I was also taking time to study plot structure, story world, and genre. One of my books placed horror films like Dracula and Frankenstein in the superhero category. These creature features usually have an origin story and deal with similar themes. This made me very excited as I had already gravitated towards the idea that the story may very be comic book—like Batman. Would the vampire drag queen be the hero or the villain? The vigilante story was percolating inside me. No matter where Jared guided me, I’d find a way back. We started toying around with ideas for other projects, and one of them involved Revenge Tragedies, such as The Spanish Tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi, and, of course, the most famous one, Hamlet. Reviewing the elements of revenge tragedy (see below), suddenly everything began to click. Vigilante films were modern day revenge tragedies. Batman is often portrayed as a vigilante. The other thing I was suddenly gifted was a stronger structure for the story. The elements of revenge tragedy created a kind of outline of what might possibly occur. I didn’t have all the answers but I had a great start.
I began formally writing the musical and started working out ideas in a blank book that went everywhere with me. It contains nearly every thought I’ve had about the piece.