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BLOCK 1

BUILDING A STORY IN BLOCKS USING

FLUID ANALYTICAL STORY STRUCTURE THEORY

AND FRACTAL AND FRACTURED NON-ORGANIZATION

FASST

 

I WAS GOING TO CALL IT

“FUN UNQUESTIONABLY CAN KINDLE INTERESTING TALES “

BUT THE ACRONYM

F.U.C.K. I.T. --JUST DID NOT SOUND RIGHT

 

 


BLOCK 2     AN IDEA is a seed to be planted, sowed,nurtured, reaped, and marketed.

 

  •  If you get an idea for a story or any interesting thought, don’t let it die! Write it down, or tape it  (planted it), same goes for a character, the overall plot and any subplots. Later you can add, subtract or change as the fluid thoughts in your mind dictate. HERE IS WHERE YOU PASTE YOUR WEB BASED RESEARCH THAT YOU COPIED AND NEED TO “un-plagiarize’ before using.

 

  • Why? ‘cause your memory sucks that’s why.

 

  • Bad grammar aint no problem, punctuation aint no problem, even improper usage is no problem, or made up incorrect words like “iregardless",  there is time to corrected later. GET THAT IDEA DOWN BRO!

 

    PROGRESSION

  • They are the source for your scenes which develop into chapters, then acts, and finally your story novel the book.

 


 BLOCK 3   DISCONNECTED THOUGHTS

 

    CHAOS IS GOOD !

  • An ass-backwards start can be ass-good, ass-anywhere in between for that mater. Don’t let anybody tell you different! Where it starts DOES NOT MATER. (nurture it)
  •  Why? It allows your subconscious, the process of your electrochemical brain to work as efficiently as it was designed to do. Overly structuring is over kill, it hampers imagination and creativity, and it inhibits and forces your brain to work like a one RAM laptop instead of a super computer. Fiction Writing IS first and foremost a creative process, leave the mechanics to the teachers and theorists. You my friend are an artist and a wordsmith… and don’t you forget it.
  •  Unleash the kraken, let the force be with you, let it fly , let it soar. Don’t set limits and restrictions.

  


BLOCK 4      I’LL MAKE IT FIT

  • What you wrote down can be retrofitted into any story by creating a character or characters placing them in a situation-- combined they make a scene.
    •  which may or may not feed the plot or even the sub plots
    •  but says something about the characters,
    • its funny (never ever underestimate funny!)
    • or provides interesting facts /information about the world and those in it…the “Hey that’s cool” factor, or the Ed McMahon  to Jonny Carson "Did not know that sir” effect.

 

BLOCK 5           FLUIDITY

         It isn’t mine so it must be urine

 

  • YOUR THOUGHTS ARE FLUID, THEY GIVE THE DIRECTIONS , NOT THE STRUCTURE, THIS  IS SECONDARY, DO NOT ALLOW STRUCTURE TO DICTATE
  • Every thought must be captured, use a mini tape player or a pad
  • Expand on it in your word processor
  • Fractured  incoherent thoughts ARE YOUR CREATIVE JUICES AT WORK don’t let them seep out

 

BLOCK 6

AMBIVALENCE IS UNCERTAINTY AND IT LEADS TO INDECISION WHICH IS A KILLER TO CREATIVITY – DO IT write everything down now, if it is not good now it will be. Don't be intimidated by the structure of writing and its mechanics --- Make your God your religion and not your religion your god. The story should be paramount, the way you express yourself and the vocabulary used are critical, while the mechanics are a necessary evil.

 

 

 

   

 BLOCK 7


Steps of Chaos 

NOTHING IS IN STONE


 

 “But before you start writing, you need to get organized”

  • NO YOU DON’T, YOU NEED IDEAS, LOTS OF THEM, AND YOU NEED TO WRITE THEM DOWN, REGARDLESS OF THE APPARENT DISORGANIZATION OR CHAOS.

            Are you writer or a mouse?

  • MAIN IDEA ---WRITE IT DOWN  see below for full blown plot example after revisions. All ideas were in original notes written when they came to mind, then I added more and more then the clean up at the end.
  • Yes, You need to re-group and summarize at intervals, when your creativity and imagination seems to wane you need to summarize the ideas.  Give your brain a rest by doing middles organization.

