Monday, March 31, 2014

Going Long or Going Ballsy?

Restraining myself completely from talk of baseball will be hard in this post, but I will give it my level best.

*shakes head mournfully*

The things I am willing to do for my blog followers really defy words sometimes…

Yeah, I couldn’t keep a straight face through that either. Moving on.

So, I’ve got this storyline. Dandy little thing, chocked full of drama, suspense, a little bit of laughter and a whole lot of love.  Better yet, it’s based on a true story, one never told before.

It’s the tale of six Scots-Irish brothers fighting for America in the War of Independence.

Yeah, that storyline. The one I’ve been harping on for the last week. (I’d appreciate all moans and groans being kept to a bare minimum during the duration of this post. Thank you. Have a nice blog. *smirks*)

Well, the time has come to take this storyline to the next level.

Bare bones need flesh, a heart and a soul for life to be had… Sounds kind of Frankenstein-ish, doesn’t it?

Anyhow, time to make some decisions.

Up first: genre.

I could “easily” (relative term) turn it into a romance (m/f). Adding wives, girlfriends and lovers would stretch the story into a saga requiring at least 60-80K words. Not what I’m looking to do right now. I’m aiming at a short story or novella. Something short and powerful is how I’d like to go.

Keeping it strictly an historical drama meant for audiences drawn to movies like “Gangs of New York” or “There Will Be Blood” seems like the way to keep the authentic-feel to the story. I think that’s very important when you are writing about a cultural tragedy like a war. You don’t want to minimize that very real angst.

However…

Where do you sell a story like that? I’m sure there’s a market for it somewhere but where do I find it? Would I have to borrow my dad’s metal detector thingie to hound it out? And if I do find the marketplace will it be so crowded with experienced historical fiction writers that I won’t be able to find a single toe-hold?

So the question comes down to… Am I going long or going ballsy?

I don’t know.

I’ll keep you updated.

Until tomorrow…

Chloe

No comments:

Post a Comment