Eureka moments and the tendency of tempus to fugit.

It was supposed to be simple - take a tv series idea and make it more 'adult'. No problem. I'll have it done by the weekend...

But as I worked on making the theme scarier, creating more tension, and introducing more adult scenes, I realised that the characters themselves were now wrong. Originally they were in their late teens and early twenties. Far too young (if statistics are to be believed) to capture the hearts and imagination of older viewers.

Damn.

So I made them ten years older. Much better. Only now their dialogue sounded immature and their character traits didn't fit. How would those extra ten years of life have affected them? Did they learn and grow, or hide from their problems? Were their insecurities overcome or accentuated? Who were they now?

I love creating people. I truly do. I find it the most enjoyable part of writing a script. But I could not find a way to make those characters mesh once I had added ten years. I tried getting rid of one of them, adding another, starting over with new characters and only the keeping original premise intact... I just couldn't make it work.

Somehow two months passed and I was nowhere near a solution. I got dispondant. What the hell was I thinking trying to make it as a writer anyway? I started work on a new book instead and told myself I was being pro-active.

Then this morning I had a Eureka moment in the bath. (What better place?) I started to 'see' the opening scenes in my head. I realised that the focus needed to shift to one of the other characters. I watched, fascinated, as the entire first act was played out in my mind. FINALLY I know who they are!

It is probably too late to submit this idea now, but I'm going to complete it anyway. I'm excited about it again. Hopefully that passion will show through.