About Michael Macbeth

[the_gneech]

Michael Macbeth started his life in my mind as basically a Dirk Gently clone; I had read both Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and Long, Dark Tea-Time of the Soul and I liked them both, actually much more than Adams' more well-known Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. But besides just liking them, I felt like I could take that ball and run with it, so to speak. Since Adams himself seemed disinclined to write another Dirk Gently book [1], I thought this might be a good way for me to build on something, while still doing something original.

The character of Michael Macbeth came quickly and easily ... he's largely a combination of Stephen Fry, Doctor Who, and myself. ;) (Or at least, myself as I was at the time ... I have since lost my interest in bagpipes.) I put him in Gray Beeker's old Richmond apartment, because it seemed to suit him so well, and wrote a few scenes to get his patter and mannerisms down. Almost instantly, Stray Cat Strut came flying out of my fingers and onto the page, and I thought, "Wow! I'm really on to something, here!"

And then...

And then...

Nothing.

Well, not exactly nothing -- I have, I'd guess, about 100k+ words of MM fragments, vignettes, scenes, outlines, notes ... none of which work. If I could get Michael to focus and get a real story out of him, I'd easily have at least one finished novel and the better part of a second one by now.

Michael, you are frustrating.

I have a huge, fat binder crammed to bursting with writing about Michael Macbeth! What do I have to show for it? One 5,000 word short story, Stray Cat Strut, which is a great little story, but keeps utterly failing to do anything else.

What I want from Michael Macbeth, is to crank out a book every year ... I want to do with Michael, as Rex Stout did with Nero Wolfe ... find a formula that works, come up with a neat idea each time, and get a nice little gravy train going. My problem is, while my writing is fine and polished, I have a real problem coming up with satisfactory ideas.

I wonder if I could find a collaborator, an "idea man" as it were. And I wonder, if I found one, if I'd be willing to let go and work with them. I'm very possessive of my work (as katayamma can attest). I do my best work when I'm either coming up with ideas for someone else, or when turning somebody else's ideas into reality ... it's this doing both parts that kills me.

-The Gneech

[1] I seem to remember that his last recorded comment on the subject was to the effect of, "The third Dirk Gently book has suffered terribly from being forced to have Dirk Gently in it." Now, of course, Adams has passed on, so I don't think we'll be seeing any more Dirk Gently. The door's wide open for Michael, if he'd just step through it!

Comments

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

So how does Michael MacBeth navigate his car, then? :)

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

With a lot of bumping his elbows and griping. :) -TG

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Ah. Then he can't be a Dirk Gently clone... he'd have to navigate by finding the next car that looked like it knew where it was going...

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Yes well, notice I say "started" as a Dirk Gently clone. :) The same way NeverNever started as a Calvin and Hobbes clone. :) -TG

O Solé Mio!

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Well, that explains the striped shirt... With that and the tam, I thought Arthur had dreams of being a Vienetian Boatsman or something! *Blush*

[rhanlav.livejournal.com]

Ok, so he's sort of a detective then? What sort of stuff does he normally 'detect'? Most PIs seem to have like something they do really well. Some solve cases with 'Dames' in them. Others solves those ones with 'the hoods and mobs'. Yet others solve cases using quasi-mystical powers. So, whats his bag, baby? Maybe somewhere in there is a good beginning of a pattern in there, once you know what that is. Or maybe you already have that, in which case I've just wasted a lot some space on LJ's server for no aparrent reason.

--Rhan, who likes to bounce ideas off of folks as well. It seems to work very well in my case at least. Let me know if I can help. Not sure I'll be much help, but eh, I can try.

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Well, his full title is "Michael Macbeth, Paranormal Consultant," because he doesn't have the qualifications to act as a licensed private detective. He has a powerful but extremely unreliable form of ESP; the most common example I use is that if he tried to guess the lottery numbers, he'd get the exact right numbers -- for a different state.

-The Gneech

[rhanlav.livejournal.com]

Ah. Ok... Hrm. Ok. So now we have a WHAT.
He's a Paranormal Consultant. Hmm. So, lets see. Most normal folks aren't going to come to him for help. Ok. That works. That eliminates doing stuff like investigating some wife cheating on her husband or something like that... or other things to that extent. Actually, I suppose you COULD do a story where he DOESN'T work on one of his typical cases. But it would be useful if he'd have a few more normal cases to work on first, right? Right!
Ok, so he's going to end up dealing with screwball magical and and mystical things. Ghosts, demons, curses, voodoo, undead, vampires, werewolves, lawyers... ;) You know, stuff like that. So we have a WHO (our hero can take on in exciting adventures). That should add a chunk to the 'pattern puzzle'. :) Uh.. Well, I hope it does anyways.

--Rhan

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Well, that's the basic premise of the series, anyhow. One story idea for him involved the idea that he'd been hired by a ghost to solve the ghost's own murder, for instance. :)

Going back to Stray Cat Strut, the prototype MM story, he has been asked to investigate the peculiar behavior of a cat; turns out the cat is a person who's been changed into a cat by a modern-day Circe; that kind of thing.

-The Gneech

[rhanlav.livejournal.com]

Oh. Hmmm. Well, lets see. Uh... ok. I'm at an impass as to what to suggest. So far everything I've said is stuff you've done. And I suppose in some sense, I deserve a cookie. :) Hmm. Lets see. I looked at your story. Its very interesting. And then the 'One hand clapping' and talk of koans got me thinking of another web comic I read as well, with a fairly similiar theme as your MM setting.

http://www.masterzdm.com/

Me, I'm not too great with deep meanings and what not, but eh, its an interesting read. The interesting thing with the comic is each 'story' of the comic is vaguly based on old detective movies. Eh. Oh well. I guess I'm not being very useful now. All I can think of doing is finding out a few myths, like with Circe and what not, and then just see what pops into your plot ideas when you think about them. Like Minotaurs, werewolves, rahksashas... I'm sure somehow, one myth might spark some bigger plot... Sorry. Thats the extent of my help today.

--Rhan

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

I'd offer my assistance, but I'm not familiar with the two stories you based your story upon. And as for Douglas Adams not writing any more of the series, he has a _very_ good excuse - he's no longer upon this mortal coil to entertain us.

I can only imagine how the angels are laughing at his satirical wit.

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

Being dead doesn't stop you from writing. Just ask L. Ron Hubbard.

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

Or Herbert - good point :)

[vik_thor]

Or V.C. Andrews...

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

Given his much-heralded status as a deadline-missing reprobate, I suspect his editors would say that there aren't any angels where he went. ;)

-The Gneech

[shockwave77598.livejournal.com]

If that's all it takes to end up playing Canasta with the red guy holding the pointy stick, I'm doomed! :)

Naaaaaaaaaaah!

[torakiyoshi.livejournal.com]

Adams is the type to come back and write another book, just because he doesn't give a damn what some blue-shirted doctor with a tricorder told his friend, Jim, when he examined the cold, lifeless corpse, still clutching its precious teacup. :)