In this post:
I share a generic concept of one of the writing projects I have in mind.
I have this problem where I have one idea that I can sit down and chew on at length while other ideas chew on me. Throughout the rest of the month when I am not working on this blog post – which is arguably 99%+ of all my time – I am afflicted with thoughts about any one of multiple writing ideas.
Most of these ideas have lingered for years and have highly variable piles of ideas, scene concepts, pantheons, informal backgrounds, and other miscellany tied to them.
My latest idea has been quieter than most, but it is uniquely different in that my purpose for writing it is less about the recreational benefits and more about teaching my job to myself and bringing along potential readers for the journey.
As stated from the beginning, I am an acquisition officer. I am now a Program Manager, rather than an Engineer. Starting my role as a Program Manager after nearly half a career as an Engineer is not necessarily a bad thing – my perspective comes from a different foundation than if I had always been a program manager – but I recognize that I have a massive mountain of ignorance to mine through.
To that end… It’s been said that one of the best ways to learn something is to try teaching it. And I think the process of trying to tell a story that involves the greater acquisition elements is similar to trying to teach the greater acquisition elements.
Since the generic story concept could easily be adapted by anyone into its own unique story, I feel comfortable sharing the idea, here.
Basically, I’m contemplating taking the Major Capability Acquisition pathway phases – Technical Maturation and Risk Reduction, Engineering Manufacturing and Development, and Production – and using them to frame the major acts of a story concept following an individual who navigates through them as a User.
That individual would not be a program manager or anyone in a program office, but rather interact with other combatants, with much of the story’s focus being on the weapons they use.
I’m not convinced that a terribly compelling story would result from a strong focus on acquisition processes, so I figure the visible driving force of the story would involve regular action while the invisible, background driving force would be the various constraints inherent to the acquisition process – recognizing a gap in capability, determining that existing options are insufficient, clarifying requirements for a new product, gathering resources (people, places, materials…) and skillsets, providing enough money to keep those resources around, security…
I am currently leaning toward setting this story on a world I’ve already conceived for other stories, though I linger on the question of whether or not the story might be better served in its own, unique setting. The major factor of consideration, really, is whether or not I should allow magic to be part of the story.
I think a limited inclusion of magic would not be ill-fitting nor too distracting, but I’ll have to play around a little bit to be more sure. Maybe I’ll get an outline and early chapter out to see what some friends think…
I considered having this story be the replacement to this 72 Airman’s Writing project when it finally concludes in May. I might have to publish more frequently than monthly on account of the project demanding more consistency than a monthly blog, but that isn’t necessarily required. That said, I would prefer to finish a whole story in less time than an entire year, so… yeah.
72 Airman's Writings 