Just finished revising/rewriting chapter nine, which means that the scene in the dragon cave is done. I didn’t change much there, but the scenes before that… whew. Full rewrites, they needed a tension boost. There’s a lot of talking there as characters feel each other out and try to gain each other’s trust (or to keep the other person at a distance, as the case may be). Dialogue can’t be a pleasant tea party of “hey, hi, where are you from?” Not in fiction. So we add subtext, we reveal the depth to which these people’s upbringings put them at odds with each other, we let them irritate the people who are trying to help them.
It’s fun when it works, but it’s not easy to do. I’m glad I have characters who are so naturally ill-suited for each other’s company. I mean, I had something to do with that, and I had to beat them severely to get them into the shapes I needed, but now that they’re there, it does make things easier than it would be if I had to inject false conflict into the story. Between the bad guys they’re running from, their internal conflicts and the way they push each other’s buttons, things should stay interesting.
Should. I just hope I’m not screwing it up for them. Between the injuries, the running, the horse thefts, the dragon and the stabbiness, they have enough to deal with right now without me getting in there and stupiding it all up. 😉
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UNRELATED UPDATE: We’re up to 89 WordPress followers. What shall we do for our 100 party?
disregard the prologue 
April 15th, 2013 at 4:03 pm
A funny cat video? One of your cats fighting a dragoffin? Another visit to Rossy? Challenging your followers to write their best Rossy toy box descriptors of some random toy you take a picture of? Creating some hilarious post that involves animated gifs? I don’t know, the sky’s the limit when it comes to 100. I always try to make it fun for the followers.
April 15th, 2013 at 4:45 pm
Until I was writing I didn’t realise that you could just let the characters tell their own story, but it does kind of happen. I love the way that you talk about leaving them to it and then hoping that you don’t mess it up for them! Great insight into a writer’s mind.!
April 15th, 2013 at 4:48 pm
Thanks. I find it much easier once I understand my characters’ pasts, their motivations and their personalities. If I know them well, it’s easier to know how they would react to any situation, and to see if they’ve done something that’s out of character. If I’m forcing them to do something that doesn’t make sense, I usually know. 🙂
April 15th, 2013 at 4:56 pm
What I find scary is that they become real and not just to me. At the weekend I was in a pub and my friend and we were discussing whether or not my two main characters would drink there and if so, where they would sit etc.. It’s like they are real people and I love that! 🙂