Kind of The Tempest Flavored – My Current Project

It’s hard to know what to write about on here, sometimes, except for the usual advice about writing. But I always feel hesitant about offering up writing advice since it makes me feel like a know-it-all who may very well not know anything at all (a personal issue aimed at myself. I honestly don’t see fellow writers who offer up writing advice as know-it-alls, I see them as knowing-what-they’re-talking-about-more-than-me).

Plus, I wanted this blog to be more about stories than writing. Because at the end of the day, all that writing advice and research only means anything when the result is an actual story.

So I thought I’d talk a little about my next writing project. Nothing that gives too much away, of course, but at least gives one an idea of what to expect. It was inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, more specifically the spirit Ariel. I wasn’t able to go see the latest production at the Globe with Colin Morgan as Ariel (wrong side of the pond for me), but, boy, did I follow every review and photo. Then I watched the movie version with Ben Whishaw as the spirit, then actually read the play.

The main source of inspiration for my current idea, however, came from the scene where Prospero is reminding Ariel of the spirit’s imprisonment in the tree, and what a torment it was. Because for enduring such torment Ariel seemed perfectly fine (well, he is a spirit, and we don’t exactly know what he was like before his imprisonment, so he could actually be a complete loony for all we know).

And being the sucker for traumatic back-stories that I am, my mind went straight to “Well, what if Ariel didn’t handle his torment well? What would a mentally, emotionally and physically scarred spirit be like?” And so there went my mind, off on a lovely adventure full of what-ifs. And as is sometimes the case with some of my ideas, it morphed and evolved then devolved then evolved again, going from an alternate version of the Tempest to an independent story giving many nods to the Tempest but still (I hope) very much its own tale. Because, this time, the story is about the spirit  – or, in this case, the magical being that, while centuries old, has a body that can be damaged and even destroyed (for good reason, the story demanded it). It’s about a being with immense power subdued and brought low and struggling to be what he once was. Oh, and there’s a mystery, various murders, enchanted forests and a journey. I also can’t resist a good journey or two 😉

It’s been a stubborn story, though. Most of my ideas come together rather quickly. The Toymaker, for example. It was inspired by the movie 9 (the Tim Burton one), but largely by the concept of living toys in a dystopian-flavored setting (only with humanity still intact, and the story more about the people than the toys). The moment that concept found its way into my head, The Toymaker began to form and form quite quickly.

My current idea was a fighter, and for a while I thought it was because, deep down inside, I didn’t want to write it. Then I realized that…

1. it was because I was trying to hurry things along just so I could have something to write.

2. The initial idea – A Tempest AU – wasn’t what I wanted to write. I didn’t want to write a story that had already been told and simply put it in another setting. I wanted to write something different, preferably something involving a mystery (probably because I was watching a lot of mysteries at the time).

And what I came to learn from this experience is that I really need to trust my instincts. If a part of me is saying “no, you can’t write this, just yet.” then there’s probably a very good reason why I shouldn’t be writing it just yet. So after much pondering followed by a rewrite of the plot outline, I finally have something that I’m excited to write.

And now I’m going to go write it.