B1C8

Interlude

I wrote this interlude on a whim, because:

  1. I wanted to see if I could write a mystery in under 3 pages.
  2. I am worried that 5 straight chapters of interrogating different characters will be really boring and drag on, and this adds some variety and quick pacing for a break in the middle of the interrogation chapters.
  3. The story's central scenario somewhat happened to me, in that I came back from a vacation and as I was drifting off to sleep, I had the thought "wouldn't it be crazy if I realized there was a fan on the ceiling that I'd never seen before?" I have been obsessed with this question for a week now, so I decided to write about it.
  4. I've also wanted to write about a Sunita-like figure for a while now.
  5. I would like to write some short stories, but I don't want to leave this project half-done, so this lets me indulge myself while still continuing to work on this project.

I had the central question for the story (i.e., sudden ceiling fan) when I sat down to write, but figuring out the rest of it (i.e., adding Sunita, the story's conclusion, what part of the book the story should go into) took ~90 minutes. Actually writing the story and this BTS post took an additional ~60 minutes. I'm pretty happy with this.

Research

Most of this book takes place in the future, which means that I can make shit up. This is the one chapter that takes place in ~present day (i.e., 2020s). I am still making shit up though.

My research process.

I think research is boring, I don't want to do it, and I don't think fiction writers need to do it. I can imagine nothing more tedious than:

  • telling you what cities my characters live in
  • telling you which bus lines they take to get from point A to point B
  • telling you about the unseasonably warm winter of 201x