 

 

 

 BLOCK 8  PLOT

1. Write a preliminary summary of your novels main overall IDEA ( plot). See Example:

This is a story about the first, the largest, and most insidious financial crime of the Twenty First century. This is also a tale of a man unwittingly caught up in a major financial scandal of global proportions, and the many murders committed to hide its secrets. This is your preface.

 

2. Expand on it (In the process creating a preview ( and creating a sneaky self-serving review at the same time) this will be the  basis for a book proposal to promote your story to others)

Example:

This story is Wall Street meets Angles and Demons meets The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, written in a flippant discourteous and disrespectable manner, with disdain towards authoritative institutions. This novel depicts and renders, through the experiences of one man, the particulars of this compelling crime story. Although not at all dark, gloomy or disheartening as that great original novel; nonetheless, and in contrast, this sometimes darkly humorous, tongue-in-cheek, whimsical, ironic, even flippant novel, based on observations of real life cases, captures the essence of this current crisis.

Compelling? ---who the hell said that...you did, you cheekee monkey you.

 


 BLOCK 9           3. PRELIMINARY STORY PARTS

Write down major story events, conflict, or goals and objectives , major catastrophes (every bodies , heroes and villains aren’t the only ones with  goals too you know), or disasters and obstacles that eventually will be incorporated, in the storyline ( implies linear progression but it does not have to be a straight  line ). Example: The protagonist must investigate and learn facts about a major crime to solve it and to solve the various murders that have occurred. He is thwarted at every turn by his superiors who are hiding something that he must discover, to save the lives and the savings of many. The ending if you know it now write it, if not, a preliminary one will do. This may change or evolve as he story talks back at you. Structure the above into  a Prologue, Chapters and Epilogue. Chapters can be placed into several  categories or Acts.

 


BLOCK 10     4. PROPEL THE STORY

PLOT DRIVEN vs. CHARACTER DRIVEN

Some people favor character driven stories, and they can be, but characters  can easily be invented later to fit the plot , while a character driven story defines how he is going to act under given circumstances or scenarios , others favor plot driven, creating characters to fit.

 

 I favor both, it just depends which one I create first, and how do I want the character to react and the scenes to  unfold and ultimately end. Create the scenario and decide which already created characters and what traits of these characters do I need to propel the story and make the scene work.  Or create new  characters and insert him/her in the scene. Ass-backwards filling in the characters I need, it DOESN’T MATTER do both.

 


 BLOCK 11    SCENES AND ACTS

5. Create as many scenes or acts, chapters and sections in a logical manner as needed (does not mean sequential order) as you begin to tie in characters, their personal stories and sub plots into the main plot. List every scene and its conflict. Later expand to describe rising development towards a climax, and resolution on the down side.

 

6.. You need heroes, villains, sub-villains, idiots, love interests, SEMI VILLAINS AND SEMI HEROES OF VARIOUS DEGREES, and innocuous participants.

 

7. You need places and scenery, list them as you think.

 

 

 BLOCK 12    SIDE BAR

 

8. Sub plots or other circumstances events and situations within the main plot come in spurts and seem dislocated or are dislocated from the main plot, but you need them to explain the past , hopes for the future and current actions taking place at the same time the main plot moves forward. It s a device to propel or hold in suspense the main plot and to explain the characters, also used for  comic relief, sexual relief, ego stroking , telling your audience who is the best team and why its your team,  your views on politics motherhood, religion, and any other sort of mental masturbation you can think of. Hey its your book!

 

 

 


 BLOCK 13        PACE AND DIRECTION

 

9. Decide on the slope or degree of build up of suspense to the plot and subplots and where the crescendo or climax will be reached and where any revelations and epiphanies will be disclosed. A rising development culminates in climax and resolution or leaves it open ended for later resolution.

THINK SUSPENSE ,THRILLER, TERROR, SURPRISE, drop in ideas, clues , red hearings in  scenes, like  Hansel and Gretel bread crumbs, or bring’em up like a Jack in the box surprise.

Begin each scene with something that raises a question, catches the interest, or shows prelude to action forthcoming alludes to the unknown the foreboding, an omen, the portent of things to come. The middle of the scene is the place to build tension by showing the goal and introducing conflict, the tension is raised, because the reader doesn’t know the dilemma yet but senses the imminent change or danger that is coming. The end of the scene should build to a climax that will leave the POV (point of view character) in a dilemma. This dilemma creates the page-turner. This scene develops  dilemma and raises questions in the reader’s mind. These two things will make the reader anxious to see what happens next. This needs to happen over and over again through the rest of the novel, until the final resolution.

