Changing Plot Lines?
I had my original vision for Rich People's Problems. I had had a dream, and I woke up with this idea.
And then as I was writing, things morphed, as they usually do.
But in this case, the morphing seems to have changed the original premise of the book.
The problem stems from the relationship between Anna and Andrew. As teenagers, they'd been attracted to each other. Bad things happened. They fell apart.
20 years later, Anna - who has been living a quiet life in NYC - is outed as a famous author and philanthropist. Her quiet life implodes. And she retreats to CO, where she grew up.
All good.
In the original outline, Anna goes to CO not only to get away from the craziness that has become her life in NYC, but also because Andrew has been famous his whole life. She wants to learn from him how to cope. Andrew grew up rich; he's always been in the public eye because of that. Though he lives on a ranch outside of Denver, his family often socializes in Denver. When Andrew was engaged in his 20s, it made all the papers. Then, after breaking off that engagement, he'd spent some time in Hollywood as a stuntman originally and then a small-time star. The papers loved his story, and he'd been on the cover of many magazines. Till it all became too much. And he left to go back to CO, to a quieter life again.
All good.
But in the morphed outline, Anna goes to CO and the ranch. But because of the thing that happened when they were teenagers, she doesn't want to see Andrew. In fact, she only goes to the ranch because he and his family aren't there. She goes to see Cecelia, her second mother, to be comforted - Anna's own mother is more practical than maternal.
Then the papers, who have been following Anna, find out about her being on the ranch, about her teenage passion with Andrew, about the rumors of her mother and the ranch owner - Andrew's father - having been a thing. And things just go from bad to worse.
Making these even harder is Anna's biological father - who never wanted much to do with Anna or her mother, but now does because she's rich. And he comes to the ranch, and he keeps the story alive, even while Anna, her mother Jennifer, Andrew, and his father Mitchell, are all trying to either let the story die or tell the truth.
The problem with all this animosity is that it's taking away from the original storyline of Anna going to see Andrew to learn how to be in the public eye. Maybe that's okay? I haven't quite figured it out yet.
And then as I was writing, things morphed, as they usually do.
But in this case, the morphing seems to have changed the original premise of the book.
The problem stems from the relationship between Anna and Andrew. As teenagers, they'd been attracted to each other. Bad things happened. They fell apart.
20 years later, Anna - who has been living a quiet life in NYC - is outed as a famous author and philanthropist. Her quiet life implodes. And she retreats to CO, where she grew up.
All good.
In the original outline, Anna goes to CO not only to get away from the craziness that has become her life in NYC, but also because Andrew has been famous his whole life. She wants to learn from him how to cope. Andrew grew up rich; he's always been in the public eye because of that. Though he lives on a ranch outside of Denver, his family often socializes in Denver. When Andrew was engaged in his 20s, it made all the papers. Then, after breaking off that engagement, he'd spent some time in Hollywood as a stuntman originally and then a small-time star. The papers loved his story, and he'd been on the cover of many magazines. Till it all became too much. And he left to go back to CO, to a quieter life again.
All good.
But in the morphed outline, Anna goes to CO and the ranch. But because of the thing that happened when they were teenagers, she doesn't want to see Andrew. In fact, she only goes to the ranch because he and his family aren't there. She goes to see Cecelia, her second mother, to be comforted - Anna's own mother is more practical than maternal.
Then the papers, who have been following Anna, find out about her being on the ranch, about her teenage passion with Andrew, about the rumors of her mother and the ranch owner - Andrew's father - having been a thing. And things just go from bad to worse.
Making these even harder is Anna's biological father - who never wanted much to do with Anna or her mother, but now does because she's rich. And he comes to the ranch, and he keeps the story alive, even while Anna, her mother Jennifer, Andrew, and his father Mitchell, are all trying to either let the story die or tell the truth.
The problem with all this animosity is that it's taking away from the original storyline of Anna going to see Andrew to learn how to be in the public eye. Maybe that's okay? I haven't quite figured it out yet.
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