[B5JMS] ATTN Jms: The original B5 story ?

[b5jms-admin at cs.columbia.edu]

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From: PsicopJeffG at webtv.net (Jeffrey Gustafson)
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 15:19:03 -0400 (EDT)
Lines: 38

>My question was (If it has been asked to death,
>I apoligise): 

Oh, it has.

>I know the B5 story didn't go as you originally
>planned (sinclair leaving after the first season,
>the uncertainty about a 5th season, etc...). Now
>I was wondering if that original story is/was
>published anywhere, and if not, why not ? If so,
>where ? 

Do a google groups search for here on "original arc" and/or "original
story."  You can probably skim some of the general idea.  The so-called
"original story" and the one we saw, according to JMS, was essentially
the same, (he's said that 90% of what he set out to do, he did).  And
looking at the possibilities, it really is the same.

>I have several B5 paperbacks (psycore trylogie,
>mollari trylogie, a.o.), but there are no
>paperbacks about the original story. Why not ?

The better question is why?  Yes the story diverged a little, but every
single story that has ever been written has diverged from the original
plan.  Why dwell on what could have been, just enjoy what was.  What
would be the purpose of publishing all the could-have-beens and
might-have-beens, anyway?  They might provide insight into the evolution
of the story, but it really is frankly irrelevant.  As for B5, like I
said, the info *is* out there, and really isn't *that* different from
what we saw.

     -The Jeff

Sheridan:"So how did you find out all of this?"
Bester:"I'm a telepath.  Work it out." <*>




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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 27 Jul 2002 02:58:33 GMT
Lines: 32

There's really only one answer to this question, and it's the only one that can
parse to a non-writer.

Somebody, I think it may have been Grant, but I'm not 100% sure of that, said
"No plan of battle ever survives contact with the enemy."

I have never written a script, a story, or a novel that has hewed to my
original outline.  I don't think most writers do that.  The original structure
is there to give you a guideline so if you get lost you can grab hold of it to
lead you to the next level.  But along the way you have to have the freedom to
explore and play along the way on the one hand, and react to events outside
your control on the other.

Stories grow and evolve and their telling improves as you mature as a writer. 
It's not a die-stamped product, it's a process.

Even if every single cast member would have been there from day one to final
day, even if we'd known from day one that we would have five guaranteed
seasons, there would STILL (and were) changes and evolutions made as the story
progressed.  Because that's simply the way I (and most writers, I think) work.


 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2002 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
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