For the past two years I have been trying to write a serious sci-fi style novel that is an epic coming of age story that follows four former students and their growth from wide eyed inexpierinced people into adults who have seen the horrors of war and how they respond. The first one is the eye openner full of street fighting, genocide and aerial warfare.
The second is mainly a love story set against the backdrop of the genocidal war against humanity as two of the characters try to balance their feelings for each other, the fighting, their careers and life in the modern age ultimatly finding each other in the darkness.
The third is a lot darker with revenge being the central theme and leads the last two surviving characters down a dark path that puts everything they stand for in the shadows and they become the very thing they have been fighting against and only the past can redeem them.
It sounds ok... problem is I'm don't think I'm competent enough to write it... I keep concentrating on the love story in book 2 and writing odds and sods but not being disciplined enough to sit down and write it from start to finish and properly develope the characters.
In a way they are all voices from the inside of my head, or parts of my psyche. Jonathon is the brash mouthy student know all that I used to be who becomes ground down by it all, Doolan is the voice of reason that tries to stop Jonathon getting into trouble all the time and tries to balance him, Charlotte is the idealist who finds that all she imagined life to be is not and Stace is the one who worked hard and found herself thrust into this world but sees people getting promoted above her. At times different ones sound louder and I find it easier to write their scenes but the love story between Jonathon and Charlotte comes as a sorta semi-autobiographical interplay between me and 'lotte as a base line but massivly blown out of context.
Although I often think that I over do the dialogue and wonder "Do people really talk like that."
I need to sit down seriously and concentrate on writing one at a time, maybe jotting notes down for the second and third but not writing huge chunks. I'm on leave for a week soon, maybe I should just grab the laptop and go nuts, write up my half written notes and try and develope the characters into their own living people rather than extensions of my own crumbling mind. They do stand alone quite well but they just need a touch more. The odd unrequited story between Doolan and Jonathon then seems to mirror itself with Jonathon and Charlotte in book two in a way. Differences need to be made etc
The other thing is it is a serious story and the world I inhabbit now a days does swerve towards the surreal sometimes and I want to write something that is just silly... Something I would find hilarious but ultimatly would anyone else? guess you've got to just give it a shot lol
For samples and further information.... You can ask me and I may send some out lol
