Gunnar In The Carrels - Special Supplementary Edition

Dear Reader,

This seems like a good place in the story for us to take a breather.

When I started to write the first part of Gunnar In The Carrels eleven days ago, I thought I was writing a single post. I did not expect there would be ten parts, let alone more. Had I suspected this, I would have laid out some ground rules so we all knew what we were getting into.

Or is it 'that into which we were getting', Mr. Churchill?

First and most importantly, thank you all for your reading and encouragement. It feels like a gift when something I create brings interest or enjoyment to someone else. Modern magic. If you have any questions or comments about Gunnar or his story, this is a great time to write them below.

I'd love to hear what you think as long as you're kind. : )

If any of you need to catch up in your reading, the links to the first ten parts of Gunnar In The Carrels follow this post. The list is getting unwieldy so it might be time to re-write parts 1 - 9 and turn it into something more like a chapter!

If we're going to continue to explore Gunnar's story together then there are a few things you should know.

The first of these is that you are reading a first draft. I get up early in the morning and write each day's part. This is partially due to natural inclination and partially due to a neighbour who takes loud showers each day at 4 in the morning. I've been thinking I should slip a thank you note under the door because it really is giving me some great writing time.

There are some glaring inconsistencies in the story, especially in the timing between Gunnar's account and Ginger's. This would drive me crazy, if I were you, so I appreciate that you're still with me. Let me say here, in case you were wondering, that I do know they are there and they are irritating me too.

I will fix it.

Here's the thing: I first met Gunnar in January of this year as a result of my experiences with a book about writing that I posted about here.

Gunnar was supposed to be a secondary character in a totally different story called Shut Ins. That story was about an elderly lady whose husband recently died living across the hall from a young man who never leaves his apartment either. She watches out the peep hole one day as he has his groceries delivered and realizes he can help her learn to survive as a shut in. Of course, through their interaction, they both learn how to venture out...blah blah blah.

That was the story I set out to write with Plot versus Character but once I started to explore the neighbour's Myers Briggs type (Idealist) and think about what might make a younger person become a shut in, Gunnar started to create himself.

I have left certain details of the story intentionally vague. I don't know yet if Gunnar is Canadian or American. For some reason, I think he lives in northern Michigan. Nor do I know at what level of politics the Larsson family has launched their dynasty. Municipal? A family seat in the Senate? Canadian federal politics?

Apparently, good writing is about the transformation of the central character from one state when we first meet them to another state that forms the resolution of the story. Gunnar's core challenge is to openly embrace his own nature and to steer the events of his own life based on that. In order to get him there, the writing professionals say we need to throw challenges at him.

We need to make it impossible for him to stay the person he currently is.

We have to make Gunnar hit rock bottom.

Are you ready for this?

I am just as surprised as you are by the events of the story, most days. Who saw the flip to Ginger's perspective coming? Not me! I do have a general idea of the plot, but with characters like Joshua and Nelson cropping up, the plan changes every day.

Joshua's favourite book is A Prayer for Owen Meany, BTW. : )

Okay, class dismissed! Feel free to leave a comment.

Happy Friday! Let's reconvene here on Monday to see what happens next.

Kisses,
Kitty Nebula

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10