Voices of Reason
Scribbler's Suffixby KernilCrash
22 February 2002
Hmmmmmm, something about the process of writing “Voices Of Reason”, hunh? Let’s see … the words obsession and mono-mania come to mind first.
First of all, I originally stated that I had been working on the story for three or four months, but I went back and checked the date on my first outline, and I began writing it on December 23, 2001, which means I churned that dude out in about six weeks. I had to mail shovels to my two Beta-readers so they could dig their way out from under the load of files I sent them. Thank you, ladies. Mono-mania …yeah, that’s about right.
The entire story evolved out of a stray thought I had the very first time I watched “Premiere” … why would John’s immune system tolerate something as alien as the translator microbes? After watching “A Human Reaction” with the subtitles for Rygel, D’Argo, and Aeryn, I thought the show was missing a huge chance to really mess with John … and the story was born.
I’ve never done any creative writing in my life, so I DID put a post up on the Bulletin Board asking if anyone wanted an idea for a story. The replies suggested that I take a stab at it myself. Nothing like jumping in at the deep end of the pool. Length of the tale wasn’t a problem … only keeping it UNDER 100,000 words. I’m basically northern European Celt … a lineage with a strong history of long-winded storytellers. This suffix is turning into a good example.
I was wandering around doing shorts at the same time that “Voices” was growing out of control. I had done some sillier stuff … cute and witty but not a lot of oomph, until I somehow popped out “One Man’s Moment” which is bleak but has some guts to it, and “Bookends” which finally opened the door to getting some emotional impact and depth to the characters on the page. The only reason I mention this is that I can see a very definite break in “Voices” somewhere around Chapter 7. I went back and ’tweaked’ Chapters 1 through 6, but I can hear the quality and tone of writing change as the story progresses. It was a real learning experience.
Kemperitis began to set in toward the end. When I decided to leave everyone hanging with pulse weapon fire coming over the comms at the end of Chapter 12, I discovered how fun it is to be evil. The ending in the infirmary got changed five days before it got posted. I wasn’t going to do the big “jerk-the-readers-around” scenario (which would have required another entire chapter), but I did put in the quick fake out before John’s problem is solved.
Creating some descriptions with depth and tangibility has opened my eyes to the world around me. I find myself listening, and smelling and feeling my environment more intensely now. I’ve got a scene in my next story which will take John back to MIT … and I had some free time in Boston this past week. Very neat just standing at dusk near the Charles and listening and watching and feeling. The world takes on a new hue.
One of the things I wanted to do with the story was to create some disparities between spoken and non-spoken communications. It is so often the unspoken moments which are the most important in life. Finding some reasons for conflict in the beginning was the hardest, especially with John and Aeryn. I’m not in a relationship myself, and wound up talking with friends about how they wind up in stupid arguments with their spouses. I do NOT recommend this as a recreational activity, but I got some good ideas.
Fun stuff? The nightmares were a ball to write. No continuity, no rhyme or reason, just let the vision twist and change. Wrote them at about 3:00am one morning and gave myself the willies. Calling Rygel “Toad Warrior” had me totally cracked up for about a day, and popped into my head because I had just been watching a gorgeous Virginia Hey in that movie. Sign Language for the Uncharted Territories (SLUT) was another one which left me dying.And of course putting Scorpy into the silver jumpsuit with the little helmet before firing him out of the cannon.
The Vomit Scene … I was absolutely frelling STUCK. I had John, the PK (his name was originally Ekron Dai instead of the other way around, but after writing Dai, dai, dai, and realizing he was going to DIE I switched it), Aeryn and D’Argo all standing around looking at each other, and I was about to have them sit down and play pinochle until I figured out what to do. Ta da. The Big Spit was born.
Yes, I like to leave stuff in which doesn’t belong. I don’t have to get this past an editor, so there are some lines in there which were aimed at particular readers, or just cuz they were fun. “You know I don’t like ad libbing,” coming from John was one of those. Ben Browder has such a reputation for off-script improvising, I had this double vision of him having to deliver a line like that and the line stayed. I like to hide things too. At one point Stark (with a little addition) says, “here, there everywhere. In, out, all about …” Anyone remember “What’s New?” -- a TV show from the 60’s? I also don’t know if anyone noticed what the song was that John was singing in Chapter 1 -- it’s tough without the melody, but those were the lyrics from the song he was singing in “The Locket”.
Obsession. Diving into the Uncharted Territories for hours at a time, thinking about it while driving so I miss my exit and go an extra twenty miles up the highway, forgetting there is an open bottle of Guinness at my elbow, waking up at 4:00am with a scene beautifully fixed in my mind … these are what really made writing it special. There are times when I come ’out of’ the story, and I look around almost expecting John to be standing next to me.
I’ve started the triple-fic. Three novella or novel length stories back to back: “Walk The Walk”, “The Wanderers”, and “Time And Again”. Another chance for Kernil Crash to spend more time in the UT’s. Obsession, mono-mania, Farscape Dementia, fun, fun, fun, fun. That’s what it’s all about for me.
Thank you for reading,
Kernil Crash (crashbrown@adelphia.net)