’t understand why but it’s something I’m happy with.
One issue I have to resolve is Elton’s voice.
He is the one who needs a brain, but since I switched from third person limited to first person multi POV, I had to get rid of some lovely prose for the scenes Elton voices. They were way too clever.
I have a note at the end of the manuscript to go back and rewrite Elton’s chapters. They need to be funny for the wrong reasons, and charming at the same time. I have ideas, but more research needs to be done to get his voice right.
The coming out scene will pull several threads together.
It’s been a long time since I came out, so I’ll rely on stories from the web, and the many coming out YouTube videos. That scene will be written soon, which in turn, will see growth in two characters.
The other thing I love about this project is it’s become much more than a Wizard of Oz retelling. The title is dark, and this has helped me let go of the initial concept and delve deeper into the bleak side of human nature, while once again, using my own writing as therapy.
Other recent blogs about my writing projects:
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