Update - progress on The Tree House

Funny how things work out and how complicated they can become. I put together a little teaser essay to try my hand at fiction, and kapow! people don’t want to be left hanging. Well as Sean Dare points out in his writing is hard post, you can get into trouble real quick if you haven’t planned it out. I simply sat there in the car on the way back from Michigan and started thinking about what kind of story and what kind of tone and feel I would want to read and I started writing that. And it turned out ok and it got people to want to know more about Terna and his world. Well, to continue past there, we have to address some issues and some logistics… so some revisions will be made and we will start to move forward on The Tree House. Here are a few things that have come to mind…

• Terna is now 11 or 12. How did he learn to read?
• In my current layout, Terna got a gun at age 6. cool, I know, but we gotta think that thru and either explain how he didn’t kill himself with it, or make him a little older.
• Do you know that woods adjacent to farmland that goes on for 2 miles in any direction and more to the north is very hard to find? I have found a plain in central Georgia (the country, not the state, think eastern europe) that fits sort of.
• Terna’s brothers disappear too fast, only 1 week later. How does he survive and get along with out them. again, with a gun, at 6 years old.
• so, I need to clear up a timeline of events. I need a map. I need a picture of a treehouse, I’m thinking craftsman style meets Swiss Family Robinson.
• Do other people live with Terna? is he alone? if not alone, are they kids or adults? what other characters need to be developed?
• Will Terna see his family again? his parents? his brothers?
• Does the story revolve around the Tree House as a location or do we travel? obviously a little of both.

so, this is hard work. best of all, it is fun. I’m the creator of this little world and these characters and these events, but I don’t know how it will go. No clue. So it will be an adventure for all of us. Now we need Sean to answer some questions about posting like this, sections of books or pieces. How does it work in the future if you want to publish or sell? How could you promote subscriptions? What are some innovative ways to write and not starve? Sean has already had a post or two on this subject, but getting more information on this and for Sean and I to brainstorm on how we can pursue our writing interests and still pay the bills is something that I need to pursue.

well, I’m off to sit under the Tree House and see what is happening. I’m hoping to have some revisions and additions out here before the end of the weekend.

Tom