Masterwork Experiment

[darkemeralds]

I'm writing a new story.

It began as an experiment. Shawn Coyne, my editing mentor, wanted to find out whether an accomplished writer (me) could create a fresh story by borrowing the deep structure of a masterwork, but changing the setting.

If I could, he would publish it.

The masterwork he chose was Annie Proulx's "Brokeback Mountain," and my task was to transpose it to Regency England.

The experiment was a success in that it did inspire me to start a new story, something I haven't been able to do for more than three years.

It was a failure, however, in that all Shawn's rules blocked me for almost nine months, and I wasn't able to break the blockage till I broke most of the rules.

Once I finally let my story diverge--from "Brokeback," from Shawn's idea of its meaning, from the scenes I'd written in the first days of the experiment, and at last, from the experiment itself--it was no longer the thing Shawn wanted. Which means Story Grid probably won't publish it.

It is the story of two lower-class men (servants) who meet on the job and fall in love. But that's where the "Brokeback" scaffolding ends. I'm changing everything else. Above all, I am not going to kill one of them. I don't think we need any more buried gays.

Instead I borrowed other stories' scaffolding: the devoted but deluded servant in The Remains of the Day. The relationship dynamic from The Untamed. Part of the ending of The Song of Achilles.

And the true-life history of Matthew Tomlinson whose 1810 diaries were recently uncovered.

I'm submitting the first act of this no-longer-anything-like-Brokeback story to a writing partner in a couple of days, and we'll see how it goes.

Comments

[tabaqui]

Wow, that sounds so interesting! So, does Mr Coyne know about fanfic?

I applaud you not kililng any more gays. As 'true' (in many ways) as Brokeback was, the story and movie were both depressing as hell. Bravo for something with a more hopeful (dare I say happy?) ending.

Good luck!

[donutsweeper]

Congrats on finishing the first act!

[ranunculus]

That sounds like a really fun, and interesting story to write. I agree with you, we don't need to rehash Brokeback.

[ravurian]

I am so relieved that you've recovered yourself in this. I know we've talked before about my own experience privileging someone else's opinion above my own and allowing someone to impose their voice over mine, and how detrimental that was to my writing (and how wary I am of doing that myself to others), and I am glad that you (seem to) have pushed through that and out the other side. The most saliant lesson here is, I think, that you cannot write without having something to say (even if you're not sure what that is), and you certainly can't write with someone else's hand over your mouth (or, um, somewhere else, puppeting you).

I for one would love to see what you have, but I understand that I am not always ideal for these things, being prone to Opinions.

[sasha_feather]

That sounds like a fabulous book!

[branchandroot]

That sounds more likely to result in something fresh, honestly, if you take structure from more than one work rather than sticking to one. And the deeper you get into the story, the more it /has/ to have more outgrowth in order to really be yours, yes?

(Plus, I'm one hundred percent behind refusing to bury more gays.)

Honestly, I feel like causing a sea change in what comes after is more the mark of a masterwork than anything, and that's such an organic interaction of the story and the moment and the author's awareness of both. Surely it's your own awareness of those that will create a fresh story, more than adhering to the deep structure, which seems like the least original part of any story. (Not that I'm a hardcore constructivist, or anything. ^_^)

[lyr]

It sounds like an awesome story!