I'm going to need to start thinking about distinctive characters. Suppose each character embodied a particular characteristic, based on a standard set -- for example, the seven deadly sins. I wouldn't have to go so far as to name the characters or the chapters after these -- although, on second thought, it might be kind of funny to play with the characters’ names like that.
Another idea: What if there was one woman on the scene? She should be: not associated with any of the men particularly. What if, for example, she was the cook, someone who works locally -- a local woman, perhaps -- since she lives out in the boonies there -- one of those appealing young earth mother hippie types, the kind you would see at Holden? Hmm... that type has her advantages and disadvantages. Another alternative would be to make her have another language as her first language, so that the men feel more comfortable talking with each other when she’s in the room... No, I don't like that idea so much.
Back to the idea in the first graf. Let's see, there are the seven deadly sins, the seven circles of hell, the seven dwarves -- that would make an interesting thing to play with, especially since they have their Snow White -- and the twelve attributes of a Boy Scout. (What are they called? Not attributes -- the list that ends with "brave, clean, and reverent." It's called something like the Boy Scout Code, but it simply starts with "A scout is..." and then all the attributes. Can't remember; doesn't matter. There are too many attributes anyway; seven is a much better number, and besides, F. said something about 8 chapters.) There are also ten commandments, the Eightfold Path, and any number of other standard sets...
Back to the second idea. Could I possibly make the woman the main narrator? That has immediate appeal, since she could speak to the reader from the position of judge of the events and the stories; it would also allow a counter-perspective.
But if I kept to my main idea, in which the main narrator is one of the men, I could do something different with her. I could make her an object of desire, of course, but if I were to raise the narrative to a somewhat mythic level I could do something like have her sleep with each of the men in turn. It could be done in one of two ways:
Each man takes his turn, one per evening, to tell whatever his erotic story is. Snow White listens to the tale and then goes to bed with the guy at the end of the night, sleeping with each man in turn.
But to give her more power and personality, I could make her choose which guy she sleeps with each night, and then the next day that guy tells his story. It could start like this -- the guys know she has slept with someone the first or (better) the second night, and they want to make him talk about it, but he offers a story of his own instead. Then that night she sleeps with another guy, and so they want to make him talk about it the next day too, but instead, he tells a different story. As it develops, each guy has the choice to talk either about his night with Snow White (could I get away with naming her Bianca?) or a story of his own. Since most of the guys prefer to be discrete, they wind up telling their own stories. Perhaps the series could end with Bianca telling a story -- that would provide a satisfactory dramatic climax. I suppose the expected thing to do would then be for her to have sex with all the guys at once. I’m not so sure about that.
Second idea is obviously much better.
All right, what are the seven dwarves anyway? Sleepy, grumpy, doc, happy, uh.... dopey... Donder and Blitzen. No, Sneezy and Bashful.
So we have:
Another idea: What if there was one woman on the scene? She should be: not associated with any of the men particularly. What if, for example, she was the cook, someone who works locally -- a local woman, perhaps -- since she lives out in the boonies there -- one of those appealing young earth mother hippie types, the kind you would see at Holden? Hmm... that type has her advantages and disadvantages. Another alternative would be to make her have another language as her first language, so that the men feel more comfortable talking with each other when she’s in the room... No, I don't like that idea so much.
Back to the idea in the first graf. Let's see, there are the seven deadly sins, the seven circles of hell, the seven dwarves -- that would make an interesting thing to play with, especially since they have their Snow White -- and the twelve attributes of a Boy Scout. (What are they called? Not attributes -- the list that ends with "brave, clean, and reverent." It's called something like the Boy Scout Code, but it simply starts with "A scout is..." and then all the attributes. Can't remember; doesn't matter. There are too many attributes anyway; seven is a much better number, and besides, F. said something about 8 chapters.) There are also ten commandments, the Eightfold Path, and any number of other standard sets...
Back to the second idea. Could I possibly make the woman the main narrator? That has immediate appeal, since she could speak to the reader from the position of judge of the events and the stories; it would also allow a counter-perspective.
But if I kept to my main idea, in which the main narrator is one of the men, I could do something different with her. I could make her an object of desire, of course, but if I were to raise the narrative to a somewhat mythic level I could do something like have her sleep with each of the men in turn. It could be done in one of two ways:
Each man takes his turn, one per evening, to tell whatever his erotic story is. Snow White listens to the tale and then goes to bed with the guy at the end of the night, sleeping with each man in turn.
But to give her more power and personality, I could make her choose which guy she sleeps with each night, and then the next day that guy tells his story. It could start like this -- the guys know she has slept with someone the first or (better) the second night, and they want to make him talk about it, but he offers a story of his own instead. Then that night she sleeps with another guy, and so they want to make him talk about it the next day too, but instead, he tells a different story. As it develops, each guy has the choice to talk either about his night with Snow White (could I get away with naming her Bianca?) or a story of his own. Since most of the guys prefer to be discrete, they wind up telling their own stories. Perhaps the series could end with Bianca telling a story -- that would provide a satisfactory dramatic climax. I suppose the expected thing to do would then be for her to have sex with all the guys at once. I’m not so sure about that.
Second idea is obviously much better.
All right, what are the seven dwarves anyway? Sleepy, grumpy, doc, happy, uh.... dopey... Donder and Blitzen. No, Sneezy and Bashful.
So we have:
| Dwarf | Characteristic | Character name | Comments |
| Doc | The smart scientist type; possible father figure | Don | A PhD, software millionaire, owns the cabin |
| Happy | A happy man | Harry | This is the narrator. He has enough in life, that’s why he’s happy. But during the events here, he is tempted! |
| Grumpy | Type-A personality | Greg | Business tycoon, aggressive. That guy at the sushi bar in Las Vegas. |
| Sleepy | Under-achiever, slacker; in a way, also a hedonist | Shaun | Natural conflict with businessman. In the morning he meditates, but as the day wears on he becomes more hedonistic. Each night he experiences a desire to shed all the attachments he gathered during the day. |
| Dopey | Neurotic | Dusty | Drug addict; also in business, but often self-sabotages. |
| Sneezy | Allergic to things, he’s bookish; tries to over-achieve | Seth | Schlemiel. He is allergic to being in the woods. The others scorn his weakness. But he Understands The Ladies. |
| Bashful | The quiet nerdy guy | Bart | He is a software coder, has worked for Don in the past, but they had a falling out (subplot here!) |