It was quite an odd week writing this book.
On Monday I had to kill off a character. It was one that I had originally introduced as just a one shot in the first book cause I wanted to use a cool name and ended up being one of the few characters that shows up in all four books. They just took on a life of their own and became more important as the story went on. I felt kind of bad that I had to kill them off but I felt it was necessary to keep the drama and the threat strong. I wanted to make sure that the character wasn't just a red shirt so I had to think back and will strengthen a few things on the rewrite. I also made sure that the death had an effect on Gallif and Luvin. It hurt them and, at the same time, gave them strength.
Sometimes it feels weird to be upset about the death of a character. I asked a few friends about it and was relieved to find out I'm not the only one who's had that experience. I also remembered a guy in a writing class that I took when I was at UI who made it clear he didn't give a damn about his characters. It made the stories difficult to read and there was no emotion to it. I think if an author doesn't care about their characters then there is no reason the reader should.
There are two big finales in the fourth book. One of them I've been prepared for since the first book, I knew how it would end, but the other one has been itching me and coming together a bit at a time as the story developed. It's a do or die scene and I knew if it didn't work the whole thing would fall apart.
Friday, however, the sky opened again and all the elements fell in to place. The characters were in the right place at the right time. I wrote 8 pages, about 3200 words, in a six hour period. It felt great. It all came together so well I bet I spent an hour just smiling and it felt really good. I looked back at it today and feel it's some of the best writing I've ever done. It's still odd to think of myself as an author.
I'm really thinking I'll finish the book next week. It'll be just in time to celebrate at ChicagoTARDIS.
On Monday I had to kill off a character. It was one that I had originally introduced as just a one shot in the first book cause I wanted to use a cool name and ended up being one of the few characters that shows up in all four books. They just took on a life of their own and became more important as the story went on. I felt kind of bad that I had to kill them off but I felt it was necessary to keep the drama and the threat strong. I wanted to make sure that the character wasn't just a red shirt so I had to think back and will strengthen a few things on the rewrite. I also made sure that the death had an effect on Gallif and Luvin. It hurt them and, at the same time, gave them strength.
Sometimes it feels weird to be upset about the death of a character. I asked a few friends about it and was relieved to find out I'm not the only one who's had that experience. I also remembered a guy in a writing class that I took when I was at UI who made it clear he didn't give a damn about his characters. It made the stories difficult to read and there was no emotion to it. I think if an author doesn't care about their characters then there is no reason the reader should.
There are two big finales in the fourth book. One of them I've been prepared for since the first book, I knew how it would end, but the other one has been itching me and coming together a bit at a time as the story developed. It's a do or die scene and I knew if it didn't work the whole thing would fall apart.
Friday, however, the sky opened again and all the elements fell in to place. The characters were in the right place at the right time. I wrote 8 pages, about 3200 words, in a six hour period. It felt great. It all came together so well I bet I spent an hour just smiling and it felt really good. I looked back at it today and feel it's some of the best writing I've ever done. It's still odd to think of myself as an author.
I'm really thinking I'll finish the book next week. It'll be just in time to celebrate at ChicagoTARDIS.
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