Welcome.  Take a seat in any pew.  Ready?  Good.  Now pay attention, this is where I get serious about all this stuff.

Let's start with the first of my long stories, shall we?

This story was intended to be a history of a love affair, leading up to the present "situation", which was to be the discovery of an affair. The history, however, turned out to be the story. Somewhere along the line, everything changed.

I know, I know, as the author I’m supposed to be the one in charge, pointing characters this way and that, telling them what to say and what to do. But I discovered what all of you other writers already knew:

You conceive them, you nurture them, you teach them stuff, you help them grow, and they just go off and fucking IGNORE you. All of a sudden they know everything, you are stupider than a box of rocks, and they’re embarrassed to even be seen in your company. It’s a parenting microcosm.

At a particular low point in my telling of the tale, I lamented to my colleague Empath (and thanks for your support, my friend, it was very much appreciated) about how this could happen. The conversation went something like this:

RCM: I'm about 3/4 of the way through a long story (60+ pages so far on MS Word) about Ray and Melissa, a high school "perfect couple". Something happens (oh, okay, at a campout that Melissa isn't at, Ray rescues one of the high-school sluts named Micki from a couple of would-be rapists) that causes Melissa to break off their relationship. I began the story thinking that all would end well for our happy couple, but the more I'm writing, the more I have found that I really LIKE Micki, maybe more than I like Melissa. Something about a tragically flawed character, or some such other literary type bullshit. Anyway, the situation has created a couple of problems: first, I don't know WHERE the hell this story is going anymore, and, second, when did these characters start acting on their own, without even consulting me?? When exactly did I lose control?

EMPATH: Okay, problem a) (you not knowing what's going to happen anymore) is regrettable but also something to be enjoyed - you'll get to experience the story turns and twists like a reader and be almost entertained as greatly (*I* get MORE fun, IMO:) So there's not much you can do, except to sit down and think out the rest of this story WITHOUT writing anything down - if you develop it *as*you*write* what you write will influence what you decide to do, and this puppy gets to evolve out of your grasp again. As I said, you might not even *want* to wrestle control back...

problem 2) your characters grew out of your grasp when you began to give them enough detail to act like genuine human beings, warts and all. In this case, you've given Melissa enough depth to jump to the wrong conclusion (unless Ray *slept* with Micki - the CAD!;) But then, even that has to be filtered by the circumstances - did Micki essentially 'rape' Ray? What exactly has been explicitly stated by the couple about their relationship, etc.

And of course, all this proves my point: the more depth you give your characters, the less 'control' you will have on their actions. If you get to the stage of saying to yourself "Dang, I can't do that - she'd never allow that to happen, what WOULD she do?" welcome to the 'parenthood' club for writers - you just created a 'virtual human being'!:) (I think the best - in this respect - writers undergo a temporary 'multiple personality disorder' as they actually devote part of their consciousness to 'thinking like <character name> to make them *truly* real...frightening concept isn't it?

RCM: …so I have ordered a time-out for Ray, Melissa and Micki. I've sent them to their respective corners, and have asked them to reflect on their behavior so far. They are each then to write a 100-word essay on "Why I've Done What I've Done" before I will let them carry on with their lives.

That oughta teach 'em.

So, as you can see, I finally had to be a good parent, and let the children learn from their mistakes. The story is radically different than I first thought it would be, but, like a proud parent, I am quite happy with the end result.

I hope you find Ray, Melissa and Micki to be as interesting as I do.

RCM

I really love writing this story. I was talking to my brother Jerry just the other day.

"Beav," I said, "how would you like be Sean Porter?"

"What do you mean? You based him on my teenaged years!" he claimed.

Well, he’s always been a bit of a pain in the ass, and he learned all about lying from hanging around me and Eddy Haskell too much, but I’ll tell you this: I wish I had lived the life that Sean is living, and I don’t mind admitting it. So, instead, I’m living vicariously through him.

By the way: I am also hosting my stories on Stories Online, where Book One of Playing the Game has been voted as one of the top stories on the site.  Thank you, Lazeez!

RCM

Playing the Game II: Playing to Win

Hoo, boy, this one took a long time to get a good start.  Once I finally got going, however, it just flowed out.

My original intent, once I was about 10 or 12 chapters in, was to conclude Sean's story with Book 2.  If you have read it, you know by now that stuff changes, and I am now working on Book 3.

The two books together represent the better part of two straight years of planning, writing, editing, rewriting, and posting.  I trust it's all been worthwhile.  According to the readers at Stories Online, it apparently has met with approval.  As of this writing, Playing the Game II: Playing to Win was on the Top Twenty list, with a 9.65 out of 10 aggregate score.

RCM

The Years Like Pearls on Velvet

Did you like it?  Were you moved by it?  Or did it disturb you?  Maybe, if I was truly successful, all of the above?

I really wanted to give the two characters names such as Heather and Austin, or perhaps Madison and Devon.  I wanted to give readers a little bit of a jolt when they realized that, someday, these names we are currently giving to our young 'uns would someday be associated with old farts, just as, today, we consider Harold and Mary Lou to be old-fashioned names.  But the story progressed beyond that little trick, so perhaps I will save it for a future story.

RCM