New story up at nolanwhyte.com. When I say new I mean old, because it's from July 2004, but it's new to you, right?
Busting my ass on the new (actually new) Riot Band Blues stuff. Did you know that professional wrestling is actually something I keep in mind when I write these things? I think of the shows like RAW and Nitro (remember Nitro?) when I do these things. It's how I craft cliffhangers. I wouldn't do it if I were just writing a straight-ahead novel, but this is a weekly thing, and I need a hook to bring back "the marks."
One thing, also wrestling related: when the 'net started to grow and gain popularity among the wrestling fan community, the bookers of the now-dead Nitro used to watch what people were saying on the message boards and would change what they had planned to do on the shows, in an attempt to "swerve" the audience and keep people from guessing what they had planned, even if it meant completely destroying a carefully set-up story angle.
I used to do that too! With Comeback Road and Guitargasm I would read the reader comments and try to avoid doing what people expected. I looked at it as trying to avoid doing the obvious. I wanted surprise after surprise. Did it help? Maybe. I guess it allowed me to avoid being too predictable.
Am I still doing it? Not really, no. I can't. In order to maintain a weekly schedule, I'm now writing quite far in advance (I'm working on chapter ten today), so if people guess what is going on, I can't change anything to "swerve" them.
Will that be good or bad for the story-telling? I'm not sure. I'm still unsure how people are responding to this story. I'm sure on one level they're just happy to see me doing something, but I hope everyone is patient while I develop the scenario.
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