Pandora, The Spites and Desperate Hope are clearly something that would be great to examine in the novel. How, I am not sure at this stage. At present all I have is a working title - Forethought - and a basic concept; which blithely ignores the fact Herakles is said to have finally rescued Prometheus. My idea is to examine what would happen if Prometheus were discovered, bound to his rock, by contemporary man. What would he experience as they worked to release him from the scourge that is damaging his liver and causing him so much suffering.
I think the idea has real potential. We have, the human (well demi-god) story of suffering, hope, success/failure, which we can all identify with. Then we have the thrill and spills of trying to combat liver pecking vultures which has got to be exciting. In film terms its, The Birds meets Jason & the Argonauts meets The Singing Detective meets A Matter of Life and Death. Perhaps you can think of others.
Anyway, the first thing to do is ponder on a general trajectory for the story arc, work out who are the core characters and flesh out personalities. I enjoy this part of writing.
2 comments:
Hi Rich,
Thanks for the nice comment on my blog. To answer your questions about blogging through treatment:
First, write when you feel like it, or feel like you have something to say. You'll find that it's really pretty easy, once you get rolling. Also, try to avoid the trap I fell into: feeling like you owe reports to your audience on some rigid schedule. Write for yourself, when the spirit moves you.
I think you'll also find yourself more inspired to write as you build an audience and comments start rolling in. I certainly did! It's gratifying to cross that threshold from feeling like you're screaming your head off in a sound-proof room to knowing somebody out there is hearing and responding to what you have to say.
As to building an audience, part of it will come naturally. I have no idea how most of my traffic found me... I presume through search engines, primarily. That's something that just comes with time and content, although you can goose the process along by listing your blog with indexes like Technorati.
I also found that getting involved in one or more of the HepC forums afforded the ability to network with other people going through similar experiences. I was amazed at how many had or have blogs of their own. It's not uncommon to trade links with other bloggers, which will definitely help build traffic. Don't be afraid to ask other bloggers if they'd be interested in trading links. Most are very receptive. Incidentally, I'll put a link to your blog on mine... I like the way you write, and don't mind sharing some of my traffic.
If I were starting treatment and blogging now, I would also probably get involved in HepC groups on Facebook, and mention my blog there. It's another great way to network.
My last suggestion would be to put a stat counter on your blog. A lot of people read without commenting... a counter at least gives you the reassurance that people are reading what you have to say, even if they don't respond.
I wish you the best of luck with your treatment, and look forward to reading about your progress.
Be well!
Chris
Responses already. You're a natural born Blogger, my friend!
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