 

Applying a short story arc to each scene in a novel will strengthen the plot and character motivation, and build tension to the climax of the book.

Thinking of scenes as mini stories, each with a beginning, middle, and end helps writers to define the characters, plot, and subplot in a novel. A short story focuses on one plot element, and a scene should do the same thing. When scenes are written as mini stories, the plot and subplot become crystal clear for the reader, while increasing tension

 

 

 

 

Apply Story Arc to the Scene Structure

A story arc has three acts: the beginning, the middle, and the end. They can have many chapters and many scenes within. The beginning is where the characters and setting are introduced, along with their TRAITS see BLOCK 14 . The middle is where the events happen that lead to the major conflict or problem of the novel. The end is the resolution to that problem.

In a scene, an author doesn't need to introduce characters and setting every time but he may want to or have to. Those story elements are already developed. But the characters need to have goals that are important to  the plot and those goals should be  apparent in during the scene. This doesn't mean the goals must be explicitly stated each scene, just keep the characters true to what they want.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use Scenes to Build Waves of Conflict

Each scene will build upon the one that came before, but each will still maintain that mini story arc. As this continues through the book, the tension will rise until the novel reaches its dark point. It will be like riding a crest of a wave that builds in power until it reaches the shore. At the dark point, the water recedes. To the unaware person, it might appear that things are going to be fine. Until you, the author, bring all the force of those waves back to shore in a tsunami, the climax of the story.

The last scenes are the resolution, the cleanup after the tsunami. In the case of a multi-book series, some of the lesser conflicts should be left unresolved, to be picked up in the next novel.

Applying a story arc in this way makes each scene a compact unit that combines with the others to build a fascinating and riveting story.

 


 

 BLOCK 14     10. CHARACTER  DEVELOPMENT

  •  Character traits, what type, yes type cast here
  • The character's nature and name should match or be opposites for comedy
  • A summary of the character's storyline
  • The character's motivation (what drives him/her)
  • The character's goal (what does he/she want out of each situation)
  • The character's conflict (what prevents or interferes, delaying him/her from reaching this goal?)
  • The character's development (what will he/she learned, how will he/she change since beginning of story due to experiences?

 


BLOCK 15     Remember NOT IN STONE

11. ONGOING REVISIONS

  • Many small-scale logic problems to work out here

12. Keep growing the story. Ramble on to your hearts content

 

BLOCK 16     13. TIE IN –CUT AND PASTE

  • BEGIN CREATING CHAPTER TITLES they should provide the road map or skeleton to the intermediate objective of the subsequent narratives to follow below each chapter, they are guidelines that focus your writing on your goal  which is a cohesive story, see below :
    • Cut and paste ideas developed into scenes into chapters created for them or create chapters that will be used after new ideas are developed subsequently. There are no rules, no sequential progression to creativity, you can go back and forth.

 

BLOCK 17             14      FRR

Flesh out, Revise, Rewrite ideas/scenes within each chapter.

 

 

 ______________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

 

Example of chapters

CHAPTER INDEX

 

THE DEVIL’S AUDITOR

 

PREFACE

 

PROLOGUE

 

CHAPTER 1

THE MAN THE MYTH THE LEGEND

 

CHAPTER 2

THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE, HIS BEST

GIRL FRIDAY, KATY

 

CHAPTER 3

CASTILLO FOR HIRE, ♪A THREE-HOUR

TOUR, A THREE-HOUR TOUR ♪

 

CHAPTER 4

I-AM-THE-LAW

 

CHAPTER 5

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

 

CHAPTER 6

♪ STIR IT UP LITTLE DARLING ♪

Or I never met a hand I didn’t bite

 

CHAPTER 7

THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

 

CHAPTER 8

EVERY “BODY” HAS A COUSIN

IN-MIAMI

CHAPTER 9

MURDER SO VILE

 

CHAPTER 10

OTHELLO THE BLACK QUINCY

 

CHAPTER 11

FUGU –MERCURY IS THE LEAST

OF YOUR PROBLEMS

 

CHAPTER 12

THE FIRM’S PARTNERS--“DOWE,

CHEATEM AND HOW”

 

CHAPTER 13

THE PARTNER– BP,

THE BRITISH PRICK

 

CHAPTER 14

MR. HOWELL’S LITTLE BOY, THE

LITTLE ELITIST SHIT

 

CHAPTER 15

LEAD-ON

 

CHAPTER 16

PETIT MADAME DU POI

 

CHAPTER 17

THE BODIES OF EVIDENCE WERE

MOUNTING…. EEK! , IS IT SAFE?

