Progress Report

Figured I'd do another progress report. Got up at 3:00 a.m. This gave me four hours of uninterrupted writing. The result? Chapter Two is in the book. I also came in 211-words under budget, too.

In case you find it at all interesting, in ten days I have completed one interlude, two chapters, and 15,128-words. If the current pace holds true I should finish some time in the middle of March at around 110,000-words. Don't hold your breath on the pace holding, though. There are plenty of things to get in the way, including not waking up at the right time. Also, Mother's surgery is next week on Thursday. I can forget about writing that day. Maybe the day before and the day after, too. We'll see. It's a scary surgery.

Lots of characters are being left on the cutting room floor. Good characters. Interesting characters. Lots of background, too. The infodump is being dumped.

The changes do neccesetate me moving a scene. What once took place in Chapter Nine is now going to have to occur in Chapter Three. I had planned on moving it to Chapter Two, but it just refused to fit. That's the problem with stories. Once they're on their way they begin to dictate storyline as much as accept it. I think I can do it, though.

A Traitor in the Midst (still would like some feedback on that title - before I marry myself to it) will be the first installment of what I hope to be an extended series. Book II, The Prophecies of Madatar, is already primed and ready to go. Book III, Bonds of Love, has been begun but put on hold. Book IV (untitled) is mostly in my head. I did write a few scenes under inspiration. Thanks to Risa, Isista, Quixa, and Sonja, the Muses who inspired the work. Book V (untitled) is also mostly in my head. I may have written a couple of scenes. Not sure. Book ? (untitled) is interesting because I don't know if it is Book VI, VII, VII, IX, or X.

There are a lot of scenes to be written, and a fair number to be rewritten. Some, I know, are going to go away. Even some of my favorites. That's the way storywriting goes. Once you jump out of the plane it's too late to do anything on the plane. Whatever is left out is gone. But, given clever writing and design, some things can be raised from the dead.

That's what happened to the original ending of Book I. The ending line was magnificent. It was just beautiful. However, as I began developing the story as it needed to be, I suddenly found myself confronted with the reality that there was no longer any place for that line. It was gone. Then, as I carried the story forward into places I had yet to explore, I discovered the line could be used after all - at the very end. Of course, I haven't got there yet. I still haven't finished A Traitor in the Midst. Could someone tell me what they think of that title?