- Read A Day of Faces for free here.
- Read this specific chapter here.
- Read all the writing notes here.
These middle chapters of Arc 3 are quite loosely defined in my plot document. I know where the arc is going, and I knew exactly how it was going to start. The mid-section is a little fuzzier and has some room to manouver.
Initially, the ‘truck ride’ was to last only a single chapter. In this chapter Kay, Marv and Furey would reach their destination. When it came to writing it, though, I decided that would make the truck journey a little too trivial and swift. I wanted it to feel uncomfortable and awkward and inconvenient, and that wasn’t really possible if it only lasted a single chapter.
Hence ‘Anomaly’. This follows on from ‘Nest’, as we see Kay start to come apart at the seams in a way we’ve not really seen before. She’s got into some pretty bad scrapes and has held it together for the most part. The relative down-time she’s had since Cal’s departure has afforded her more time to think, which has really hammered home the reality of her situation.
As such, this is Kay’s moment of doubt. All her self-esteem issues bubble to the surface. There is nothing in the slightest bit inadequate about her character, but the intimidating presence of Furey and the apparent hopelessness of the situation has left her without any kind of proper support. Her confidence slips and she has a moment alone in the forest. In terms of angsty emotion, it’s more than I usually go in for with ADoF.
The crucial line, though, is: Then I got back in the truck.
Kay isn’t an action hero. None of this is normal. But she’s tough, and smart, and principled. She thinks she gets her strength from her genotype but that’s largely incidental – it’s entirely down to who she is and how she sees the world.
That thing Joe Straczynski has mentioned, whereby characters start writing themselves whether you like it or not – I’ve pretty much got to that point with Kay and Marv.
Next chapter, they get to the coast. Probably.
Soundtrack: Some weird Children of Men playlist on Play Music, mixing up Deep Purple, Roots Manuva, Saxon, John Lennon and Jarvis Cocker. Made sense at the time.
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