Proposal

I'm writing this story under MIT's 21W.799 Independent Study in Writing. To qualify, I have to write a proposal which is then approved by the Committee on Writing Curriculum. So, I wrote the proposal today.

I will, over the course of the semester, write a 50,000 word story. I have planned and discussed a schedule with my Faculty Sponsor, Prof. Helen Lee. I will write 5,000 words per week, for three weeks, edit the accumulated 15,000 words for one week, and then repeat this process three more times during the semester.

The story will be about a woman who is pursuing her sister, who has kidnapped her child. She enlists the help of the protagonist, and together they travel south through the U.S. to Florida. The story will focus on the changing relationship between the protagonist and the woman as they travel, and the obstacles they face in reuniting the woman with her daughter.

I want to study two narrative elements in this story: the structure of dreams – how to convey the feeling of a dreamstate, and what effect dreams can have on waking actions – and the unique setting of Florida. I want to experiment with capturing the unreality of dreams and presenting the many forms a dream can take. The coast of Florida, where I grew up, has a wealth of natural and man-made environments that can provide a setting for these dreams and the reality that exists outside of them. The connection between dreams, the real world, and the decisions the protagonist makes will be a thematic thread throughout my story.  

Hopefully, this gets approved and I can get going.

I have no doubt that the story will change dramatically from this proposal. In the last week, I've already increased the importance of dreams far beyond what I initially wanted to do. I'm reminded of Junot Diaz's advice. He said to let your story grow up on its own terms, not on yours. You may want your story to be a doctor, but if it comes home one day, and it's got massive shoulders, and it's wearing a baseball uniform, and it's got a bat and glove, you have to let it play baseball. There are some parts that I had from the beginning, that I wanted to work towards, that seem more and more difficult to fit in. But, that's how it works, I suppose.