My aim was to get to 40K by the end of March, but it’m up to 29K at the moment. I’ll probably get up to 30K by today, and then it’s all downhill from there.<\/p>\n
I took two days off and then started writing, and realized that I had messed up the time sequence. That’s the problem with me, sometimes, when I take time off. I have to go back to the beginning and read what I had done. Scrivener has a place that you can put document notes, and I’ve started to utilize that section.<\/p>\n
Grimaulkin Redeemed<\/em> takes place on November 1, 2000. I have to check an online calendar (though Scrivener gives me the option of saving the image of that calendar) to follow the days and dates, and now I need to make note of the moon phases. I’ve also made it more difficult for me–or for Mike–to get out and do things because now he has a job that takes up his mornings.<\/p>\n I’m also having trouble with the main plot. It pervades the story, but it’s not in your face all the time. And I need to figure out the motive of the antagonist–why does he do what I want him to do during the climax? Mike is paranoid about the antagonist; does that mean his paranoia is justified? Or would that make things way too obvious and easy?<\/p>\n The strange thing about writing, sometimes, is that you want to make it complicated for the reader, but not obtuse. You don’t want the reader to say “Huh?” But you want to keep them guessing, letting them try and figure out what you’re doing. If you make it too easy or obvious, readers get mad and won’t read your next book. But if you spring it on them without any foreshadowing or clues, they get mad too. It’s a fine line.<\/p>\n I was listening to a interview of an author (Steve Barry, I think) and the interviewer said that the ending came out of nowhere. That kind of ending would irritate the hell out of me. My editor said the same thing about Grimaulkin Tempted<\/em>. I had dropped a few hints that only really astute readers would pick up on. During the rewrite, I made it more obvious that time around with an internal dialogue.<\/p>\n There are a lot of threads to keep in mind when writing: Time, place, character feelings and growth. Some of these come naturally, and can stay in my head. Other times, I get confused. Brothers of the Zodiac<\/em> had a full time-line that I did one boring day at work about four years ago, but it got eaten by the website (it no longer exists). I had character names, places and dates. All gone. How ephemeral the cloud is.<\/p>\n Scrivener helps me keep track now. Full moon is coming up, and Mike is going to be a bit busy. I hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My aim was to get to 40K by the end of March, but it’m up to 29K at the moment. I’ll probably get up to 30K by today, and then it’s all downhill from there. I took two days off … Continue reading