mary-masked

Breaking Through the Block

Published: January 25th 2018, 3:59:59 pm

Reading Catherynne Valente's patreon feed has really helped my writing, which isn't a huge surprise because she's an amazing writer. One of her posts was about writer's block and one of the tricks she's used to break through it is just to write something weird. Something you didn't plan, something that breaks the rules of your book. Whatever that thing is, it's new, it's interesting, it brings up some interesting questions about how your characters would react to the unexpected, and also questions about what's going on in your head. You may not end up keeping that thing, but it might shake something loose and get you interested in your book again. Or at least distract you from hating yourself for a while.

So I wrote this montage to Superfreak. It breaks a bunch of rules I set for myself on this project but I like it.

MONTAGE-VARIOUS

A) School yard in Hawaii. Young Constance stands 5ft 9, in a sea of 5ft 2 asian girls.

LOVELLE

(Voiceover)

My mom grew up in Hawaii, which is kind of a weird place to grow up if you're tall. And white. And you live in the middle of nowhere, with a dad who is hecka crazy.

B) Camera pans across an empty stretch of Hawaiian farmlands/rainforest. Int: Young Constance's house. She walks past a pile of clothes near an open closet. She looks inside the closet to see her father chain smoking, in his underwear, painting an elaborate landscape on the inside of the closet.

YOUNG CONSTANCE:

Daddy, what are you doing?

CONSTANCE'S FATHER:

What's it look like I'm doing.

Constance doesn't know how to answer.

LOVELLE:

(Voiceover)

Her dad blamed himself for my mom getting polio, so he didn't yell at her as much as her sisters. Which had some unfortunate side effects.

C) Constance's sister drags her across the room by her hair.

LOVELLE:

(Voiceover)

So she mostly just hung out with her brothers.

D) Constance and her brothers read comic books while sitting in a tree.

LOVELLE:

(Voiceover)

Or with the neighboring horses

E) Constance rides a slow walking horse, while reading We Have Always Lived In The Castle.

LOVELLE:

(Voiceover)

Clothes in Hawaii didn't really fit my mom.

F) Constance trying on bell bottom jeans that come to her mid calf.

LOVELLE:

(Voiceover)

So my mom just started making her own.

G) Constance in well fitting Hawaiian print bell bottoms.

LOVELLE

(Voiceover)

The clothes she made were weird enough that she started making costumes.

H) Constance backstage, putting the finishing touches on actors in costume.

LOVELLE

(Voiceover)

Then she went to San Francisco for grad school.

I) Constance backstage, helping drag queens get dressed.

LOVELLE

(Voiceover)

That's where she met my dad and they fell in love

J) Constance smiles at Martin. He is wearing stage manger blacks, surrounded by colorful drag queens. One leaves a glitter kiss mark on Martin's cheek. He smiles and waves at Constance.

LOVELLE

(Voiceover)

So when my dad said he liked wearing women's clothes sometimes, she didn't think it was that weird. After all that, would you?