🖖 Gettin' vulnerable

I meant what I wrote earlier. I’ll be adding more story elements to these emails-

More of myself.

To tie what I’ve been working on all together, I’d like to create some fiction.

Just like in marketing, there’s a lot of research involved.

Turns out I want to create a story in line with solar punk values.

Now I’ve never heard of solar punk until I began researching other topics for these emails.

But you may be familiar with cyberpunk. That’s where “the Man” wins. Technology and corporations have won.

A dystopia. A dark and cold place where human liberties are limited.

Think Bladerunner and Judge Dredd and books like William Gibson’s Neuromancer.

You could call solar punk the opposite- where humanity wins because they work together in decentralised communities and value human life, technology and nature at the same time.

Premise

Robert McKee, author of, Story, says that every good story needs a premise- “the idea that inspires the writer’s desire to create a story.”

For him, the premise isn’t a closed statement, but an open-ended question.

What would happen if…?

For example.

Nicolas Cole, a prolific digital writer, says that before you start writing a book, determining the title and subtitle is 80% of the work.

And there are four questions he says you need to answer before you write your first words.

The first question to ask yourself:

What question (of the reader) am I answering?

I thought I would write out my brainstorming ideas from combining those two principles together.

Build in public, as they say. And take you along for the journey.

There’s a lot that needs to happen to create those kitchens and future I keep talking about.

What question am I answering?

What would happen if…

I need to dig deep to find the answer this question. And it’s not something I can answer in half a day.

I tried to think of as many possible ways to finish this question as possible so that I can uncover my truth.

What would happen if…

• …society focused on protecting our resources?

• …society balanced nature and technology?

• …we worked together to reach the stars?

• …we worked together to live on another planet?

• …human life, technology, and nature were balanced?

• …humans had a common enemy that forced us to work together?

• …we already had a strong presence on the Moon?

• …travelling to the Moon was no different than a daily commute?

• …a natural disaster caused businesses to rethink their ways?

• …we found solutions to the biggest environmental damages??

• …we had a ship on the long voyage to the next stars?

• …more people had a better understanding of science?

There does seem to be a common theme there. So far I’m liking:

What would happen if human life, technology, and nature were balanced?

I’ll let my subconscious play around with it- see if I can clean it up a bit. Some more will probably pop up throughout the night.

In the next few emails I’ll be diving into the other three questions that Nicolas Cole says you should ask yourself before writing.

So I hope you’ll join the ride.

You should reply and let me know which one of the premises you liked or which one you would add.

P.S. In an earlier email I mentioned I had a trial for an executive chef position with a new group here in Paris. It was a successful trial. We’re currently in contract negotiations. And if all goes well I’ll be starting this week. It will be quite a relief to get some income rolling in. I’ll keep you posted.