 

CHAPTER 18

A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE

HEART OR WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU,

WILL DEFINITELY EAT YOU…ALIVE


 

CHAPTER 19

WHO WAS IT THAT WHO DONE IT

 

CHAPTER 20

♪ OH TAHLEQUAH, OH TAHLEQUAH,

Sung to the tune of Oh Canada

 

CHAPTER 21

YOU SAY ZOMBIE I SAY DRUG

INDUCED SEMI CATATONIC STUPOR

 

CHAPTER 22

THE QUEEN OF POLITICAL

CORRECTNESS

 

CHAPTER 23

AN EPIPHANY- NEITHER A MEDICAL

PROCEDURE NOR A GREEK PASTRY

 

CHAPTER 24

THE AMERICAN DREAM,

TO HAVE FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES

 

CHAPTER 25

LA MONA, MONKEY-GIRL

 

CHAPTER 26

AWAKEN THE KRAKEN

 

CHAPTER 27

THE LEVELING OF JUSTICE

 

CHAPTER 28

EARMARKED FOR TOO CLOSE

A SHAVE– I’M READY FOR MY

CLOSE UP MR. GILLETTE


 

 

CHAPTER 29

COCO-AND-THE-KID

 

CHAPTER 30

THE KEEPER OF THE GATES TO

THE TOWER OF BABEL

 

CHAPTER 31

THE LUCKY LEPRECHAUN

 

CHAPTER 32

FLY ME TO THE MOON, IN EVER

SO LIGHT GOSSAMER LOAFERS ♫

 

CHAPTER 33

SOMETHING DID NOT SMELL RIGHT

A NOSE FOR TROUBLE

 

CHAPTER 34

WHAT’S A META FOR?

 

CHAPTER 35

OUR-MAN-IN-RIO

 

CHAPTER 36

THREE ON A MATCH ONE ON

A-LIGHTER

 

CHAPTER 37

CIRCLE THE WAGONS

 

CHAPTER 38

ATANAS, THE DEVIL INCARNATE


 

CHAPTER 39

♫  DIAMONDS ARE A GIRL’S AND

A GUY’S BEST FRIEND

 

CHAPTER 40

DEAF, DUMB, AND BLIND JUSTICE

 

CHAPTER 41

IN A CLEARING STANDS LIES

A BOXER

 

CHAPTER 42

HE WHO LIVES BY THE POISON

 

CHAPTER 43

THE REVELATION, ♪ ITS

RETRIBUTION TIME ITS

RETRIBUTION TIME ♪

 

CHAPTER 44

JUSTICE DELAYED, JUSTICE

ACCELERATED OR NO

JUSTICE-AT ALL

 

CHAPTER 45

CARRIED OFF TO JAIL,

DO NOT PASS GO

 

EPILOGUE


  •  Each Chapter Title provides a guide to what will be covered in that title without giving away any surprises_________________________________________________________________________________

FULL BLOWN PLOT

This book is predominantly a murder/mystery, however, if you saw WALL STREET–MONEY NEVER SLEEPS, this novel will answer questions raised but never answered. This novel will go behind the scenes to explore, not only the issues of what caused the meltdown, but also critical things that are hardly mentioned; mainly the inactions by the watchdogs and the systemic faults in the vetting process used to provide assurances to the public. This story explores the schemes devised to hide the fraud, and depicts the unsolved murders committed to hide it.

 

This is a story about the first, the largest, and most insidious financial crime of the Twenty First century. This is also a tale of a man unwittingly caught up in a major financial scandal of global proportions, and the many murders committed to hide its secrets.

 

Much like Upton Sinclair’s "The Jungle," a novel that captured the realities and exposed the abuses and crimes in the Chicago meatpacking industry; this novel similarly captures, through this fictional expose, the realities, and exposes the abuses and crimes of the financial mortgage industry.

 

This novel depicts and renders, through the experiences of one man, the particulars of this compelling crime story. Although not at all dark, gloomy or disheartening as that great original novel; nonetheless, and in contrast, this sometimes darkly humorous, tongue-in-cheek, whimsical, ironic, even flippant novel, based on observations of real life cases, captures the essence of this current crisis.

