Hello everyone,
I finished the drafts of chapters fourteen and fifteen. The same things took a bit of time, namely coming up with details for new veer and people. I also have been thinking a bit more about character arcs and performed minor tweaks with that in mind to a few previous sections as I was writing.
And, as is my process, having finished five more chapters, I then started a read-through. I’ve gotten through chapter two with no big errors found, though I have done a few more tweaks in regards to character arcs, how they think or present themselves early on, knowing better now where they will be in later chapters. I’ve also found that I had to do a layout drawing of a building, the home of the main character, Maximilian Wealdham. A lot happens in there, and I don’t want to mix up where various rooms/places are located. I’m also probably going to have to do a map of the region around the main setting, Braeton Falls, as well as a map of the city itself, at least in general terms, so I can nail down where things are and can keep that in mind as I describe or refer to them in different places in the book.
Another thing I’ve noticed, is that I need to keep track of how a character refers to themselves, as well as how they refer to others. I try to use tight or close point of view in writing, so the narrative in a section is told from the point of view character’s perspective. As if they are seeing, hearing, feeling, and thinking about what transpires therein. Thus, when Maximilian Wealdham refers to himself, is it as Maximilian or as Max? What I mean by this is like this:
Maximilian couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A leopard? Here?
Max couldn’t believe what he was seeing. A leopard? Here?
This becomes especially difficult to keep track of as one types away at speed when different characters refer to him in different ways. “Mr. Wealdham,” “Lord Wealdham,” “Maximilian,” or “Max.” What I’ve taken to doing is using the Notes field that Scrivener associates with a character sheet to include how a character refers to themselves, as well as how they refer to other characters if they don’t use the same name as most others. For instance, most of Max’s associates call him Max, and he also refers to himself as Max. However, Aoife refers to him as Maximilian, as does Lieutenant Van Rooyen, while Evandros refers to him as Mr. Wealdham. Thus, on the character sheets of Aoife and the lieutenant, I note that they refer to Max as Maximilian, and on Evandros’s character sheet, I note that he refers to Max as Mr. Wealdham.
It may seem a small thing, but having someone refer to themselves or another by different names randomly can cause confusion, pulling the reader out of the story, which should be avoided.
At any rate, that’s where I am. Until next time, happy reading!
Adventures in Lethera 