Interview: MindFlesh's Robert Pratten
Writing Tip : Writing from a Synopsis
A lot has been happening the last few months, and I've included the highlights in the following. Thanks for visiting, and enjoy.
MindFlesh: Interview with Director Robert Pratten
Shooting of the film based on my novel White Light wrapped up on schedule at the end of October. I recently interviewed the director, Robert Pratten, for an update on the film.
WS: What was the biggest challenge during the shooting of MindFlesh?
RP: As always, making sure I get all the shots in I need or want. Time is always the biggest problem so everything has to be planned in advance. And then shooting a film is a creative process so it’s a balancing act between sticking to the schedule and allowing the cast and crew to improvise on the day. Maybe embellish is a better word than improvise…
WS: What are you most excited about regarding the film?
RP: I’m really excited about experiencing the first audience reaction. At this stage we’ve got just a rough assembly but it already looks brilliant. It’s very fast paced, erotic and scary. It’s going to be a very cool film.
WS: How do you work with actors?
RP: I’d like to think that I allow them as much opportunity as possible to shine, to give their best. That means creating a supportive environment where they’re free to take risks or maybe just not to feel self-conscious. In a film like MindFlesh, where there are extraterrestrials, sex, and sex with extraterrestrials, I need the actors to trust me that they won’t look silly.
WS: What work will you be doing on the film during 2007?
RP: We’ll spend until about mid-March editing the picture and then from mid-March to June or July doing the sound design and music. Ideally it would be nice to then leave it for a month before watching the film again with fresh eyes. That would mean making final tweaks in Sept ready for an October completion.
WS: Thanks, Robert.
Writing Tip: Writing from a Synopsis
I really discovered the value of using a synopsis during the writing of Raptures, my new novel. While composing the first draft, I followed a detailed synopsis more closely than I ever have. I think this is the main reason for the tightness of the narrative. The synopsis is basically my skeleton: it gives me a glimpse of what species of creature I’ve got. The writing itself is the flesh, blood and nervous system of the beast draped over the skeleton. The synopsis focuses me on the broad strokes of what needs to happen, but when I sit down to actually do the writing, the details flow out quite spontaneously and organically. Ironically, by creating a detailed narrative blueprint, you are free to improvise. I love working this way. It’s disciplined but flexible.
I have worked from synopses before — in fact, my two previous novels used them. But this synopsis was different in that I included much more detail. And how did I go about writing the synopsis? I basically described every scene in the book using a present tense third person voice. I described the heart of each scene — a conversation between two characters, an event, an interior monologue — but I did so succinctly, and without any stylistic embellishment. The synopsis that I worked from for Raptures was about 18 pages long, but of course, depending upon your own story, it could be a lot longer. It doesn't matter how long a synopsis is as long as it serves its purpose: to keep you steady and focused while you undertake the enormous task of tracking storylines, images, themes, and characters over hundreds of pages. Not only does a synopsis help you stay focused on the varied elements of your story, it also helps you stay on a schedule. If you know what you need to be writing next, it is easier to focus and avoid time-consuming distractions. Another thing a synopsis does is it gives you an x-ray of your plot: it makes it easier to see flaws in your design. Also, the simple unadorned style of the synopsis gives you more objectivity, and a problem with your plot may well stick out like a sore thumb. If your climax seems thin, or you're missing a second act, a detailed synopsis can often reveal it.
Raptures Update: The second draft is nearly complete, and I’ll soon be giving copies out to my readers — carefully selected individuals who have generously agreed to hang out in my dark world for several hundred pages. Word count at the moment is 97,000 — by the end, this number could go up or down by 5,000 words. A publisher’s draft should be ready by the end of March. Stay tuned.
Book Review: Dead City by Joe McKinney
To be believable, the literature of horror and fantasy requires a strong foundation in consensus reality. If a character is written with emotional depth, the reader will identify with that character. If, further, the character’s particular niche in society is drawn with authenticity and attention to detail, and if the world around him is a reasonable facsimile of the world we all recognize, then the reader will tend to believe in whatever happens to that character, no matter how bizarre or monstrous. Suspension of disbelief will be established. Joe McKinney’s Dead City is a case in point.
Eddie Hudson is a San Antonio police officer on duty when a zombie invasion hits his city. During the course of a hellish night, Eddie fights off hordes of the undead while making his way back to his wife and kid. Along the way he manages to extricate himself from a series of zombie ambushes, one worse than the other, participates in numerous car chase sequences, and knocks off his share of zombies with an assortment of weapons. The novel unfolds like a police procedural with a twist: all the bad guys are dead. But Eddie is always in character — a cop trying to do the best job he can. McKinney is either a cop or a former cop, or he’s done excellent research on police procedures in the San Antonio area. A line like this has the ring of lived truth:
I popped the trunk and pulled out my shotgun case. The Department gives us the Mossberg 500 — a standard, tough-as-nails twelve-gauge pump, built to take a beating and fire just about any kind of shell made.
Or how about this description of a wrecked auto:
The front of my car looked like the face of a boxer who has just lost a fight.
With lines like these you can’t help but believe the physical reality of Eddie’s world. But even more impressive is that McKinney writes with a simple emotional depth that instantly captures the reader’s attention and sympathy. How’s about this for a novel’s opening line:
There’s an empty parking lot near the corner of Seafarer and Rood where I used to go to fight with my wife.
Lovely. By grounding his work in the emotional and physical reality of a cop’s life, McKinney provides the container of believability so essential to a work of the fantastic. We believe that the zombies are here, because Eddie -- this trustworthy cop -- tells us that they are. Less careful writers create emotionally flat characters occupying half-baked careers -- but the resulting horrors will be less believable and meaningful.
By the time Dead City comes to an end, we feel like we know Eddie Hudson really well: after all, we’ve been with him fighting zombies all night! One of the best zombie novels to come along in years. Lots of fun and filled with clever surprises. Highly recommended.
That’s all for now, folks. My next effort will likely be a post-Toronto Horror con edition. Take care, and have a great spring!
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