 

This fraud has caused the largest illegal transfer of funds in U.S. history, by taking money from the pockets of the average American, and transferring it into the pockets of the wealthiest bankers and security brokers in this country. Not since the great depression has there been such pervasive and deep loss in asset value. This is the most sinister fraud to have ever been perpetrated on the American public, and a crime, which has permeated all aspects of our economy, one that continues to affect us all.  

 

Although primarily designed as a murder/mystery to entertain and not preach, it also illuminates and educates. This story focuses and exposes the absurdity of the cynical, hypocritical, and ineffective aspects of the vetting process established in this country, which is utilized to substantiate the suitability and quality of investments offered to the American public. This state sanctioned process operates under an indefensible self-serving structure that ultimately is used to influence the financial decisions of the unsuspecting investing public.

 

 

PLOT

 

A lone man; an internal auditor, discovers the massive fraud during a routine review. His relentless inquiries and persistent questioning ultimately lead him to unearth mysterious and unresolved murders; some committed to hide the original crimes of fraud, others of a more personal nature, involving the oldest of motives--revenge, while still others are attributable to the unexplained insane compulsions of a serial killer.

 

Hired for a simple project; requiring a mere three-week audit of the Chandler bank’s internal controls over mortgage securities and foreclosures. Little did Castillo suspect that a routine review, described to him as “Needing only your rubber-stamping of the process,” would result in the exposure of a major worldwide financial scandal. This was to be an investigation, which would disclose billions of dollars in fraudulent financial transactions, dirty dealings, and insalubrious financial business relationships, fraught with a multitude of conflicting interests. 

 

 Sub plots

While unraveling the myriad of layers in cover-up schemes, and untangling a “Can-of-worms" in illicit transactions used to conceal the fraud; Castillo discovers that these schemes were not only used to conceal the fraud, but were also used to conceal mysterious murders. These crimes would ultimately implicate members of an elite group of unscrupulous men at the highest echelons of international financial power. This would be a case of intrigue, suspense, scandal and investigations of yet unresolved crimes of murder, that would challenge Castillo’s skills; not only those of his chosen profession, but also those of his avocation… solving mysteries.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

  

 BLOCK 18  CHARACTER  DEVELOPMENT  STRUCTURAL TRAITS

 

            IS IN MY NATURE SAID THE SCORPION TO THE FROG

 

  • A  summary of the character's storyline
  • Character traits, what type, yes type cast here
  • The character's name to go with his nature or the opposite for fun
  • The character's motivation (what does he/she want abstractly?)
  • The character's goal (what does he/she want concretely?)
  • The character's conflict (what prevents him/her from reaching this goal

THINK WHO WHEN WHERE WHY WHAT HOW

 

 

THE SIMPLE HERO

 

 

 

a) ) HISTORY

what’s his story-- his experience in life

b) PHYSICAL -looks                                   

c) EMOTIONAL   how he feels                       

d MIND SET how he thinks his goals

e) RELATIONSHIPS-Who to  and how

 does he

f )  MOTIVATION-  what drives  him relate  

 


He  can be simple or complex, a star graph of a characters traits can become a fractal with many sub-traits the combination of inter-actions can be extensive, or just two individuals, see red fractal depiction of three complex characters in one interchange or scene (the red multi pointed graph )

 

 

FOR A COMPLEX CHARACTER

Flesh-out in specific detail as many characteristic traits as you can think are applicable and pertinent to the story

Attitude

Goals

Conflicts

 

 

 

PROGRESSION OF SIMPLE TO COMPLEX “FRACTAL ”CHARACTER

 

 

 

 

 


3 COMPLEX  CHARACTERS

INTERACTIONS SUPERIMPOSED TO FORM A SCENE TO A SUB-PLOT OR THE MAIN PLOT

 

 


 

 BLOCK 19  PLOT AND SUPERIMPOSED SUBPLOTS WITHIN

Scene Analysis Defines Goal, Conflict, and Dilemma

Begin each scene with something that raises a question, catches the interest, or shows prelude to action forthcoming alludes to the unknown the foreboding. Scenes are part of the subplots that propel the plot. Every scene should advance the story plot and let the readers get to know the characters better. It should have a goal, a conflict, and a dilemma. Opening each scene with a hook and ending each scene with a dilemma will keep the reader hanging onto each page, anxious to find out what happens next. This is what successful novel writers do.

