I've got my act together and started writing again, not with vengeance, but definitely with purpose. I have a few things concerning me though. Firstly, I can feel my style evolving as I write more and more, but what's concerning me is the voice of the piece. It's so plot driven and I don't feel like my heroine's voice is coming through. She needs to develop into wanting to be a fairy, but I haven't found that transition coming though. She's either resentful of turning into a fairy in the early chapters or wanting to be a fairy in the later chapters. I keep hearing other authors voices from Youtube videos saying, "Complete your first draft before you edit". And so I keep writing. Some of the secondary charachters seem to have a really strong voice in my head, but Thelba still feels like he/she is developing, even though her arc and plot is all mapped out and the novel is over half way written. I've also set myself a rule now. No storybook i
I can remember trying to write as a teenager and never getting very far. It was in the days of good old-fashioned pen and paper. I'd get a couple of chapters in and give up the ghost. The great thing about today is not only the fact that you can write in a nonlinear fashion, but there are so many apps to help you block out your story map, create your character and objects reference library, store reference images, and create accompanying artwork. So this week I dived into Teban Thelba's (my lead characters) second quest, and over three chapters I managed to go from start to finish with one tiny gap left for me to fill in when I have a substantial good enough idea for it. They say the conflict is the spice of writing, and as difficult as I initially found it, I actually managed to get some good stuff in there. I need to get a good row between Teban Thelba and her friends into the story at some point, and so far that has eluded me. The resolution point is mapped out though.
I ended up having to go to the library yesterday to get books on tall ships and sailing. I came away with The Mary Rose Story by John Christopher and Sailing Boat Manual by Dennis Watts. A third of the quest I have my heroes on is set aboard a tall ship and is their way of getting to each island, and towards the climax, I want to have them face off against a sea god and dragon. How do ships move? What are the different parts of the ship called? What is each crew member's role? How many crewmen and women are there? I can't make any of this up, so I need to find out so that what I write onboard the ship sounds real. Because I am dealing with magical and mythical situations, the stuff that the reader can relate to needs to sound believable. Hopefully, that way when the fantastical happens the reader is on board and will go with me on the journey.
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