I have finally come to a decision over what to work on next. I'm going to go back to 'The Birth of Martin James' and expand it from 5,466 words to something bigger. I have been staring at it for about a month, questing for a decision on what to do. The simpler choice would be to remove 466 words and submit it, but I can't see how to cut them without detracting form the narrative.
The more I have looked at it, the more areas I can see to improve. Areas where the narrative can be de-compacted, or where the addition of carefully crafted back story would drastically improve the emotional response of the ending. In its current state it is essentially a good idea. A good idea that with some time and work could be a fascinating story. I think with enough thought and planning it could be an interesting vessel for exploring the sense of 'unheimlich' that is increasingly pervading my perception.
I have found some more books that will give me additional perspectives on how to construct the narrative. I will be returning to Gaston Bachelard's The Poetics of Space alongside a collection of post-modern fiction writers. I am also spending more time viewing Japanese animé as it seems to be a wealth of conceptually clever narrative construction.
The first step is going to be a series of cursory and in-depth fractal plans to work out what needs to be written. I also intend to go back to basics and build character profiles (not that their are many characters in this piece). I hope that working through the basic construction techniques again will help me to develop the habit of using them.
I will post more, probably including some thoughts on the construction techniques, as when I am complete them.
