I started the preliminary steps toward a new story the other night. At this stage the idea is embryonic. Spell checker didn’t give me the red line of death so I am assuming that is a real word, and hopefully means what I think it means. When will this idea be born? No idea on the gestation period, to continue the… what, a metaphor? And we’re walking…

Yeah, so no idea when the story will be born and cast out onto the world. Not even sure it’s conceived yet. So I guess at this point you could say I am still screwing around. See what I did there? Maybe practicing a little safe text, I don’t know. Hope I’m not shooting blanks. I guess that would make writer’s block the equivalent of Erectile dysfunction.

Wow, not really what I was going for when I started this blog post. The title is called Casing The Joint and I had the notion that starting a new story was like planning a bank robbery. I guess if I were to continue with the whole story as baby thing, instead of casing the joint it would be stalking– No, inappropriate, definitely going with bank robbery. There’s a sentence I never thought I would say.

Can you imagine that I actually thought I would just put this thought down in a tweet? Bet you’re glad I didn’t, huh? It would have been way too short.

That’s what she said.

And we’re walking…

So, when you’re robbing a bank, as I’m sure we all have, the first thing one could do is case the joint. Look for your “in.” How do I actually, enter this story? What scene, setting, event do I want to be the entrance into the bank of riches that await me and you the reader in this story/bank I am thinking about writing/robbing?

And then there’s the crew? My assembled team with their various specialties. You know, “trickster”, “King”, “Mentor”, alarm specialist, safe cracker, closet double-crosser… What characters do I want and for what purposes on my team for my story/robbery?

And let’s not forget tools and equipment. A “pope in the pool” there, end that scene with a “button”, can of spray paint for the cameras…

And then there’s always the escape to think about. Should the story/robbery all go wrong I need to think about what I will tell the readers/cops.

Maybe something that has always seemed to work for me: “Hey, man, these aren’t my pants…”

Yeah, baby.