2/27/11

a writer's coup


20 pages. What a horrifically awkward length for a story. It's too long for the story to center around a specific incident, and it's too short to develop a character over any significant amount of time. At four pages of mostly back story, I am already beginning to panic that I'll run out of space.

Jo, my wonderful protagonist, has been through hell and is coming back. She has been married, divorced, pregnant, beaten and uprooted, and she's only 28. She has a four-year old daughter and a best friend named Steve and a couple of extremely supportive parents who all want the best for her. And all she wants is to feel normal. She works now, as a teacher, having finally gotten a degree and her certification. She still lives at home, but until she can get a good, safe house for her and her daughter, she feels she should just stay at home with her parents, who certainly don't mind, coz they're awesome... like my parents :)

She wants to get back into the dating world, but she doesn't really know why beyond she thinks she's supposed to. She wants to find a healthy relationship to provide a kind of father figure for her child, but she's also lonely and longing for that brand of love.

I want her to discover herself through dating. Like, I think I want the outcome of the story to be that she's actually just fine on her own, and if love happens, wonderful, but it's not something she's going to search for.

I want it to be quirky and humorous. I want there to be several dates, several men, and several mishaps, like her daughter, Annie, accidentally walking in on her mother and a guy or something like that. I also want to include a sub-plot that Steve, her best friend, is the one giving her the most dating advice, yet he is completely buried in the closet and is too scared to come out.

Now tell me: how in the hell is that going to fit properly and comfortably in 20 pages?

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