{"id":24,"date":"2008-04-24T08:52:52","date_gmt":"2008-04-24T16:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/?p=24"},"modified":"2010-09-21T21:49:07","modified_gmt":"2010-09-22T05:49:07","slug":"commentary-7-tram-7-to-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/commentary-7-tram-7-to-heaven\/","title":{"rendered":"Commentary 7: Tram #7 To Heaven"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If memory serves, I think this was the first chapter written in Luxembourg using Jon Mack&#8217;s laptop.  I spent 8 weeks in Lux; taking the first week off to get acclimated, writing every weekday for 6 weeks, then taking the last week off to celebrate the first draft.  So it&#8217;s somewhat fitting that chapter 7 kicks off on an airplane since it was fresh in my mind.<\/p>\n<p>This chapter actually serves to set up quite a bit of what will happen later on, especially when the narrator first arrives &#8220;home.&#8221;  Foreshadowing includes Dad&#8217;s prowess with the guitar (and the ladies), the cute little redheaded girl, a vanishing love life in general, and the fact that not everybody blames Nelson for the death.<\/p>\n<p>Other tidbits:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A flight attendant on the plane to Lux actually said &#8220;electronical.&#8221;  Though technically incorrect, I really like it and have since adopted it.<\/li>\n<li>The five dollar tomato was a late addition, inspired by a similar tale told by Jon&#8217;s roommate Andreas.<\/li>\n<li>Flashing back to &#8220;the plan&#8221; was one way of cutting down the information overload in the previous chapter, where this scene originally took place.<\/li>\n<li>If we were looking to make chapter title connections, floating around in mid-air seems pretty close to &#8220;Tram #7 To Heaven.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Note on geography:  Originally the plane had a layover in St. Louis, and during that layover was an entire <a title=\"Timely Persuasion - Pesky Held the Ball?\" href=\"http:\/\/www.timelypersuasion.com\/Pesky.html\" target=\"_self\">deleted chapter<\/a> about a trip to the 1946 World Series.  In my original outline I knew I wanted to revisit both the Kurt Cobain death and a non-1986 Red Sox World Series game.  That&#8217;s essentially the only reason the plot is bi-coastal.  Once the layover was cut I just as well could have set the whole thing on the west coast, but it seemed to be an unnecessary rewrite.  I think it does add to the plot to have had the narrator flee the &#8220;scene of the crime&#8221; as he calls it.  The 3000 mile buffer also let&#8217;s me explain away a potential lingering question later on, but we&#8217;ll get to that when the time comes.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;For lack of a better term&#8221;\/ &#8220;the elusive better term&#8221; is one of my favorite sentences in the book for some reason.<\/li>\n<li>Speaking in song lyrics is addressed by the narrator for the first time here, partly to let readers who may have been confused by some phrasings to this point off the hook.  When my wife would go through her early draft edits she would circle lots of phrases and put a question mark next to them.  90% of the time they were force-fed allusions.  Most of the really gratuitous ones were rewritten, though there may still be a few.<\/li>\n<li>Everyone I&#8217;ve talked to raves about the photography bit, and even my mother seems to appreciate it even though she partly inspired it.  I sincerely believe that non-candid photos should be banned, with the only staged exceptions being professional portraits, school or team photos, and mug shots. (A driver license or passport photo counts as a mug shot.)<\/li>\n<li>There are 40 known musical references in this chapter, as I&#8217;m really starting to play it up for Jon Mack&#8217;s benefit now that I&#8217;m in Lux and he&#8217;s noticed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a title=\"Timely Persuasion - Tram #7 To Heaven\" href=\"http:\/\/reader.timelypersuasion.com\/7.html\" target=\"_self\">Read Chapter Seven Online<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If memory serves, I think this was the first chapter written in Luxembourg using Jon Mack&#8217;s laptop. I spent 8 weeks in Lux; taking the first week off to get acclimated, writing every weekday for 6 weeks, then taking the last week off to celebrate the first draft. So it&#8217;s somewhat fitting that chapter 7&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behind-the-scenes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3pfx3-o","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43,"url":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/commentary-19-19-2000\/","url_meta":{"origin":24,"position":0},"title":"Commentary 19: 19-2000","author":"LBDG","date":"June 20, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In real life, I finished up the previous chapter just before what was supposed to be my first date with the woman who is now my wife. \u00a0Ended my Luxembourg writing day on a high note, saved everything, and gave her a call. \u00a0The conversation: Me: Hey, how's it going.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Behind the Scenes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Scenes","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/category\/behind-the-scenes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8,"url":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/origin-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":24,"position":1},"title":"Origin Story","author":"LBDG","date":"March 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Back from my trip and ready to kick off the series of behind the scenes and commentary posts.\u00c2\u00a0 But before we go chapter by chapter, it feels like a little more detail on the origins of the project would be appropriate. I alluded to the \"Maybe I'll write a book\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Behind the Scenes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Scenes","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/category\/behind-the-scenes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51,"url":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/commentary-25-25-minutes-to-go\/","url_meta":{"origin":24,"position":2},"title":"Commentary 25: 25 Minutes To Go","author":"LBDG","date":"July 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"One last blink to set things right, and our hero finally learns enough to know what has to be done. \u00a0I sort of knew from the beginning that the story would more or less start and end at the bowling alley, and that comes to fruition here. Other tidbits: My\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Behind the Scenes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Scenes","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/category\/behind-the-scenes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":38,"url":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/commentary-18-18-and-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":24,"position":3},"title":"Commentary 18: 18 And Life","author":"LBDG","date":"June 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This chapter doesn't have a whole lot of fun facts compared to the others. It mainly serves as a catch-up on what's changed in the new present and bridges us to the beginning of the resolution. The silver lining of a new, time travel free life is the return of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Behind the Scenes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Scenes","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/category\/behind-the-scenes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3369,"url":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/lbdg-commentary-24-hoverin\/","url_meta":{"origin":24,"position":4},"title":"LBDG Commentary 24: Hoverin&#8217;","author":"LBDG","date":"January 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This change of pace chapter switches up the time travel dynamic\u2014or does it? More overtly Quantum Leap inspired than what we've read so far, Local Boy occupies the body of his future self while the redhead takes over a future version of his wife. He lives the original history described\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Behind the Scenes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Scenes","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/category\/behind-the-scenes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/169.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/169.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/169.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60,"url":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/commentary-26-across-26-winters\/","url_meta":{"origin":24,"position":5},"title":"Commentary 26: Across 26 Winters","author":"LBDG","date":"July 25, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"And we've almost come to the end. \u00a0Generally speaking, endings are tough. \u00a0You need to tie up as many dangling threads as possible, leave the reader satisfied that reading the book was worthwhile, and try to go out on a memorable high note without it feeling abrupt or forced. \u00a0Let's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Behind the Scenes&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Behind the Scenes","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/category\/behind-the-scenes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1033,"href":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24\/revisions\/1033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}