Zombies and the Dead Head

Crazy Cat – Outside is for Dogs The Bone Carver

Zombies and the Dead Head

Last night I was not yet ready for sleep, but I didn’t feel like starting a movie I was going to get too tired to finish, about half way through. I had this radical idea – try writing.

I used to always write from around 11 pm to 1 am – so I figured there was a chance. I also realized that I had been trying to write without music, which can be a big help. So I untangled the cord of the earbuds and opened up the manuscript for my zombie novel.

First issue I came across – the damn thing starts with a dream. I know why…but it is generally considered a huge No-No in the literary world to do so. So I have to figure out a better way to start. I can keep the beginning but it should be inserted later, to unravel a bit of the characters back story.

Second Issue – the ‘nickname’ for the zombies. I don’t know what I was thinking, it just reads awful. So I need to chance that, I inserted the first thing that came to my head, which is only slightly better. While reading it however, the term bothered my sensibilities but not quite bad enough to make me halt and stumble.

Third issue, I have to adjust the zombies. I have a vision of how and what they are, but the actual description and how they operate needs to be coerced into something that follows a more explainable pattern. I need to explain this and give the readers the concept, without ‘telling’ them.

None of these are insurmountable. The first one is, I admit, tricky. I could open with a completely different chapter that then leads to the dream sequence opener.. still not good to open a chapter with a dream though. If I was Stephan King, I could get away with it – in fact I could probably make it rock for all the very reason one shouldn’t do it. I am not he however. So my best chance, if I want to keep it, is actually in the middle of a chapter…. maybe I should just accept the fact it needs to be shot between the eyes and left to rot.[image error]

To move forward with this story, in many ways, I just have to admit I need to start right at the beginning and make it new. There’s only 38 pages, less if I decapitate the dream sequence, so really not much of a loss. But somehow it seems more daunting to start from scratch than to rework what I have. That’s probably completely false – but it is how I feel. This becomes an issue. Do I trust my gut, do I cling to what was done out of some biased loyalty, do I trust my brain?

Between the rereading, the issues, and my brain maybe not being quite up to it yet, I really didn’t get anything done last night… except maybe fan the spark.