Eureka

Sean Connery as James Bond

I had a moment late last night/early this morning where something finally clicked in my writing story telling. I thought I knew what I was doing this whole time, but as it turns out, maybe not. To put it bluntly, I’ve been confusing the background with the foreground and as a result, telling the wrong story. It’s the difference between a political drama with spies, and a spy novel with political dramas. One is a textbook of Cold War with anecdotes, and the other is a James Bond novel. They both have spies and countries in conflict, but only one is entertaining. The textbook might be educational, enlightening, even fascinating, but it won’t make a great film.

And that, I realized, is what was different about Button Pusher. Maybe it will get published, maybe it won’t, but its the first story that’s actually been held back from flat out rejection, and I think the reason why is that events in the story are the backdrop to the character making a decision and understanding the irony of his life at the last second. Thinking back to the first draft of the story I just wrote, that’s largely what felt right about this one, too – again, there’s a war in the background, blah blah blah, but the story itself is about a person and the decision he tries to make.

So, the lat few years of toiling away at these unfinished, unsalvageable stories wasn’t for naught. I have a solid foundation and background to the stories that are beginning to congeal in my head. For now, sleep, and then this weekend – another story will be born 🙂

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