The supernatural soap opera – writing is under way

So, we had plans for today but they got put on hold. The wife had a rough night.

Since we didn’t go out or do anything in particular, I decided to get some work done. That work was writing the beginning of the supernatural soap opera.

After I finished it, I looked it over. I’m not sure it quite captures what is in my head yet. I’m in that stage where most TV shows start out. No one knows the characters yet, or the setting, or the storylines. Things haven’t been established and the characters haven’t quite gelled. It is sort of like Star Trek, especially Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek itself quickly got its feet under itself and cemented itself in the annals of television history and our culture. Everyone knows Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the Starship Enterprise. Even so, it took a little while to get used to the characters. Spock was a little uneven during the first time we see him. He’s playing chess with Kirk talking about how the Captain is displaying “one of those human emotions” with a slight smile on his face. Still, it developed quickly and became one of the foundational elements of science fiction television.

Because it had such a great foundation (despite going downhill in Season Three) it lead to Star Trek: The Next Generation. That show was awkward during the first season, and they were still trying to get their feet under them. They even killed off one of the main characters at the end of season one. It wasn’t until the third season when they finally got it together, started getting good stories, and we knew and liked the characters.

I definitely feel like I haven’t gotten a grip on my characters, or the storylines, even though they’ve been running around inside my head for quite some time. My Muse has been adding, subtracting, merging and otherwise writing this whole time. I guess I’m expecting the stories to come out fully formed, like Athena springing fully formed from Zeus’s forehead after it was split open by an axe wielded by Hephaestus. Some of my flash fiction stories do just that. But this is not flash fiction. This is a long overarching narrative that will hopefully go on for decades. I have to accept that it isn’t going to start off perfect. It will need time to ferment, and age properly, util it ripens into a wine that has body and character.

I guess I’m just anxious because I don’t know that anyone else will like it. I’m sure that someone out there will like it. People seem to like my writing. But will they stick with it long enough until it ‘get’s it’s feet under it’ and people want to continue reading it? I don’t think I have a strong enough base audience yet to carry me for the equivalent of two seasons worth of TV episodes to capture a solid fanbase. I feel pressure that this has to be a smash out of the gate to be able to succeed. I know that it doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be entertaining.

I’m just hoping I don’t write myself into a bunch of corners that end up requiring ridiculous plot twists to get back out of them. Then again, soap operas seem to rely on that type of thing. The drawback being you then end up getting into a spiral where things get more ridiculous and convoluted until the whole thing implodes.

Okay, set all that aside. The important thing is that words have been put on paper (well, on screen). The process has been started. I just need to keep doing that, get the words out there, and let the whole thing run its course, however that my turn out.

I hope you’ll come along for the ride, my Hordeling. If you’re interested in doing so, leave a comment and let me know.

If you’d like to support my efforts, why not buy me a chocolate chip cookie through my Ko-Fi page? https://ko-fi.com/jhusum