This Reunion story is certainly living up to the “from hell” title lately.
My brain keeps digging up these little “what if?” scenarios and then I spend far too long trying to figure out if and how they would work in the context of the story. I try writing them out to see how they fare and piece them in little by little.
Last night I asked Bob his opinion on one of these what ifs because I was really banging my head against the wall over it. I had written it in four different places in the timeline to see where it would fit and I couldn’t decide if it was at all believable in any of those. The verdict being not so much believable…unless…and then he suggested a few ways to make it work.
I asked him about a few other points I’ve been struggling with and he kept posing the same question: why? Why would she do that? Why would he say that? Why hasn’t anybody stabbed Brody in the face yet? (Okay not really, but I think he was probably wondering that internally. He doesn’t like Brody. Brody is kind of a pain in the ass.) When I couldn’t exactly explain these things he told me I don’t ask “why” enough. Why is the most important question to answer on all of these tidbits I have slamming around in my skull that I can’t quite seem to work out.
Ben and Marina are a challenge to figure out. I’ve been saying that all along. But when I break it down, Ben is pretty easy to figure out. He knows what he wants, he just doesn’t know how to get it, and he’s trying to figure that out as he goes. Even if he does come off as a lost puppy half the time following Marina around looking for affection. Marina is the clusterfuck causing all the problems. And in my conversation with Bob last night, I figured out a big piece of WHY she’s such a royal pain in the ass. It will require some rewriting of existing pieces, but it will make for a better story in the end.
The other problem child in this project is Marina’s brother Brody. As it stands he’s one of the most neurotic people on the planet. He needs his crazy adjusted and toned down or he’ll just derail the whole thing. I’ll probably have to put him on an intravenous Xanax drip until I figure out how to fix his mess I’ve created.
To bring a little more sanity into the mix I realized I need more interaction with brother Nate. He’s the quiet observer and the voice of reason in the middle of Marina and Brody and all their neuroses. He knows everybody’s secrets and he’s the perpetual under-the-radar problem solver. If anybody can get Marina to see (and admit) her stupidity, it’s him. He’s kind of abandoned all hope of getting Brody to sit down and shut up at this point. He’s leaving that disaster up to me to clean up.
And then there’s Jake. Quiet, unassuming, Jake. He’s been greatly neglected in a lot of this, which probably explains why he…has the problems that he does. He’s a pivotal part of the story and he barely gets mentioned up until he’s smack in the middle which would probably cause most people to stop and say, “where the hell did this guy come from?” In a way it fits his personality to just be lingering in the background, but at the same time, it just plays out as oh here’s the wrench we saw from a mile off finally getting thrown into the works.
So in summation:
More Nate and Jake.
Less Brody neuroses and Marina stupidity.
And possibly less Lost Puppy Ben.
But I do have a special place in my heart for Lost Puppy Ben. He’s pathetically adorable. (Adorably pathetic?) At least in my head. And that’s the only place that matters right now.
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That’s All Genesis |