February 18, 2005
If I had more time, I’d write shorter
Can’t stop and chat at the moment. I’m pulling together the notes about the comic strip that forms the basis for “Drawn in Blood.” I did have an inspiration yesterday about one of my characters which will lead to some changes in the book. It was one of those click situations. I had been bothered about Edgar’s decision to cancel the strip. It injected a note of drama into the book, but it seemed to work against his character. After all, he had been working on the Gastown Gang strip for 24 years, and was in the process of turning it over to his son. He’s been unhappy with his son’s work, has lost faith in him, and now decided to pull the plug on the strip.
That’s in the outline, and that’s how I wrote it. But each time I’d think about that part of the block, there’d be a “bump” in my head that I recognized was the sound of the plot forcing itself into place, like a puzzle piece that almost — but not quite — fit.
So I said the hell with it, and went searching for another action he could take. And I found it. And once I slid it into the plot, other pieces started clicking into place.
In the new story, he had the opportunity to sell the rights to the Gastown Gang to a large corporation. He could still draw the comic strip, but they’d handle the animation, the toy rights, the graphic novel republishing rights, everything. All for a tidy sum that would be split among the members of the family who make up the corporation running the GG.
Edgar decides to turn the deal down, unilaterially. No board vote, no discussion, no way. Hiliarity ensues, eventually leading into murder.
I love this thought. He’s ignoring the rules of his business (which I suspect happens sometimes in family-run corporations), he depriving other members of earning a bundle of moola, and it fits within his character. It’s the family business, and by god he’s not going to sell it off. That makes sense.
And the bump is gone.
Hmmm, I guess I gave you an essay anyway. So I’ll fire this off and give you a quick quote.
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