Novelty Items

I've been writing a novel. Okay, that's sort of a lie. I say sort of a lie because I'm not actually at the writing stage. I'm still in the research/plotting phase. I've spent a lot of my life planning to write a novel, and even starting more than once, but I'm never organized enough or really get very far. In general, i'm not a very organized person and I never quite get past A to B and C.

The story(ies) will take place in downtown Kansas City in 1933, so one of the last phases of research/plotting will involve spending a day or two down in the heart of KC, walking the routes that my characters would walk and such.

After that, I'm going to have to sit down and actually do a pretty detailed outline. One, for my own benefit (I often get discouraged and stop writing when I come to a point where i'm not sure where to go next), and two because the style will require planning in order to pull off correctly.

Well, I say a novel, but that's sort of lying, too. Because i'm actually writing three overlapping novellas, each a unique plot and genre. Each of the 3 stories will overlap in characters, settings, and events. Theoretically, each story could stand on it's own, but when read together, they will provide depth to the overall experience. For example, one of the stories will be told from the 1st person persective of the character and in his story, his name will not be revealed (a la Dashiell Hammett's Continental Op). However, when he appears (as a secondary character) in the other two stories, he will be referred to by name. Also, the third story will be told in the form of a memoir and will present one scene in a much different (more favorable, less acurate) manner than the same scene told in one of the other two (impartial) stories.

Anyways, i'm just rambling. We'll see how it goes. Maybe more later. I"m almost done with work and I've gotta log off!