A bit of a snag had developed in the rewriting of outline for the pulpy adventure spec. A certain aspect of the story had proven to be too simple, as in “not complicated enough” or “lame half-assed, last-second placeholder”.

It was also falling short in terms of overall pulpy-ness.

Seeing as how this is supposed to be a rousing tale sprinkled with elements of mystery and intrigue, it just wasn’t happening.

I won’t totally jettison a story, but rather see what changes, small or drastic, can be implemented in order to get things back on track.

I don’t know how it is for other writers, but sometimes I’ll go over a previous draft, hit a word or phrase that originally didn’t hold much significance, and all of a sudden it triggers a whole new realm of possibilities. Call it the “How did I not see that before?” syndrome.

In this case, it was a character’s name. This set off the auto-immediate response of “Hmm. What if…?”

Cue the heavenly chorus.

Suffice to say, now it’s back for yet another take on the draft, but this time going into it armed with a whole new batch of ideas.

-Time for a couple of book plugs!

Friend of the blog Justin Sloan has a new book coming out this weekend – Military Veterans in Creative Careers: Interviews with our Nation’s Heroes. Some great stuff in there, including quality interviews with men and women who’ve served in the armed forces and are now working in creative fields.

If you’re looking for a little guidance on your journey to becoming a working writer, then take a look at Notes to Screenwriters by Vicki Peterson and Barbara Nicolosi, who also run the Catharsis script consulting service.