 

 


 BLOCK 20     

Plot story graph line of  5 interactive scenes with 3 characters showing rising suspense conflict/ climax and resolution and subplots within main plot

You should have written something for every circle and every fractal

  1. one Main Plot
  2. ten sub plots
  3. three character descriptions unless there are different characters in every scene the you need as many as there are characters.

 

 

                                                                                                      

SCENE DEVELOPMENT

Ideas and thoughts you developed as to charter traits and their interactions or action of one (his thoughts during in a soliloquy) form a scene. One or more scenes per chapter, one or more chapters, an act, one or more acts a book. All drive one or more subplots and the main plot, all have inherent conflicts, rising suspense, reaching a climax, with a downwards resolution later. . The scenes are like the blocks of a house. One builds on another until the entire house has been erected.

Each scene must advance the plot. A scene analysis should ask the question:

•        Does the scene advance/propel  the plot and deepen understanding and begs for more action to ensue and un-rabble the mystery, like pealing the layers of an onion or  a “petimento” removing old layers of paint to disclose the original panting below

 

 

SEE BELOW FOR COMPLEX VILLAIN DESCRIPTION:

 

THE PARTNER– BP, THE BRITISH PRICK

Lanky and tall, with angular creepy facial features, he had a long bulbous nose, more of a proboscis than a nose. He had a skinny long neck with defined sinewy neck tendons and a protruding boxy Adam’s apple that seem to bob in his neck. He looked like an aging Ichabod Crane, the schoolteacher in the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. He had a weak chin to complement his similarly weak character. His skin was sallow, pale, clammy, and bumpy as a prickly pear. His fingers were long, bony, and wiry. His gangling frame and gawky manner caused him to ambulate with the ungainly awkward gate of an aging giraffe. His yellow, crooked, chipped, and cavity riddled teeth where what one would expect from the British socialized dentistry system.

 

His chain smoking had aged him beyond his actual years, leaving deep-seated wrinkles in his face, as though he had been overly exposed to the Florida sun. His arched eyebrows, made him look like a demon, had he had a goatee and horns he could win the Halloween prize for best devil at any party. He wore round wired rim glasses over his beady little eyes. His bespectacled face gave the appearance of a mad-scientist. He had huge ears, the kind seen on old farmers; he looked more like an old wino or bum than a senior partner. He reeked of stale cigarettes and alcohol. The whisky bottle, which he kept in a file drawer, was no secret. He once made a big stink at the airport because they would not allow him to bring his half-open bottle onboard. He grew up in a working neighborhood of Liverpool. All his life he tried to distance himself from whence he came. He worked hard at developing a patrician bearing to no avail, and although he wore the most expensive designer suits he could buy, they did little to enhance his appearance and nothing to improve his manners, proving once again that “You just can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.”

 

He was one of those limey snobs who believed, while looking down his nose, that any other life style was as he put it “going native” and beneath him. He was vain, insecure, ambitious, and overly anxious for recognition. The only reason he was hired and made partner was that he was married to one of the partner’s daughters. She was the daughter of Rhodri Howell the third. Howell had traced his ancestry to Rhodri the great king of Wales. He in turn, was one of those misguided American anglophiles that is easily impressed by any British accent, the type that tends to confuse, and still believes that if you speak with a British accent, any one of them, you’re more intelligent and sophisticated than the rest.

Ed always thought that if you got a dull documentary, slapped a famous British voice to it ….Voila! You’d have a hit.

 

He had an effeminate manner about him; his mannerisms were those of an aging bitchy queen, even his name was somewhat like the British version of a “Boy named Sue.” Ed always seemed to forget his name, a mental block of some kind. He remembered it by thinking it was one of those slightly ambiguous androgynous English names or by using a mnemonic devise and associating it with something else … was it Lauren, Leslie, Marion, Nigel… sounded like vanilla, that’s it; it would always come to him…Neville. He had a cold and sneaky personality, if anyone could be qualified as reptilian in looks and nature, Neville was it. He thought of himself as being clever, in reality he was more cunning and furtive than clever, his favorite ploy was that of omission—“the sin of the coward.” He favored omitting critical facts to confuse and achieve his goals. He tried to give the perception of confidence and self-assurance; he accomplished this, mainly, by not speaking and acting as if he understood everything and knew everything. Ed however could notice that he was uneasy, guarding, or hiding something from his past, a deep dark secret no doubt. His outward persona and composure would scream out “I’m rich, powerful and in control” and a “Don’t you even think of crossing me” attitude. However, to Ed, Neville’s manner and demeanor would only remind him of the man in that poem, Richard Cory, a fake, and a fraud, who outwardly exuded confidence and success while inwardly he was nothing but a fearful coward, an imposter, who eventually blew his brains out.

