"Unsettling Differences" - Planning (Part I)

I'm well into my planning stages for my next potential story, with character development and the story arc coming along at a slow but steady pace. I've taken the time to really map everything out, and whilst this next effort is likely to be a short story as previously discussed, there may be some leg room for more. That being said, it's all swings and roundabouts at the moment. Oh, and for the record, "Unsettling Differences" isn't the name of the story - the name of the story is the last thing I usually wind up deciding. "Unsettling Differences" is actually the name of a song that I had on in the background whilst writing this blog entry by a cool but very unknown band called Blue Smock Nancy. It's tone and lyrics are helping me set the tone for what this story is going to be about, at least from one character's perspective. As I'll no doubt discuss in an entry down the line, music plays a huge role in my influence and inspiration for my writing.

As for this upcoming story, the cast of characters is small, trying to keep everything as concise as possible to really push character development. The roles of protagonist and antagonist haven't been clearly defined as of yet, but I have a very rough idea of where it's heading. In deciding a genre, the story seems to be leaning towards romance... A departure for sure, and it didn't start off that way, but it may cross over into another genre before all is said and done.

The plan is to tell a contemporary tale, which includes a very modern and original style. With social media playing start a huge role in our society these days, the story will be furthered with Facebook and Twitter updates from my two lead characters from time to time, but the bulk of  narrative will be told through diary and journal entries.

I don't want to give too much away at the moment, as I said, nothing is set in stone. Genre and characters are taking shape, but the theme is one I've gone back and forth on. What do I want to explore and discover when writing this story? What message I am trying to convey underneath the clever narrative style?

I had a discussion with my Mum some time ago after I had gone out and admittedly had one too many Jack Daniels and Cokes. We wound up discussing a multitude of different topics, one of them being relationships (she had just started dating her current boyfriend at the time). It stuck me that during the course of the conversation that her outlook on relationships, and love, weren't all that vastly different from my own, but it did get me to think... in this day and age, what do we as a society define as love or a relationship?

As someone who hasn't really been in love (at least I don't think I have), I don't feel entirely qualified to discuss such a topic. That being said, I have seen many, many relationships between friends and family members alike break down over the years for all sorts of reasons. I'm a keen observer, I take everything in, and in doing this, I'd like to think I've become aware of a few things.

The general consensus with the older generation seems to be that relationships between people my age and younger never work out. This can be due to immaturity, not enough worldly experience, or rushing things way too quickly. It's a valid argument, but as someone who has seen various relationships come and go (albeit none of those were my own!), I think there is a lot more to it than that. There seems to be this very scary thought-process these days with people who are simply afraid to be alone.

With that thought process in mind, people plunge head-first into relationships without giving it any real thought. There could be little to no compatibility, but that companionship is more important to them - and sure, it is a fantastic short term fix, but for the long haul, it shouldn't work out.

The reason why  I say shouldn't instead of doesn't, is because I've seen people literally torture themselves in relationships instead of throwing in the towel. This may go back to my earlier point of people being afraid to be alone, but I think a lot of it is also due to the fact of complacency. Instead of striving for something better, someone better, happiness and all that jazz, people often become trapped. Like in all walks of life, they become trapped in a situation to which they would much rather be unhappy than to fix it, even if fixing it means the relationship coming to an end.

A break up isn't any fun, I can speak from first-hand experience, as can most. However, surely going through a break up, no matter how bad and how painful it may be, would be the smarter thing to do than to be with somebody who you may still love a great deal, but are in a situation where the relationship has broken down and is un-repairable. It may be a maturity thing, who knows, but I hear more and more these days of couples who are simply not destined to last - and if they do "last", they will not be happy for the majority of their time together. I can't think of anything worse.

Without diving too much into it, I also had discussion with a close friend of mine last week where the topic of the beginnings of a relationship came up. Despite a significant age gap, we seemed to agree that the early beginnings of a relationship, especially with somebody you don't know beforehand, are unbearable difficult most of the time. Maybe it's just us, who knows, but that dynamic is something I was interested to explore also. I want to ask the question that if true love does exist, when do we realise it? Does it truly conquer all? As a society today, is love a true emotion bonding a relationship between two people, or is it used merely as a crutch? Unrequited love is a subject not often broached, even between the closest of friends, and as someone who has experienced it first-hand, that will play an integral part of the story also... or at least, the story as it stands on my A4 notepad at the moment!

This is only a fraction of the discussions, themes and thoughts going into my latest short story offering. The tip of the iceberg, if you will. Where I go from here, much like the story idea, isn't set in stone... but I can't wait to find out.

Thanks for reading.

Will