Back to Work

I've finished outlining and will be getting back to work on the manuscript tomorrow. I'm actually getting a bit excited about Exile. It's really shaping up to be pretty good, despite the horrible first draft. I think that the changes I'm about to make in the characters and their relationships are for the best and that they make the story better, more entertaining, and more readable. Where it was a mess before I think I have everything put in good order now.

One thing I never really delved into in the first draft is Malcolm's feelings about his situation. In the first draft he just sort of accepts everything and goes with the flow, which is boring and lacks anything resembling personality. I mean, if someone walked up and tapped you on the shoulder and said, "hey, so, dude, you're the descendant of an ancient line of exiled kings, the bearer of a horrible curse, and you've got all these duties and obligations to see to. And that awesome chick taht moved in with you, yeah she's sort of the thousand year old hellspawn of the most infamous figure in human history. Oh yeah, and there's this hoarde of Demon summoning psychos that have been raping and pillaging their way across the land like a spreading stain bent on capturing and killing you, and some weird naked Oracle chick trapped in a giant piece of crystal that keeps telling random Wizards you're her successor. Oh, and don't forget the fact taht your father, the one that taught you all about lying and how evil it is has been lying to you your entire life about it, but hey, it's cool. No pressure dude, but look, if you don't do something about all this crap the world is going to end and there'll be nothing left but barren scorched wastelands and Fayts roaming the ruins of humanity. Seriously uncool, I know, but would you kindly deal with it so civilization as we know it can contiune, oh pretty please?" Would you just sit back and take it as it comes? I don't think so.

I, for one, would be complaining bitterly about it from start to finish. That's what I do to relieve stress, I piss and moan and grumble under my breath about the injustice of hte universe whilst grinding my teeth through whatever horrible task I have to complete. It annoys the heck out of everyone around me, but it's how I deal with things and find the strength to continue onward. Every day of work I can be heard to mumble about how much I dislike mail, I mean, it just keeps coming. You deliver it, and then the next day IT'S BACK!!! And Mal isn't going to just sit back and let himself get swept away either. There's a little bit of myself in every character I write. And every now and then I find that they react to things exactly as I would. Most often I try to stay away from that, so that my characters don't all seem the same and clones of me beside. He'll piss and moan about his situation like you wouldn't believe, but in the end he'll realize that he's got balls dammit, and he's going use them and stand up to his situation and do things his way. Why? Because that's what I'd do.

So, anyway, I'll be getting back to work tomorrow, though between church and heading over to my parents' house for laundry and dinner I'll probably not have enough time to complete a full chapter to post, so expect the next one on monday, tuesday at the latest.

Oh yes, and I've recently found a very good fantasy series called A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, which has been occupying a lot of my time lately that I would otherwise be using to work on writing, so if it seems like I'm going slower than I was, that's why. The series starts out a bit slow, but once it gets going it's epically awesome beyond words. I literally cannot stop reading. I've been dead at work all week because I've been up all night unable to put the books down. The man is a fricken genius.