 

In British culture the backhanded compliment is considered to be a genteel or polite way of expressing disdain; Neville had elevated it to an art form. His insecurity led to a defensive attitude that he would always turn into passive aggression. He was the type of insecure man that when  introduced to a subordinate would  immediately make a subtle, indiscernible, almost covert, derogatory comment, one purposely designed to belittle, condescend and cut the individuals confidence; it was always made sufficiently ambiguous and evasive enough  so as not to make it obvious to, or defendable by the recipient. Although intended to be furtive and imperceptible, thereby fooling the listener, Neville really didn’t care if it did or not, as long as the slight and the insult was delivered. This was his “shot across the bow,” delineating the piss line of his authority. Neville had the means; inherent in his very being, you would also find in him the acrimony and the inclination to ruin careers--as he often did. He was an abuser who reveled in his hubris, “the pride that blinds,” experiencing great pleasure and gratification from the shaming and humiliating of his victims. He would have made a perfect literary critic, publisher, editor or agent… (If he had decided not to sign-you-up as a client) in contrast, if you wielded great power, and exerted authority, he would kiss your ass from here to eternity. The vagaries of his actions, attitude, and demeanor, fluctuated wildly, and were totally dependent on whether you could further his ambitions. 

 

His position of power at the firm and his extreme arrogance blinded him, and caused him to overestimate his competence and capabilities. He knew little about, or paid attention to, the old admonition that “Pride goes before the fall.”

 

Neville had a deep, pervasive, and enduring hatred of any lifestyle different from his own, he was particularly enraged by the Latin culture of Miami; why he chose to live there was a mystery. He was often away from his office in Miami, defending his absenteeism on the grounds that the climate in South Florida was not apposite to his “English constitution.”

 

He was socially inept, aloof and removed from his family, friends, and his staff; every cell in his head and in his whole being devoted to making money. His most enduring trait was that of independent, individualistic, selfish greed.

Neville would complain that his height had prevented him from having a career as an RAF pilot; he claimed that he was disqualified because he could not fit in the cockpit… So he said. Ed thought that there’s got to be more to it than that; Ed questioned his judgment, his imagination, his guts, and his loyalty, hell! He questioned everything about the man that constituted and made up what one would consider attributes of an honorable man. Ed thought for sure the RAF did too...Neville was well qualified for his role in life, and his profession fit him well. He bragged how he had been a big dog in the company British Petroleum; everyone started calling him BP behind his back--short for British Prick.

 

Ed would say,” You know, in this world; I can think of only two men I personally met that I can say were truly evil, and that was El Che and Castro. However, I have met an awful lot of little prick weasels in this world; too many in fact, Neville was one of these. This is a guy that would as soon betray you and throw you to the wolves as easily as blowing his nose and discarding a tissue. (Ann Frank would have survived only minutes on the streets of Amsterdam, had Neville been her neighbor). He was the antithesis of the swashbuckling English hero, no Earl Flynn, no David Niven, nor James Bond type here.

______________________

 

BLOCK 21 PLAGIARIZE OR HOMMAGE  THAT IS THE (LEGAL) QUESTION

I call it Un-plagiarize when you use the idea and either use the opposite or write it so it is unrecognizable , but not just cut and paste the writing, that would be intellectually dishonest, and illegal.

There is a fine line and the skilful plagiarist can turn a mundane prior example of writing into a work of art , Shakespeare for one was  a noted and skillful plagiarist.

 

Use the idea but not the same words is my advise. You cannot copyright an Ideas . 

 

SUMMARY STEPS

Write down your idea for a story

Write down any and all thoughts

Define plot and subplots retrofit ideas into plot and subplots

Develop characters that use your ideas to create scenes

Drive the plot-Develop scenes with the characters or create new characters to fit the scene

Capture research from internet and your notes unto a word document don’t be afraid to borrow ides. But don’t plagiarize .

List chapter titles cut and past relevant ideas now developed into scenes into appropriate chapters

FRR Flesh out, revise, rewrite

Logic Edit

Proof read

Edit for mechanics

Test flight logic, progression read and have one else read it for logic

FRR

 

The use of a professional editor is recommended, at a minimum someone with strong editing skills

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