So, I'm writing a story in which the protagonist has amnesia. It's not 'lost all his life' amnesia, as, while that's a nice literary thing, amnesia doesn't actually work that way. What he does have is about seven weeks from his life that's missing. He's suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from that period of time, and one of the symptoms is blocking out what happened (This is actually only part of the story; he was being experimented upon by a cabal that was working on ways to control the formation of memories).
So, the end of those seven 'missing' weeks finds David (our protagonist) in the hospital. He'd been found wandering by the side of the road, pretty beat up. He spends some time with a therapist whilst still there (actually an agent of the cabal sent to keep tabs on him), and eventually leaves to go back into the real world.
The problem I'm having is that it's too easy for life to go back to 'normal' after that- I'd suspect in real life, he'd go back to whatever home and job he had, find his old friends, and the like. This, to be blunt, doesn't work for me.
A good chunk of the later plot of the book hinges on David not having people who believe him. He's going to start recovering memories that don't make a lot of sense, and he's going to witness some supernatural occurrences. Now, my original ideas had him simply not -having- attachments, but people don't live like that; everyone has someone who trusts them. I'd originally planned him having a sister who lived far away (thus he couldn't fall back on her) and a girlfriend who went 'missing' during his seven weeks, but ... No one has -nobody- to rely on.
So, I'm struggling with that now. I need him not to have anyone he can trust / rely on when he starts having encounters and memories that don't make a lot of sense, and I'm not sure how to set that up realistically.
Thoughts? Comments?
So, the end of those seven 'missing' weeks finds David (our protagonist) in the hospital. He'd been found wandering by the side of the road, pretty beat up. He spends some time with a therapist whilst still there (actually an agent of the cabal sent to keep tabs on him), and eventually leaves to go back into the real world.
The problem I'm having is that it's too easy for life to go back to 'normal' after that- I'd suspect in real life, he'd go back to whatever home and job he had, find his old friends, and the like. This, to be blunt, doesn't work for me.
A good chunk of the later plot of the book hinges on David not having people who believe him. He's going to start recovering memories that don't make a lot of sense, and he's going to witness some supernatural occurrences. Now, my original ideas had him simply not -having- attachments, but people don't live like that; everyone has someone who trusts them. I'd originally planned him having a sister who lived far away (thus he couldn't fall back on her) and a girlfriend who went 'missing' during his seven weeks, but ... No one has -nobody- to rely on.
So, I'm struggling with that now. I need him not to have anyone he can trust / rely on when he starts having encounters and memories that don't make a lot of sense, and I'm not sure how to set that up realistically.
Thoughts? Comments?