And Now for the Other Kind of Neep

[dancinghorse]

Yes, writer neep. I haven't actually written any new pages today. It's that stage of a book--usually within the first 100 pages--when the outline starts to wake up and the characters start to get a line and, more or less, march. The book is the sequel to this fall's Roc offering, Rite of Conquest. You can see its very pretty cover on my website--go down to Forthcoming.

This means that it already has a set of characters in place, although since it's a historical fantasy, some have died, some have cycled out of range, and a gang of new ones have cycled in. The trick has been to figure out which of the extant characters to keep, then which ones to focus on, and which new ones to add. While making sure the book stands on its own and doesn't suffer from sequelitis. And there is an Editorial Demand, namely, that it be "romantic." Ho-kay. Luckily, history is in the mood to cooperate.

It's been slogging along, disrupted by all the alarums and excursions of the past few weeks--heck, let's blame it all on Mercury retrograde. In fact my beginnings always slog, there are always five or ten chapters of wandering around more or less aimlessly while the outline tries to figure itself out, and then once it does, the book picks up speed.

I think we're at the almost-figured-out stage. Which means going back and recasting some bits and slipping in an additional character and then we can go back to writing first-first draft.

Just in time to go through it all again with the other book I've got in the lineup.

Comments

[janni.livejournal.com]

I love that moment when the characters finally come alive and get ideas of their own, and hate the slog until then.

(My favorite case of this to date is the character who decided to change into a wolf--in a world that I had thought didn't have shapeshifters, from a character who I thought didn't even believe in magic. Everything changed, after that, and he wasn't even my protagonist. Most cases aren't that dramatic--but it needs to happen somehow.)

What's really weird is when I do deeper rewrites, and some of them get up and say, "All that stuff I told you before? It's wrong. Now that I know you better I'll tell you the truth."

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

A character turning into a wolf--now that is cool.

When I was teaching at Wesleyan, one of my Latin students did a novel (on the War of the Jews, actually) for her senior thesis. She came creeping in to the office one day, looking a bit shellshocked. Finally after some talking in circles, she confessed that her characters had started talking to her. "Am I crazy?" she asked. She was scared. "Nope!" I said. "Congratulations! Now you have a book."

[janni.livejournal.com]

I went for a long walk with him. He had to convince me to let him try the wolf thing, but eventually I gave in. Can't picture the book without that, now.

My only regret about my characters talking to me is that, given all the emotional space they take up, none of them have ever designed to lend a hand and wash a few dishes, or even take out the trash.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Characters have an excuse. They're incorporeal.

Now animals...

Today I was about ready to throttle the cats. They were having a barf-fest EVERYwhere. The tireder I got, the barfier they were.

Then the Girlz started taking apart the trash bags I had painstakingly lugged out to the big can for pickup (it's right outside one end of the turnout). I just about strangled Camilla-the-ringleader. I'm hoping the bag that disappeared didn't go down Gaudia's gullet.

OY.

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

Yesterday must have been Regularly Scheduled Cat Barf Day.

There are few things worse than waking up to the sound of a cat barfing on the floor in front of your bed. :P :P :P

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

There are few things worse than waking up to the sound of a cat barfing on the floor in front of your bed. :P :P :P

There is one.

Waking up and putting your foot down and stepping in cat barf. Cold cat barf.