TITLE: Action/Adventure Series AUTHOR: Kasey SUMMARY: Post-2.08 (A little late, I know.) Sam writes the Pilgrim Chronicles. RATING: PG NOTES: A venting piece.  Writer's block - ugh!  <<--->> is what he writes. THANKS: Flip and Dis, my eternal betas.  You guys are great. <<"Look out for the -!" Young Joshua cried to his friend, Tobias, but it was too late.  The mysterious figure swung his hammer>> I crumple yet another sheet of paper.  My fresh legal pad is almost gone.  Maybe this is why I write speeches. I mean, for one thing, coming up with names?  Ones that don't sound stupid? I tried for 45 minutes before finally deciding on Joshua and Tobias. No laughing. And then, to make the things they say fit their personas?  To *create* their personas?  And make them different, fitting together, strengths and weaknesses, making a balanced team... I could've made them opposites, used the personas of Josh and Toby respectively. Only it's a Hardy Boy-esque series.  the characters are about 10, 15 at most.  Now, that works for Josh, who I think is still flipping nickels in his office, but a 12-year-old who's as cynical as Toby? I’m afraid to know how cynical he'd be by the time he's 40. And another thing:  If it's Hardy Boy-esque, the audience would be about 8 or 12.  So they can't be on the trail of an ax-murderer or something.  NO rapists, muggers...nothing *Exciting*, nothing life-or-death... What's the fun in writing *that*? I look forlornly at the wastebasket by the door.  It's nearly full with heaps of paper around it.  Stupid bad aim. So.  A villain parents wouldn't object to...an...animal thief!  Stealing...pandas from the zoo! ...Since when did Pilgrims have pandas? ...Since when did they have *zoos*? Okay, so no pandas...They had mules though, right?  Sure, we can say they had mules!  Okay, so the thief is stealing mules from the village...and Joshua and Tobias are trying to catch the culprit, who turns out to be...a young Indian boy who's trying to save his tribe. So why would he steal mules and not food? He could be stealing food, that would work... Okay!  We have a protagonist, we have a villain - or rather, we have a culprit - we're ready to roll!  Neglecting the lack of suspects which will be addressed at a later date. So now for a beginning. <<It was a dark and stormy night...>> Nah, overused, too dramatic. <<Once upon a time...>> Again, overused, too fluffy.  We're not doing a fairy tale here.  What we need is a strong beginning, one full of power and imagery, suspense and intrigue. What *we* need is to stop referring to *our*selves in the plural and out loud! What we need is a break, I think. Yes, definitely.  A break will do us good. Who's "we", anyway?  Is there a mouse in my pocket? I sigh.  This is harder than I thought.  Forget writing a series - I'm trying to write Chapter One!  Damn writers block.  I can't write anything!  I'm a failure!  A failure, I say! I see a draft of the latest Economic Advisor address sitting on top of my folder.  Pulling it out, I begin to write quickly and efficiently, and am done within minutes. ...This is telling me something.  If only I knew what it was.