The Thing About Story Collabs

a crash course in secondary plot lines

Greetings from SoCal! I’m staying close enough to the beach to be enjoying the June Gloom and wishing I’d brought sweatpants because I am cold and these two pairs of shorts I brought are just wasting space in my suitcase. I never get it quite right, sigh. But at least I brought a jacket.

I guess there was enough rain earlier in the year that the trees and plants are happy and on my walking route there are some crazy-ass plants that I’ve never seen before. California plants never cease to impress. There are so many different climates in such a relatively small area, and the things that grow natively here are amazing. I love that in the neighborhood here, people are giving up lawns in favor of succulents and more drought-resistant plants.

It’s been cloudy almost every day, I swear

When I’m not walking I’m working, when I’m not working or walking I’m eating, and that’s about it so far. But it’s beautiful and quiet and while I’m not a huge fan of traveling, I have to admit that a change of scenery does seem to help rewire my brain and I get kicked out of stupid pointless useless logic loops into places that are at least different. We take our Selves wherever we go, and while routines are good for me, ruts are not.

On that note, we’ll get into the meaty part of today’s post, LET’S GO

The Thing About Story Collabs

I have an uncle who is making a movie. It’s sort of a family affair, involving kids, cousins, nieces, nephews … all of the peoples. The movie is in post-production, hopefully coming out sometime next year, but if you’re at all familiar with this biz you know there are a lot of things that have to happen before the thing can be ready to distribute or be shown. There’s still a lot to do, even though filming officially wrapped in March. Apparently, one of the things still left on the long to-do list is refine a secondary plot line.

Last week I emailed this uncle, just to say hi but also to say hey, if I can help you in any way, please let me know! And what I received back was an interesting reply, which has led to a week of interesting emails.

First I got a note that said I was required to watch a movie about a diving accident and also to have a working knowledge of Bose-Einstein Condensates. I watched the movie, googled BEC. (Whoa, quantum physics, I have a fangirl crush on you, but you are waaaaay out of my league.)

Once I’d met the preconditions, I was sent an email containing a short, two-paragraph story. No instructions, just a bit of story.

At first I didn’t know what to do with it! My mind was in editor mode. So I had to ask. Do I point out plot holes? Character inconsistencies? Illogical bits? No, the answer came back. Just rewrite the story and then send it back.

Thus began a string of emails that are still going today. I change a few things, send it. He tweaks it, sends it back. Etc.

I’ve never collaborated on a story this way! Maybe it’s a thing, but it’s new to me. It’s super fun though! Also, it’s like getting a crash course in storytelling from someone who I’m in complete awe of as a storyteller. It's like a Dear Diary entry in the Best Moments of My Life Book. Which is a pretty slim volume, lol.

It’s also really scary. Am I doing it right? Maybe my contributions suck? Is this what he’s looking for? It’s like putting a blindfold on and trying to walk to the end of the street. I might be okay in the neighborhood but could ultimately end up flat as a pancake on the main road. Well fine, maybe it’s not that dramatic. But it’s still scary.

It would be pretty freakin’ cool, though, if I went to see this movie next year and found some element of my story in the finished product. THAT would be a total Best Moment.

I’ll keep you posted.

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