A novel idea... if only time would permit.

Amicus Dei of [FoG]

Amicus Dei of [FoG]

New Member
Once again I find myself with an NRW (novel, ready to write [insert military MRE reference here]) and no time in which to write it. This one is best described as a "what if I were in this situation" thing... where the character representing my personality is thrust forcefully into a heavy duty war (WWII is my current idea, but I might do something else...) via the draft...
To avoid spoiling the details, as I tend to do every time I come up with an idea, I'll just tell you that there are multiple conflicts throughout the book, and they all are linked and mostly overlap each other, creating a really thick situation for my main character.

Naturally I'd say more (since I really have the whole thing planned out), but I don't want to give it all away, and also want to desperately avoid any spread of my idea before it's out on a printing press (not that any of my writing up to this point has ever or probably will ever reach one).

However, one of the big parts of the book will be the style. I intend to write it in a sort of journal/diary of the main character format, and even include drawings by the main character. Moreover, I want to create photographs (probably black and white to fit with the intended time period) using a few actors to represent the characters and constructed scenes that will make them look realistic. I know this sounds ambitious, but without ambition, where would great things be?

Also, something really unusual that I've noticed: the longer I don't get the novel down on paper, the more depressed I feel. It's wierd. I've been low key for almost a week now, and I heard a song or two on the radio that remind me of some ideas I have for the book... sad songs -.-"


So really I have several distinct problems:
Photography
Drawings
Finishing

Photography - I need actors who "fit the bill" for the characters. And settings that do the same for the events... How to do this? I don't know. What I do know is that I'll have to have a hair metamorphosis to fit the main character (my hair is long and blonde; I imagine him with shorter, brown hair, and obviously very short for the military), although I find my face semi-ideal for the part. I also have to have somebody who can look like his younger brother (pretty much a complete opposite by personality, but of course similar enough for family resemblance to be forged). And how am I supposed to get the appropriate costumes and settings?
Drawings - I have an artist at hand, but I don't know yet what I want the art to look like (about half of it has been planned, however, because of the key theme of the book and the... circumstances of said theme).
Finishing - Unfortunately, this could be just another novel that I never finish (I've started at least 4 and finished one with less pages than I intended to have)... Or a throwaway book (like the one that I did finish and later discovered I didn't like... It was messy. No purpose for most of the stuff the characters did/said. I figure I'm just a big picture/big idea person and I don't make it through the little things fluently). Plus, if I can't seem to get the images right... why am I doing this? :P

Questions, comments, suggestions?

Suggestions?
[Please suggest something.]
 
Write the book first. Worry about using artwork later as a means to enhance the story. Worry about everything else AFTER you have your first draft written, otherwise your cool ideas will never manifest themselves.

I have found that cool ideas do more to strangle your work than to help it if you incorporate them while you write. Also, there's a good chance your plot will constantly evolve, despite a surefire outline, and you might sacrifice plot brilliance in favor of keeping your cool ideas in place, which is a literary no-no.

I've learned these things from my own experiences, and there's no telling if they are right or wrong (is there such thing as right and wrong when it comes to writing?). Take them with a grain of salt.
 
Well, the artwork will be courtesy a friend of mine who is an excellent artist, and as of yet, I haven't worked on the art part (although I'm anxious to get one specific picture soon for a sample and something to work with...).

I have started writing, but again, school and other entanglements do not permit me to sit back for days and nights and crank out anything meaningful. If I could, I'd probably be finished with the first draft before my birthday in April.

As for worrying about it later as a means to enhance the story, I must clarify my intents...
The central idea of the novel is, in fact, the artwork. I failed to mention this earlier (due to my incessant capability of spoiling all my ideas before implementing them), but the book is centered around a man who has photographic memory and is an artist.
So the artwork isn't just icing on the cake... it's the eggs that go into the cake batter (assuming I'm using a low altitude recipe [I'd better finish before I go off to college where I'll be by the Mile-High City] :P).
The photographs, however, are icing on the cake. Obviously the artist is not going to have actual photography spewing from his pen, but the pictures would be for enhancing the book in several ways (and trust me, I won't even fathom how I'll achieve getting those photographs until the book and the art are basically finished).
 
Oh how many ideas i have just had that i must implement!
I'll begin with the dedication page.
I honestly don't like dedication pages. For ___? Shouldn't I, as a Christian, be writing for God? Shouldn't I ask God to help me with everything I do?
"me oportet scribere Deo." - "It is necessary for me to (I must) write for (with) the Lord."
Fitting, eh?
Then I'll have a dedication to somebody if I see it fit -.o
Also, I've come up with a couple of important changes in the plot that will make the book easier to work with, namely the separation between the brothers during their joining of the Army and their meeting after the main character is wounded and returns to combat (it was common practice in the U.S. Army of WWII to transfer recovered soldiers to other units based on need, rather than keep them in their original unit). Also, I've got plenty of comic relief on the way. This wounding will also be very important to the novel, namely in relation to the drawings and the journal/diary style of writing.

Of course, I'm writing this novel with the vision of later making a movie... I'd like to star as my main character (although I don't quite look the part with my medium/long hair vs. the crew cut... and if I had a crew cut, I would look totally bald because of the blondness of my hair [perhaps fixed by dying it brown?]). Of course, that's unlikely and at least for now very far in the future. It's just convenient for me in terms of writing the book that I have the capability of envisioning what the character would see (specifically since the big deal is his photographic memory and visual thinking).
 
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Amicus,
Here's my two cents.
First off, you have what seems like a good idea, but in reality technicalities can and will bog it down, like getting an image of every character. My idea for you here would to use stock photography sites, save pictures you like in a folder, and put them to people later on. As for it becoming a movie? It's probably best to shelve that idea until you actually get a draft (and maybe some revisions) done. TJ normally tells me, when writing, remember WIFE: Write It, Finish, Edit. I think that means plot too. But an outline is always good to have.

Also, for what its worth, I have a book full of funny military quotes...you could benefit from some, I'm sure.
 
Hehe I like how this thread is evolving:
Don't go for the fluffy extras before you finish.

Well okay... I'll try not to let my desire for fluffiness beat out my story. I guess I'll evaluate it this way:
Fluffy stuff fits with the plot? Good. Keep it.
Fluffy stuff won't work with the plot? A few options:
1. Can the plot be improved so that the fluff fits and the plot is better?
2. Can the fluff be adapted to the plot, keeping the plot the same?
3. Find new fluff if possible; the plot won't work with what I have...

I've already used option 1 for a large section; I had a page and a half of stuff that almost didn't work to historical accuracy... Then I figured out a way to make the story itself better and keep the 1.5 pages I almost completely deleted.

And right now my plot is being increased, as I said before, making the images and journal style more appropriate than they were originally, and the plot is improving. So that's the second time I've been able to keep with option 1.
I have, however, changed something in the plot to keep it historically plausible, and I had to abandon a large chunk of goodness that I was going to make a pretty big deal (option 3). That's sad but I guess I'll get over it (certainly makes the story better). I guess I can later come up with something to turn that into option 2 instead of 3.
 
Actually I've played CoD 4 and CoD: WaW, but neither one is U.S. Army in Europe...
I may have to put my main character and his brother somewhere other than Europe for a while, though, since I intended to have them join the Army in 1941 but D-Day wasn't until 1944...
 
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