The way I write, I already have the bones. I tend to write almost a summary first, some key dialogue. Then, I can start adding the detail and convert summaries to action and dialogue.
In engineering, there's the saying, "If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid." 😁
#PennedPossibilities 585. Would your MC sacrifice something (of great importance) to save the life of someone they love?
Yes... but "people that Jim loves" is a fairly small group.
And it drops to zero after the inciting incident. It does grow from there... *very* slowly.
The real question is, would his *girlfriend* do that? *Did* she, or not?
#WordWeavers 12. What is your MC's favorite time of day?
Jim tends to stay up late and sleep in, given the chance. But he spent many months in the upper Amazon; he's quite tuned to getting up with the daylight.
Mornings are his least favorite, now. Especially if he wakes from a dream of home.
#WritersCoffeeClub 12: What percentage of your first draft ends up in the trash?
At a guess, 50%? I do polish passes all the time, as I write, so stuff gets reworded on the regular.
Besides, my early drafts usually need to be 'hydrated' and filled out, so they expand. But a lot gets tossed and replaced along the way.
#WritersCoffeeClub 9: Tell us about a writer’s block that scuttled a project. Would you like to revisit it?
I started a project, got a fair way in... then realized I was *not* the author to tell that story. It involved experiences and perspectives I simply do not have.
I still like the idea, but someone else's muse will have to give it to them.
#WritingCommunity
#WordWeavers: How many people can your MC call their support system?
Jim has to work up from 'absolutely nobody' over the course of SECONDARY. By the end he's acquired a handful - single digits. A mental patient, a couple academics. A 'police detective' who's at least inclined to help him.
In the sequel, he'll need rather more support than that to actually survive.
#PennedPossibilities 580: How many drafts do you usually go through?
Oooh! I can steal my answer to #WritersCoffeeClub
Software types call it 'successive refinement.' I'll write the beginning, end, and key scenes between. Then I'll usually take it chronologically. I reread and polish as I go. Sometimes a big edit when I have a good idea or realize I've been stupid.
#WritersCoffeeClub 7: How many stages of editing do you go through? What are they?
I do what software types call 'successive refinement.' I'll write the beginning, end, and some key scenes between. Then I'll usually take it chronologically. I reread and polish as I go. Sometimes a big edit when I have a good idea or realize I've been stupid.
Eventually I settle down to just polishing. And then I reach a point of diminishing returns.
#Writing #WritingCommunity
#WordWeavers 7. MC POV: What are you angry about?
My girlfriend helped rewrite the last 5,700 years of history. She *did* put in me in the one place in the universe where I could survive the change... but I'd rather be in my home timeline.
This one has not treated me well. To say the least.
#SciFi
#WordWeavers 7. MC POV: What are you angry about?
My girlfriend helped rewrite the last 5,700 years of history. She *did* put in me in the one place in the universe where I could survive the change... but I'd rather be in my home timeline.
This one has not treated me well. To say the least.
#ScienceFiction
#WordWeavers 7. MC POV: What are you angry about?
My girlfriend helped rewrite the last 5,700 years of history. She *did* put in me in the one place in the universe where I could survive the change... but I'd rather be in my home timeline.
This one has not treated me well. To say the least.
#ScienceFiction #SciFiBooks
#PennedPossibilities 568: How should the MC come across to the reader at end?
That's, er, one of the themes.
Jim himself, in the preface, says to the reader, "You’re the only one who can fairly judge me."
The tagline of the book is, "One survivor of our timeline. And it's the wrong guy."
So... 🤷
#SciFi #ScienceFiction #SFF