It happened when I was shaving or showering. Or was it shaving while I was showering? Anyways, it takes doing something ordinary to give the Unconscious an opportunity to present you with a solution.

In this case, it was where the novel was going. Up to this point, it was nowhere, man. I had the good fortune to have a writer friend of mine critique what I had. She mentioned that in the first half of the story, not much happened. Hmmm, not good for a story. So then I was left with the task of what to do to fix things. I know from the past not to force the Unconscious to help me. So I let the thing lie. 

While I waited, I thought about what I had. Here’s a kid who is on the threshold of adolescence. He’s in lust with this girl. He’s not the typical teenager, if there is such a thing. (It’s like trying to pin down the meaning of “normal”. It depends on your perspective.)  I think I spent too much time setting up the characters. The kid, Francis, is what used to called a sensitive kid. Not into sports but liked theater, rock and roll music, and art. He has a brother and sister. And Mom and Dad are together. He has friends in school but no one really close. He gets picked on especially by one jamoke and his buddy.

Then the gift came. Francis will look at the world via television. His perspective on his world will be based on what he watches on television. How he approaches conflict (the jamoke with his buddy) and how he relates to girls (how to get a date).

Well, I don’t want to tire you out so I’ll stop here.